Tennis skirt batten board
Tennis skirt batten board is a vectorized drawing printed in large format: the piece measures almost two by three metres. Helen Marten depicted a reclining figure whose head is resting on a pillow. Only her head and legs are visible; the rest of the body is hidden under a space created by the assembly of three wooden beams, which suggests a door with nails driven into its frame. Stress toy keyrings are hung on some of them. The figure’s pose recalls a motif that is particularly common in Western painting: the reclining female nude presented to the public’s gaze. Here, Helen Marten reverses the acquired image and brings mystery into play. Is the character a man or a woman? Are they clothed or naked? What about the tennis skirt evoked by the title of the work? The playful aspect of Helen Marten’s artistic approach is on show here. She modifies an old model thanks to the possibilities offered by digital technology, then juxtaposes prefabricated objects and an assembly of pieces of wood with the printed design. This encounter between materials evokes the “collision of surfaces” that the artist experiments with in her work.
Text written by Audrey Pellerin as part of the partnership between the École du Louvre and Lafayette Anticipations – Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin.
Exhibition
CCS Bard Hessel Museum, New-York (États-Unis)
from 22 Jun to 22 Sep 2013