Lili Reynaud-Dewar at Layr

Artist: Lili Reynaud-Dewar

Exhibition title: I invited men into my hotel room and asked them very personal questions about their lives

Venue: Layr, Vienna, Austria

Date: June 9 – July 30, 2022

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Layr, Vienna

Note: Exhibition texts are available here: Patrick Potot, Paul Alexandre and Yassine Bouzid

The three films in ‚I invited men into my hotel room and asked them personal questions about their lives‘ are the first works of a larger series that will culminate in Reynaud-Dewar’s solo exhibition at Palais de Tokyo in October 2023. Until then, Reynaud-Dewar plans to make one such film every month.

The exhibition at Layr was conceived by Reynaud-Dewar as an opportunity to experiment and test things and ideas for the aforementioned show: the gallery therefore functions as a model for Palais de Tokyo’s “arc”. The men she films and interviews in typical Parisian family run hotels, are close friends, former students or family, as is always the case with her collaborations: she has never worked with professional actors or performers.

Hotel rooms are both intimate and generic spaces with practical imperatives, and Paris hotel rooms famously lack any spare space. The bed is the center piece, if not the only piece of furniture in those tiny rooms. During shooting there are a total of 5 people in the room: the interviewee, Reynaud-Dewar as the interviewer, Victor Zébo the cinematographer, Pierre Bompy who is recording the sound and Hodei Berasategi, the script assistant. The filmed subject is closely framed by Reynaud-Dewar and her team’s gaze, and is at the center of both sensual and intellectual attention. Reynaud-Dewar has explored the interview format in her previous work ‚Rome November 1st and 2nd 1975‘, where she recorded long “biographical” interviews of all of her cast (24 persons), that were transcribed and published in small individual booklets to accompany the video installation. Here, her topics of interest are still biographical, but the interviews engage in a closer look at notions of private property and masculinity. The three male voices overlap in the space and become audible only when one – in a movement similar to that of the camera in the small hotel rooms – gets closer to the screen. In the films, Reynaud-Dewar‘s questions have been edited out and thus giving an impression that these men are monologuing. These purloined questions re-appear visually, printed onto small billboards with images of the artist naked, her body colored in hues similar to that of the very artificial light used to light the hotel rooms. Thus, Reynaud-Dewar‘s questions become over-imposing, as if addressed also to the spectator of the show, and echoing in the space.

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, I invited men into my hotel room and asked them very personal questions about their lives, Installation view, Layr Vienna, 2022. Courtesy the artist, Layr Vienna

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Yassine Bouzid, Hotel du Pré, Room 501, Paris, April 2022, 2022, 44:14 min video

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Paul Alexandre, Hotel du Pré, Room 502, Paris, April 2022, 2022, 55:33 min video

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Patrick Potot, Hotel du Pré, Room 506, Paris, March 2022, 2022, 01:31:05 min video

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, I invited men in my hotel room and asked them personal questions about their lives, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, I asked the men in my hotel room questions about their relationship with private property, money and masculinity, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Do you consider your body to be your own private property ? If yes, how do you dispose of it ? Could there be any limitations to that ?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, How do you relate to masculinity ?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, When did you become aware of your sexual orientation? What was happening around you then in terms of politics, social atmosphere, the aesthetics of everyday life in general?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, What are your views on private property ?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Do you own real estate ? Is it inherited or are you in debt ? How much real estate do you own ? Are you also a landlord ?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, What’s your relationship with money?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Tell me about the place where you grew up. Was it a house or an apartment ? Were your parents renting or did they own it?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, When did you start earning money of your own? What were you doing then? What are you doing now for a living? How much do you make? Are you comfortable?, 2022, Print on Dynajet foil mounted on aluminium frame, 90 x 140 cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, I invited men into my hotel room and asked them very personal questions about their lives, 2022, Lacquered metal, printed silk, light bulb, 214.5 x 30 (d) cm

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, I invited men into my hotel room and asked them very personal questions about their lives, 2022, Lacquered metal, printed silk, light bulb, 184.5 x 25 (d) cm