For her first solo exhibition at the gallery, Anne-Laure Wuillai presents a series of previously unseen works that question our representations of the tourist…
For her first solo exhibition at the gallery, Anne-Laure Wuillai presents a series of previously unseen works that question our representations of the tourist paradise. Water, a central element of the artist's plastic research, echoes La quadrature du cercle, her solo exhibition presented at the Palais Lascaris as part of the Biennale des Arts et des Océans. A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2014, the artist has for several years developed a singular approach of collecting and archiving. She methodically builds an inventory of samples: collected waters, gathered sediments, carefully catalogued fragments of shorelines, packaged and classified according to protocols she establishes. This quasi-scientific approach reveals the absurdity of trying to contain oceanic immensity within systems of measurement on a human scale. The oceans are placed in flasks, the seas in labelled plastic bags, while the sky is measured in fifty-three shades of blue. In the exhibition, Anne-Laure Wuillai deploys a bestiary of seaside archetypes: pools of perfect shapes, idealised sea islets, private beaches with controlled access. The exhibition confronts a coveted sea and a desire for paradise with an economic orchestration centred on the seaside resort. The landscape is literally consumed and the sea becomes a commodity, at the heart of a tourist economy where ice-cream sellers and souvenir shops coexist, in order to buy a moment of idleness. On the gallery's upper floor, the exhibition continues with the presentation of an overall project carried out during a year of research and creation residency on the island of Porquerolles, in collaboration with the Port-Cros National Park and the Frac Sud in 2023. Visitors will also discover upstairs a video by Hélène Baillot and Raphaël Botiveau, the fruit of this same residency. The video work Il faut imaginer une île reveals meticulous collection work: stories gleaned from residents, testimonies, sound and visual fragments make up a genuine contemporary cabinet of curiosities. With the support of the Centre national des arts plastiques for galleries / exhibitions © Anne-Laure Wuillai, 2025. Hélène Baillot and Raphaël BotiveauIl faut imaginer une île, 2022 From various accounts gathered at Port-Cros and Porquerolles, Hélène Baillot and Raphaël Botiveau have built a collection of information, images and sounds worthy of a cabinet of curiosities. The artists reveal the often little-known riches of the islands' heritage, from the point of view of the populations who inhabit them and mingle there: residents, visitors, park staff, non-human living species.. The whole of the National Park, and more particularly the island of Porquerolles, suffers every year from tourist pressure that weakens its natural areas. Nothing is more paradoxical than concentrating in exceptional places of contemplation and renewal if it is our very presence that endangers them. Coproduction: Frac Sud, Voyons-Voir, Parc…
