Taking sixty pieces from her personal art collection, stylist, gallery-owner and activist Agnès b takes us on a journey from childhood to death, in eleven stages. There’s the joy of ‘Dansez!’, the tender yet erotic ‘L’Amour’, the inquisitive ‘Qui est-on?’… Then, following on from the frivolity of childhood pleasures, comes adulthood and work, indicated by a wall commanding “Do not work” in great, big letters - a piece by Rirkrit Tiravanija. This is a real artistic melting-pot, the works leading on from one another seamlessly, never leaving us in the lurch or letting us switch off.
But what really makes ‘Vivre !!’ is its diversity. Covering an artistic era ranging from 1930 to 2010, Agnès links renowned virtuosos (Andy Warhol, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, brassai or Basquait) to a lesser-know artistic scene - which is nonetheless bursting with talent. From Mona Hatoum and her globe-inspired tapestry to Kader Attia’s ‘Machine a rèves’ (Dream Machine) - a vending machine displaying both trivial and ‘necessary’ items – from sweets to hallal gin to an American passport.
‘Vivre !!’ urges us all to make the most of each and every moment, and upon leaving the exhibition we feel reinvigorated, taken by a furious desire to ‘exist’...
TRANSLATION: LEONIE CATER