LISSE.- The LAM museum in Lisse, the Netherlands, has acquired the artwork C’est si bon by the French artist Alexandre Lavet. Last year, another piece by Lavet — two hand-painted beer cans — made global headlines after being mistaken for rubbish and thrown in the bin at the Dutch food art museum. The newly acquired piece, C’est si bon, is characteristic of Lavet’s work. At first glance, it appears to be no more than an ordinary takeaway bag from a bakery in Brussels. But look closer, and you will see that the paper bag was entirely handcrafted, carefully crumpled and hand-painted on Japanese paper. The artwork will be on display from Wednesday, 12 February 2025 until the end of the year as part of the LAM museum’s new exhibition.
Found objects?
Alexandre Lavet (1988) is known for his art featuring everyday objects. While attending a residency in New York, he was once asked to keep his receipts for expense claims. Struck by their beauty, he decided to recreate some of the receipts by hand. He soon began to draw other mundane items as well — pages from books he was reading, restaurant bills, flyers and shopping bags.
“I enjoy playing with the boundaries between everyday life and art”, explains Lavet. While his artworks may seem like ready-mades or found objects, similar to the famous urinal by Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and Marcel Duchamp, they are, in fact, painstakingly handcrafted works of art.
Brussels bakery
C’est si bon was inspired by one of Lavet’s favourite bakeries in Brussels of the same name. “I just loved the design of the paper bag — the colours and the pattern on the sides. I really want to draw it,”, says Lavet.
Jaring Dürst Britt of The Hague-based art gallery Dürst Britt & Mayhew explains, “The paper bag was created entirely by the artist. He spent a long time looking for the right kind of paper to make the bag, with its typical crumpled quality, look as realistic as possible.”
Breakfast
The LAM museum's upcoming exhibition will feature the new acquisition. From Wednesday, 12 February 2025, the third floor of the museum will be devoted to a single theme: breakfast. Featuring works by artists, such as Martin Parr, Elspeth Diederix, Ana Navas, Rafaël Rozendaal, Jennifer Levonian, Navid Nuur, Magali Reus, Renzo Martens, Alicia Framis and Ron Mueck, the exhibition will spotlight different types of breakfast people, from grab-and-go eaters and health enthusiasts to fry-up fans.
Viral
The LAM museum is known for its playful approach to exhibiting art. It showcases artworks not only on walls and exhibition plinths but in unconventional locations as well.
“The theme of our art collection is food and consumption”, says museum director Sietske van Zanten. “Our art encourages visitors to see everyday objects in a new light. By displaying artworks in unexpected places, we amplify this experience and keep visitors on their toes.”
Alexandre Lavet’s now-famous beer cans were exhibited in the museum’s glass lift shaft, as if left behind by construction workers. In autumn 2024, they were mistaken for rubbish and thrown away by a conscientious lift technician. After recovering the artwork from a bin bag, the museum issued a light-hearted press release about the incident.
The story quickly went viral. The BBC ran a live prime-time interview with director Sietske van Zanten, and curator Elisah van den Bergh was invited on Japanese television to talk at length about the mishap and the museum itself. Fox News Channel, The Guardian, The Hindustan Times, Qmusic, CNN, Radio 538, Der Spiegel, Daily Mail and The New York Times all reported on the story, with a video on the French media platform Brut. quickly amassing 3.8 million views.
