PARIS.- In Anne and Patrick Poirier’s polymorphous body of work, photography took a central though often unnoticed place, one asimportant as sculpture or installation art. This selection of close to 200 photos is a first attempt at a retrospective exhibit. In their search for a personal form of expression, they have journeyed, roamed sites, discovered whole civilisations, religions, and cultures, their roles alternating between those of archaeologist and architect. Using an artistic approach to human sciences, they travel through memory, a fundamental value to them. Calling our attention to the fragility of civilisations and cultures, their work is often based on ruins, catastrophes, and fragmentation. As multidisciplinary artists, all modes of expression are theirs to use.

Curators: Laure Martin, Laurie Hurwitz and Jean-Luc Monterosso.

A monograph, published by Flammarion, and with the support of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, the Mitterand gallery, and the Galleria Fumagalli, accompanies the exhibit.

RICHARD AND PABLO BARTHOLOMEW «AFFINITÉS»
Despite the twenty-five years separating the works of Richard and Pablo Bartholomew, the similarities between their subject matter, as well as their vision of Indian society, are striking. In this exhibit, the unusual works of a father and his son, the representations of two very different paths, find themselves in a face-off, yet joined by their quest for identity. Richard Bartholomew fled Burma during the Second World War. He settled in New-Delhi where he met Rati, his future wife and fellow refugee.

Meanwhile, his son Pablo watched him developing photos in his darkroom. The son was soon photographing his own youth throughout the 1970s. Their methods and process evolved side by side over the next three decades, building a unique portrait of post-independence India and its culture.

Curators: Rémi Ryterband and Jean-Luc Soret

LIU BOLIN "GHOST STORIES"
Liu Bolin was born in 1973, in the Shandong province of eastern China. In his first series, 2005’s “Hiding in the City”, he took portraits of himself camouflaged in the ruins of his workshop, situated in the heart of the artists quarter that had been razed by the Chinese government. It was a silent protest: by making himself invisible, Liu Bolin gained visibility. Since then, his work has been a mixture of photography, body art, optical illusions, and living sculpture. Posing for hours in front of a wall, a landscape, or a monument until, with the help of his painter assistants, he blends in completely with the décor, without resorting to any digital effects. He then immortalises the performance with a photo. Hiding in front of a flag, he illustrates the loss of individuality within a collective identity; lost in a supermarket, he denounces society’s consumerism.

Curators: Laurie Hurwitz and Romain Degoul

This exhibit is organised in collaboration withNeuflize OBC.

A conference-meeting is organised in collaboration with the Cité internationale des arts on September 14th at 7.30 pm in its auditorium.