here - Justin Morin

Justin Morin. Selected works.
Sugar rush.
Curved and laser-cut aluminium, 67x80 cm, 2013.
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Poison.
Views of the exhibition. Galerie Jeanroch Dard, Paris, 2013.
How to drape a persistent doubt.
I take a shower, I'll be right back.
Polished steel and printed silk, 700x3 cm // 250x350 cm, 2013.
Black leather and colored concrete, size 9, 2013.
Poison and Opium.
Justin Morinʼs work lies at the borders of two different worlds. On the one hand is the world of art into which he frequently
dips for inspiration, in particular looking back at the art of the Sixties. The form of expression used in his polished steel bars,
silky colour gradients and kinetic sculptures is reminiscent of New York minimalism, the Californian light and Space movement
and Op art. On the other hand lies the world of fashion, fashion as an industry, which far from being limited to the universe
of the catwalk, also deals with the design and production of clothing, accessories and cosmetics, as well as creating an
imagery around its products, in other words marketing them. The exhibition highlights this awareness of the world of fashion
on many different levels, the most obvious being the pair of shoes that their owner seems to have left behind on the floor of
the gallery. They evoke the current fashion for jewelled shoes: shoes that are increasingly beautiful, sculptural, strange and
luxurious and less and less wearable it has to be said (here the soles are made out of concrete).
What is particularly interesting in this double positioning is less the fact of being part of a niche that has been exploited to the
full for the last 15 years (the artist caught between art and fashion) than what this position allows Justin Morin to say about
each of the two worlds. The worlds of art and fashion, that when allʼs said and done are not so close as some might think,
could be described as two industries producing objects of beauty and Justin Morin reveals some of the principles that underlie
their workings. The term industry implies a means of production as well as the implementation of marketing strategies, such as
the rapid renewal of the offer (fast fashion), the creation of more and more specialised niches to identify products and trends
created from nothing. as well as being a repertoire of forms that may be borrowed to good effect, kinetic art also allows Justin
Morin to highlight those sudden and all-powerful fads that sweep through both the worlds of art and fashion. at the start of
kinetic art, there was a widespread craze for this new art form. The term Bridget mania was coined (after Bridget riley and in
reference to Beatlemania) and kinetic art was almost immediately overexploited, used in many and varied forms (textiles, TV
set decors, film credits and motifs of every imaginable sort) to such a extent that riley herself went to court to stop the commercial exploitation of her work. It then came to be considered dated and was sent to the art history purgatory during three whole
decades, simply because it was so widely present throughout the Sixties and the Seventies. Vasarely for example still makes
people cringe. at the moment, it is the object of a new wave of enthusiasm amongst specialists, collectors and the general
public, the extent of which could be gauged at the recent Parisian exhibitions on Julio le Parc and Perceptual art.
Justin Morin also takes an interest in how advertising creates value, a process that is fundamentally based on the production
of photographic images (and more recently of short films). The source images for the silky colour gradients in his series how
to drape are mainly drawn from the iconography of advertising on which television, cinema, the press and Internet all thrive
and in which luxury, celebrity and fashion come together in a cocktail with the same imperative: seduction. What Justin Morin
finds most interesting however is that most special moment when the imperative metamorphoses objects and bodies into
images, a photographic alchemy which lies at the heart of the mechanics of advertising. The poison in the exhibitionʼs title
could be understood as a criticism of the workings of this society of the spectacle, or at least as evoking the artistʼs doubts as
he observes a system that has become almost toxic as it tries to outdo itself turning images into a poison.
In our opinion however, it is more a reference to Christian Diorʼs perfume Poison that was so popular in the 80s. It is also an
indication of the artistʼs continued quest to understand the nature of beauty, a questioning that is made clear in his series how
to drape, but which underlies his entire body of work. how can one manage to create a beautiful drape, a beautiful bouquet,
a beautiful sculpture, a beautiful exhibition? he already suggested one possible answer with La Ligne dʼHogarth (Hogarthʼs
Line) that referred, by means of a bouquet, to one of the principles of composition as defended by the English artist in The
analysis of Beauty.
With Poison, Justin Morin is seeking the principles of beauty elsewhere, in the sensuality of oriental fragrances to be exact.
The exhibition could just as easily have been called Opium because it immerses us in a concept of beauty dear to Baudelaire,
torn between modernity and classicism, composed of benzoin, incense and venomous flowers, but also shop windows, goods,
large cities and cosmetics. Baudelaireʼs vision of beauty is laid out for all to see, but it is not clear whether the artist really
adheres to the concept. In spite of these lingering doubts about the possibility of a form of beauty that could speak to everybody, and even of the very existence of a valid answer to the questions which float over this entire body of work like so many
silken veils, one desire remains: that a work of art, whatever it may be, no longer offers itself to the spectator as an image
does, but like a perfume. That it does not try to seduce the spectator at first sight, but remains constantly present in the mindʼs
eye now and ever after, like the memory of a heady musky scent that persists long after its wearer has gone.
Jill Gasparina.
How to drape a Vitalumiere Aqua Chanel foundation and a Rouge Allure Velvet lipstick.
Steel and printed silk, 2014.
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Not tonight baby.
Polyurethane foam and leather, size 9, 2014.
Justine.
From left to right :
Background.
Clémence.
Silver Lips.
Not tonight baby.
Exhibition view, Galerie Appartement, 2014.
Epoxy paint on steel, wood and books from the gallerist, 310x249x56 cm, 2014.
Video on loop, starring Clémence Poesy, 3'40, 2014.
Silver mirror laminate, 230x50 cm, 2011.
Polyurethane foam and leather, size 9, 2014.
Justine.
Acrylic on canvas and brass, diameter 30 cm, 2014. Special collaboration with Maison Sylvain Le Guen.
Following page, from left to right :
1° Each kiss you gave and gave to me so sweetly That when we loved, we made love so completely
2° Each time you touched, you touched just right through me Could you not see what you were doing to me
3° How was this heart of mine to know That one day you would go, How was my heart to know 4° Each time you smiled, you smiled for my eyes only A part of me forgot that I was lonely
5° And when you spoke, each word meant so much to me I could not hide the feelings going through me 6° How was this heart of mine to know that you, One day would have to go, How was my heart to know 7° And when love dies, why canʼt it just die swiftly It ends with pain as deeply with me 8° How was this heart of mine to know, that one day soon you would go How was my heart to know.
Acrylic on canvas and wood, diameter 26 cm, 2014. Clémence.
Video on loop, starring Clémence Poesy, 3'40, 2014.
Cold Water.
Carafe and glass, collaboration with CIAV Meisenthal, 2015.
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How to drape Petrolina's stage.
Chromed steel and printed silk, 800x2,5 cm // 320x700cm, 2015.
Petrolina.
Petrolina highlights the life of Piotr Tchaikovsky and encourages in-depth thinking around the concepts of writing, incarnation
and staging. After having drunken a glass of non sterilized water from the Neva, a gesture then considered as reckless due
to the related risks of disease, the composer became sick and died from cholera, just like his mother a few years prior to that.
The blurry circumstances surrounding his death gave rise to many rumors: mere accident, suicide or murder ordered by a court
of honor. The latter would have taken place following Tchaikovskyʼs relationship with Victor Stenbock-Fermor, a young 17-year
old officer, close to Tsar Alexander III. Unwilling to tolerate this type of relation, this « made up » declaration of death would
have allowed to maintain the composerʼs reputation, musical heritage as well as the virtuous image claimed by Russia.
Petrolina is the nickname that Piotr Tchaikovsky used to sign his correspondence with his brother Modest. In the latter, he
expressed his affection for his sister Aleksandra, his frustrations with his marriage with Antonina Miliukova, the ambiguity of
his patron, Nadejda von Meck, but also the torments of creation, his doubts and upset relationships. In spite of these many
documents, the Russian authorities continued to deny the composerʼs homosexuality and to re-write his life, more than a
century after his death.
Beyond the political questions thus raised, Justin Morin focuses on the mechanisms behind this re-writing. By entrusting the
roles of key characters surrounding Tchaikovsky to actors, he highlights the work of actors itself, whose function is to play the
role ascribed to them. Therefore, the gallery of photographic portraits presents them without make up or costume, in classic
poses, in a neutrality allowing each actor to project his own vision of the characters played by him. They are a paradox, a
contradiction between affirmation of the roles entrusted and dispossession of their own identity. Justin Morinʼs sculptural work
on the drapes explores this dialectic and should be seen like a stage set up. His large veils of fabric are akin to decors. The
carafe and the glass of water act as a narrative trigger, able to set the stage in motion.
Just like Brian de Palma – an important reference for Morin – refers to Alfred Hitchcockʼs work to better appropriate it, the
French artist refers to major movements of art history. From the « light and space » movement to minimal art, via optical art,
his work unfolds in a game of references, feeding his work with a multitude of ramifications, playing with perspectives and
winks. His approach to sculpture insists on the expressive qualities of the materials he uses (quasi-transparent silks, chrome and
shimmering metals) to bring a sensual dimension, almost erotic, to a vocabulary originally disembodied.
Justin Morin was born in France in 1979. His work was recently shown at the Galerie Appartement, Paris, at the Galerie
Jeanroch Dard, Paris/Bruxelles as well as in several art centers in France and abroad. He is also the author of a book entitled
Pèlerinage sur soi, in collaboration with the Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Petrolina is an ongoing project, the
ultimate goal of which is a video mixing dance and play. Petrolina, part 1, took place in February 2014 at the Frac Franche
Comté, Besançon (France) and presented a sound work around a flute concerto from Tchaikovsky, in collaboration with the
flutist Claire Luquiens.
Press release for Petrolina, part 2, Galerie Last Resort, Copenhagen.
The Composer. Christian Dumais-Lvowski is Piotr Tchaikovsky.
Inkjet print in frame, 28x35 cm, 2015.
The Wife. Kate Moran is Antonina Miliukova.
Inkjet print in frame, 28x35 cm, 2015.
The Mother. Sigrid Bouaziz is Alexandra Assier.
Inkjet print in frame, 28x35 cm, 2015.
The Brother. Pascal Greggory is Modest Tchaikovsky.
Inkjet print in frame, 28x35 cm, 2015.
The Patroness. Sarah Stern is Nadejda von Meck.
Inkjet print in frame, 28x35 cm, 2015.
How to drape the grace of a young body.
Chromed steel and printed silk, 200x2,5 cm // 265x180 cm, 2015.
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How to drape the hundred and one reflections of the Neva.
Steel and printed silk, 300x2,5 cm // 285x360 cm, 2015.
How to drape the sparkling of a Fabergé egg.
Chromed steel and printed silk, 230x2,5 cm, 2015.
Code.
Laser cut and painted aluminium, 50x60 cm, 2015. Edition of 13 pieces.
How to drape Cher's iconic Take me home album cover
(Picture © Alexander Saenen)
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How to drape the scales of a mermaid.
Polished steel and printed silk, 300x3 cm // 310x210 cm, 2015.
Epoxy paint on steel and printed silk, 150x3, 2015.