FABRICE GYGI
11 FEBRUARY–28 MAY 2006

Fabrice Gygi. Born 1965 in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The city gives you the material but at the same time - the city keeps the control and controls the citizens."
Fabrice Gygi, from the audio guide*

Fabrice Gygi places riot barricades at museums, hangs up bombs so that they resemble chandeliers, and makes a provisional voting booth for an undecided nation. Artist Fabrice Gygi has compared himself to a figurative painter in that he copies objects that he observes in the world around him. Gygi uses their characteristics in forms and materials but displaces their function and context. At Magasin 3, the rooms are filled with sculptures in industrial and military materials such as stainless steel, tarpaulin, and tension straps. Gygi critiques authoritarian systems in our culture by studying everyday architecture and ordinary objects. He questions the police's preparations ahead of expected riots and our obsession with feeling secure. His objects demand reflection. Confusing resemblances emerge between an object made for torture and a monkey bar, between a refugee camp and a structure for housing a party. The same ambivalence is found the new work in two parts, "Aquarium"(2006) and "Chèvre" (2006), that the artist has created for the exhibition at Magasin 3. Are they intended for torture or are they playful? A solo exhibition of Fabrice Gygi's works is currently showing at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, California. Recently his works have been shown separately at Kunstmuseum St.Gallen and Musee d'art moderne et contemporain (Mamco), Geneva. The exhibition at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall is supported by Pro Helvetia - Arts Council of Switzerland.
*Listen to Fabrice Gygi talk about his artistry and works. The program is not linked to stations but can be listened to throughout the exhibition and the cafe. It can be downloaded on the website.

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CONTENTS:
The Aesthetics of Control essay by Irene Hofmann, curator Orange County Museum of Art.
The Request for Proper Local Authorization Will Prevail (for an asthetics of camouflage) essay by Jean-Charles Massera, Le Magasin, Grenoble.
Project for a Nudist Colony: Some Literary, Philosophical, and Political Fragments essay by John Miller.
Magasin 3 supplement prologue by Richard Julin, curator Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall and installation photos.
Exhibition catalogue published on occasion of the exhibition at Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California, Oct 2005 - March 2006. ISBN 3-905701-26-x. 159 pages, color, illustrations. The catalogue is available in English, French and German edition. Published by JRP|Ringier, Zurich, 2005
Price: 350 SEK (approx. 35 EUR)

The Aesthetics of Control
Irene Hofmann

For me art is like resisting. It helps me to survive in a society despite the fact that I completely disagree with it.
-Fabrice Gygi (1999)

Fabrice Gygi's works take the form of site-specific installations, large-scale sculptures, and functional public structures that reference the often-unnoticed architecture of authority in urban environments. In Gygi's works, objects such as bleachers, crowd-control barriers, podiums, loudspeakers, and tents become stripped of their civic or military utility and charged with an ambiguous political character. Many of his works take on a dual quality, bearing as much resemblance to a temporary structure to house a party or town meeting as they do to a site for a military tribunal or refugee camp. With recognizable forms and materials, these works are as familiar as they are alienating. Their apparent disconnection from service proposes new readings of their forms and an interrogation of the social, civic, and political power systems that they reference.

The formal legacy of 1960s Minimalism is strong in Gygi's works, evident in their forms and scale, their industrial materials, and their relationship to the viewer's body. In Gygi's hands, however, Minimalism's inherent aloofness and hermeticism give way to objects that are infused with potent social and political content. While the critique inherent in Gygi's works can at times be subtle, his forms are anything but. As with strategies employed by contemporary artists such as Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle or Adrian Piper, the impact of Gygi's social, racial, or political content becomes heightened in the alluring guise of the seemingly incongruous spare, polished, and minimal forms of his sculptures. To understand both the visual source of Gygi's materials and the forms and the roots of his conceptual vocabulary, it is useful to be aware of how his Swiss background has shaped his work. Born in Geneva, Gygi was raised in a culture in which the military is a pervasive presence and in which consensus, discipline, protection, and order are the hallmarks of public and private life and the basis for the country's social and political ideologies. With a foreign policy doctrine of armed neutrality, Switzerland maintains diplomatic relations with almost all countries and historically has served as mediator and host to major international treaties and summits. Belonging to neither NATO nor the European Union and having only recently joined the United Nations, Switzerland has maintained strict foreign and domestic policies intended to ensure the stability of its economy and the security and protection of its borders and citizens.

It is within this context that Gygi has lived his life, at first rebelling against rules and policies mandated by family, school, and government, and later presenting his critique in the form of artworks that subvert power structures and symbols of authority in all guises around the world. Whether creating a sculpture evoking Geneva's exaggerated build-up of riot and crowd control personnel and equipment on the eve of a world summit, a mobile hand-washing facility conceived as a response to New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani's "civility campaign" against street vendors, or a menacing watchtower in the middle of an exhibition in São Paulo as a means of addressing the public obsession with security, Gygi skillfully appropriates the materials and instruments of urban structures to present a multilayered critique of the authoritarian systems in our culture that are deployed under the pretext of safety and public interest.

Excerpt from the catalogue text by Irene Hofmann, 2005.

WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

"Clean Point", 1998
stainless steel, tarpaulin, soap, water
250 x 230 x 160 cm

"Vitrines", 2001
galvanized steel, tarpaulin, wood
two parts each 207 x 50 x 210 cm

"Cross Blocks", 2001
painted steel
each 160 x 160 x 160 cm

"Bancs", 2005
painted steel, wood
six elements dimensions variable

"Gradins", 1998-2000
galvanized steel, wood
two parts each 270 x 500 x 200 cm

"Tour", 2000
mixed media
270 x 500 x 200 cm

"Plafonnier", 2003
painted steel, lamps
five parts, dimensions variable

"Sound system sur chariot", 1997
aluminum, rubber, sound system, tarpaulin
100 x 100 x 80 cm

"Airbag Generation Yellow", 2001
PVC, straps, fan
100 x 500 x 500 cm

"Tente Bar", 1997
steel, zinc, wood, tarpaulin, straps
250 x 200 x 200 cm

"Cages", 2005
lacquered steel
three parts respectively 50 x 23 x 199 cm, 50 x 50 x 66 cm, 60,4 x 83 x 116 cm

"Cube", 2005
wood and lacquered steel
220 x 220 x 220 cm

"Mine", 2003
painted steel
220 x 73 cm

"Local de vote", 2001
galvanized steel, wood, tarpaulin, plexiglass
dimensions variable

"Aquarium", 2006
laminated glass lacquered steel, hose, water
200 x 200 x 70 cm

"Chèvre", 2006
lacquered steel, rubber
415 x 300 x 200 cm

ARTIST TALK

In collaboration with The Royal University College of Fine Arts
Fabrice Gygi talks about his recent works and exhibitions.

TIME: Tuesday February 7, 4.30 pm
PLACE: Konstakademien, Fredsgatan 12, Stockholm

AUIDIO GUIDE

duration 11 mins, in English

© Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, 2006

Download the sound file and listen to the artist Fabice Gygi talk about his artistry and works. Fabrice Gygi guides us round the exhibition at Magasin 3, and talks about his works. He mentions "Tente Bar" (1997) and "Sound system sur chariot" (1997), then he moves on to "Local de vote" (2001), "Airbag Generation Yellow" (2001), "Cross Blocks" (2001), "Mine" (2003) and "Plafonnier" (2003), "Vigie" (2002,), "Gentleman's Agreement" - a performance (2002) and finally, his new works "Aquarium" and "Chèvre", created for the exhibition at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall.

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