Made up characters and fictional worlds—in Irina Kulik’s next lecture focusing on the practices of Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and Patrick Corillon.
French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (b. 1965) addresses a variety of themes, including history, literature, and cultural memory. She works in cross-disciplinary manner, with her mediums ranging from installations, videos and films to books, performances, and unannounced interventions. She also curates exhibitions, designs public art and site specific pieces often referencing other artists. For instance, her commission for Manifesta 10 (St Petersburg, 2014)—a large-scale work installed in the General Staff building—quoted iconic underground artists from 1980–1990s Leningrad and St Petersburg, Timur Novikov and Sergey Kuryokhin. Participant of the Venice Biennale, Documenta and many other international shows, Gonzalez-Foerster exhibits across the world, with her works featured in the leading museum collections. She lives and works in Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
Patrick Corillon (b. 1959) is a Belgian artist who lives and works between Paris and Liege and teaches art at the Fine Art school of Nantes. In the 1980s, Corrillon introduced a number of fictional characters whose lives have become the core of his practice. For instance, he writes books under the alias Oskar Serti—a made-up author born in Budapest in 1881. His ultimate works may take almost any forms, from drawings and sculptures to videos, texts, found objects, books, and films. Corillon has exhibited at the world’s major museums and galleries, including Tate Modern and Royal College of Art, London; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Palais de Beaux-Arts, Brussels, among many others.
