Manifesto and A Portrait of Louise Bourgeois
Manifesto
Friday, March 8–Saturday, April 20, 2013
and
Sneak preview and U.S. premiere:
A Portrait of Louise Bourgeois
Grabigouji: Life of Disappearance
Friday, March 8 at 8pm
FIAF Gallery • Florence Gould Hall
22 East 60th Street, NYC
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York’s premier French cultural center, announced the opening of Manifesto, an exhibition featuring works from five New York-based artists: Ellen Berkenblit, Haley Mellin, Olympia Scarry, Lola Montes Schnabel, and Ena Swansea. Presented as part of Fashion at FIAF, a program celebrating fashion in March, Manifesto will be on view in the FIAF Gallery from March 8 through April 20.
Also on March 8, FIAF will present the U.S. premiere of Grabigouji: Life of Disappearance, a portrait of legendary French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois by her friend, the filmmaker Brigitte Cornand, at FIAF’s Florence Gould Hall.
Manifesto
Friday, March 8–Saturday, April 20; FIAF Gallery
Inspired by the article “Inside the Studios of Five New York Artists,” by Vogue Style Editor-at-Large Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, Manifesto is co-curated by von Thurn und Taxis and Antoine Guerrero, Director of Visual Arts at FIAF, and highlights a group of accomplished artists who draw inspiration from the city. Von Thurn und Taxis profiled the artists in November 2011, shortly after arriving in New York. To create a visual manifesto of her article, the curators asked each artist to present one artwork that offers a reflection on New York City.
“Each of the artists I interviewed draws an abundance of inspiration and drive from living in New York City—it is their home, their muse, and their creative laboratory,” said von Thurn und Taxis. “What I loved about my initial article was that it offered me the opportunity to interview these interesting artists and to discover this magnificent city through their eyes, their works, their creative process. To me, there is no better guidebook than firsthand insight from a creative mind.”
Sneak preview and U.S. premiere:
A Portrait of Louise Bourgeois
Grabigouji: Life of Disappearance
Friday, March 8 at 8pm, Florence Gould Hall
Brigitte Cornand, 2012. Color. 47 minutes.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, FIAF presents filmmaker Brigitte Cornand’s moving final portrait of her friend, the legendary French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois, an homage to the artist for her 100th birthday.
Presented as part of the “My Beautiful Women” series celebrating female artists through film. The series continues in March and April.
About Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis
Princess Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis is based in London and New York. In addition to her position at Vogue Magazine, she has published two books and contributes to German art magazines Die Weltkunst and ZEIT Magazin.
About Ellen Berkenblit
Ellen Berkenblit was raised in New York, where she currently lives and works. Berkenblit is represented by Anton Kern Gallery in New York, and has held solo exhibitions at Michael Benevento, Los Angeles and Susanne Hilberry Gallery, Detroit. She has also exhibited at Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve, Paris, and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.
About Haley Mellin
Haley Mellin participated in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program, and has exhibited at the SculptureCenter, Art in General, and Higher Pictures, New York.
About Olympia Scarry
Olympia Scarry is a Swiss artist who lives and works in New York. Scarry has exhibited internationally, including at the MOMA Baku, the Barbican in London, and the Venice Biennale, in addition to a solo exhibition at The Conduits in Milan.
About Lola Montes Schnabel
Lola Montes Schnabel is a painter and filmmaker who has held solo exhibitions at Tripoli Gallery, New York and Southampton, Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, Chia Studio in Rome, and The Hole, New York.
About Ena Swansea
Ena Swansea was born in North Carolina and lives and works in New York. Swansea has exhibited internationally, with recent exhibitions at Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg; 313 Art Project, Seoul; and ARNDT, Berlin. In 2010, she was the first American artist to complete the Goyesque, an ephemeral public artwork within the ancient Roman amphitheater in Arles, France.
About Brigitte Cornand
A former producer of art programs for the French television channel Canal+, Brigitte Cornand creates unusual avant-garde work that blends two enduring passions: film and art. Based in New York and Paris, revered video portraitist Cornand crafts documentary profiles of renowned artists and sculptors, offering a more intimate portrait of her subjects. Cornand has completed films on major artists, including Annette Messager, Joan Jonas, Nancy Holt, Jonas Mekas, Jean Nouvel, and many more. Each project represents an idiosyncratic form of collaboration between the filmmaker and the subject. A close friend of Louise Bourgeois, Cornand has directed several films on the artist since they first met in 1994.
Media contact: Natascha Bodemann / T 646 388 6677 / nbodemann [at] fiaf.org
