Camille Henrot
The Pale Fox
28 February–13 April 2014
Chisenhale Gallery
64 Chisenhale Road
London E3 5QZ
Camille Henrot: The Pale Fox
Chisenhale Gallery is pleased to present an ambitious new commission and the first UK solo exhibition by French New York-based artist Camille Henrot (b. 1978). Titled The Pale Fox, this new installation develops from Grosse Fatigue (2013)—the film Henrot presented at the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013, for which she was awarded the Silver Lion for most promising young artist. Demonstrating the breadth of Henrot’s output, this exhibition comprises an architectural display system, found objects, drawing, bronze and ceramic sculpture, digital images and sound.
The Pale Fox articulates our desire to make sense of the world through the objects that surround us. Unfolding like a frieze across the four walls of the gallery, a polymorphous aluminium shelf provides a structure wherein the four points of the compass are aligned with stages in an individual lifecycle, the evolution of technology, philosophical principles of Leibniz and the four Classical elements: fire, water, earth and air. This highly personalised aggregation of distinct systems of thought is presented through an intense accumulation of objects and images encountered within a highly constructed, meditative environment.
The title of Henrot’s exhibition is taken from an anthropological study of the West African Dogon people published by Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen in 1965. Dogon mythology is thought to incorporate the belief systems of several different cultures, as well as astronomical, mathematical and philosophical systems of thought. Within this meta-narrative, the character of the ‘Pale Fox’ represents disorder and chaos but also creation, bringing about the formation of the sun.
For Henrot, the fox is an ambivalent animal and a potential model for our primitive selves, thriving on waste and instigating a cycle from which accumulation and excess become productive again. Henrot is interested in entropy and disorder as fertile foundational principles in creative practice and the construction of knowledge. The Pale Fox reveals the element of disorder implicit in any system and the contradiction of this aspect of failure as a condition of its completion.
Exploring varying scales and chronologies, from the history of the universe to the universe of the artist’s studio, the exhibition becomes a model for information storage and retrieval—rolled and stacked images become objects, and objects from museum collections are substituted with Ebay purchases and scrolling slideshows on digital picture frames. Henrot relates the construction of knowledge to haptic and sensual experience, reflecting our common desire, evidenced in spheres from the artistic to the domestic, to create model worlds of fantasy and symbolism as a means of inhabiting reality.
Camille Henrot (b. 1978) lives and works in New York. Recent solo exhibitions include the New Orleans Museum of Art (2013); Slought Foundation, Philadelphia (2013); kamel mennour, Paris (2012) and Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris (2010). Group exhibitions include Companionable Silences, Nouvelle Vague, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013); A Disagreeable Object, SculptureCenter, New York (2012); and Elles, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2010). Henrot was nominated for the Prix Marcel Duchamp in 2010 and received the Silver Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013. She is shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize 2014 and has a forthcoming solo exhibition at the New Museum, New York, opening in May 2014.
Exhibition events:
Friday 28 February, 7pm
A screening of recent films by Camille Henrot, including Grosse Fatigue (2013), at Tate Modern’s Starr Auditorium. The screening will be followed by a discussion between the artist and Dan Fox, Co-Editor of frieze magazine. This event is produced in partnership with Tate Modern. Tickets can be purchased directly from Tate at www.tate.org.uk.
Saturday 22 March, 2pm
A tour of Camille Henrot’s exhibition by writer and curator Shanay Jhaveri.
Saturday 12 April, 3–4pm
A workshop for children aged 4 to 7 years old led by artist Yuki Okumura as part of his ongoing project Anatomy Fiction. Okumura will lead participants in an activity to visualise the inside of their bodies and create life-sized drawings of their imaginary anatomy for a special one-day exhibition on Sunday 13 April.
Sunday 13 April, 1–6pm
A special viewing of the works created by children in Yuki Okumura’s Anatomy Fiction workshop. The exhibition will take place in the studio and is a chance for family and friends of the participants, as well as gallery visitors to view the work.
Unless otherwise specified, events are free to attend but booking is strongly advised. Please contact mail [at] chisenhale.org.uk to make a reservation.
The Pale Fox is commissioned and produced in partnership with Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen; Bétonsalon – Centre for art and research, Paris; and Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, where the exhibition will be presented in 2014–15.
Camille Henrot’s exhibition is supported by Cass Sculpture Foundation; Shane Akeroyd; Fluxus, Franco-British programme for contemporary art; The Henry Moore Foundation; and the Camille Henrot Supporters Circle.
With thanks to kamel mennour, Paris and Johann König, Berlin.
Chisenhale Exhibitions Partner 2014: Fiorucci Art Trust
Chisenhale Gallery
Registered charity number 1026175
Chisenhale Gallery is a registered charity and we rely on donations from trusts, foundations and individuals to realise our programme of exhibitions, events and education projects. Please support the gallery by making a donation. All donations directly support the production of new work by emerging artists. For details on how to support Chisenhale Gallery please visit our website at www.chisenhale.org.uk.
