Talk

Dérives with Mona Varichon

Saturday 23 Apr 2022 from 2pm to 3:30pm

Free entry

The discussion is followed by a workshop led by the artist. In French.

A discussion to immerse yourself in the work of Mona Varichon, who recomposes images and sounds documenting social gatherings.

The video artist and Madeleine Planeix-Crocker (associate curator) discuss the sources that inform her work: the words of artists, sociologists and youtubers.

The discussion is followed by a workshop led by the artist.

Mona Varichon is an artist and a translator.

She wonders where and for whom artworks live, if art can exist online or in a community before it exists in a museum, and if that is where its most discerning viewers are. With the material and tools of everyday life, such as advertising, social networks or the words of those closest to her, her photos and videos draw a chronicle of the present time that seeks to pay homage to it, while revealing the sociological realities that drive it and make it worse.

Her work has recently been presented at the Capc musée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux; at the Festival Les Urbaines, Lausanne; at the Festival des Chichas de la Pensée at the Magasins Généraux, Pantin; at The Vanity gallery, Los Angeles and Balice Hertling, Paris; online at Renaissance TV, Chicago, Jeu de Paume Lab, Paris and Cinema 3, ICA London; at the experimental cinema l'Etna, Montreuil; at the Redcat Theatre and Echo Park Film Center, Los Angeles; at Fiesta Hall in Plummer Park and the Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood.

Madeleine Planeix-Crocker is Curator of Performance and Live Arts at Lafayette Anticipations. Since 2021, she has held the positions of the « Troubles, alliances et esthétiques » co-Chair and professor of art theory at the Beaux-Arts de Paris.

Madeleine received her Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University before pursuing a Masters in « Media, Arts and Creation » at HEC Paris and a Master 2 in gender and performance studies at the EHESS. There, she led an arts-based research project with the nonprofit Women Safe, where she continues to facilitate a creative writing and theatre workshop. Madeleine is currently completing her PhD at the EHESS ; her dissertation research examines contemporary methods for devising performance in France.

Her most recent writing can be found in CURA., OnCurating, SwitchOn Paper, and EarthKeepingEarthShaking. She has curated two group shows : Spine at GIANNI MANHATTAN as part of Curated by (Vienna, 2024), as well as Scabs at the Mécènes du Sud (Montpellier, 2023). Madeleine pursues her training in contemporary dance.