Pre-Natal Phase

Pre-Natal

I called this phase ‘Pre-Natal’, then ‘Baby’ (2011–2013): the years of my bachelor’s degree at ECAL, with Philippe Decrauzat as my tutor. I wanted to move my practice away from what is called contemporary art, towards the historical notion of the avant-garde, and to understand what an avant-garde could still mean. In 2013 I wrote that we take part in a universalised avant-garde, in which every individual artist embodies the collective by supporting the work of fellow artists, notably by showing it in the exhibitions they curate.

The space in which I presented my work counted for a great deal. The white cube of the exhibition and digital media both became places to work with. Brian O’Doherty’s writing on the white cube and Marshall McLuhan’s The Medium Is the Massage showed me the weight of the context in which art is presented.

My practice was mostly installation. Taken alone, my pieces could be seen as words; presented together or in groups, they became a sentence. I was interested in the limits of an object or a performance when it meets other elements. The succession of works on a wall could be imagined as film editing, in a ‘sequence style’, and each visitor’s drift through the space edited it again. Several pieces came with notes instead of a fixed place: a canvas to be hung at eye level, a wall painting that stops at the highest point the painter can reach, a video that asks for its pale blue outline to be painted on the wall when it is projected.

Labels and wall texts became part of the research. Texts and ideas should accompany a work without overshadowing it or dictating how it is read: the visitor decides what they understand, according to their background or their mood, and this freedom left to the viewer is a great achievement of art. In 2012 I made Playing Labels (Cartels à Jouer), a deck of 37 cards: each card is the label of a work, with notes on how to show it. Robin Lebey and Frédéric Gabioud made some of the cards; the deck’s rule is that tournaments of labels must be held regularly.

I came to treat every space involved in making art as material: the studio, the exhibition, printed formats and curatorial formats, through text, installation, painting, video, music and performance. Curating and my own practice began to meet. The deck of labels went furthest: P+ begins there.

Studio > < Exhibition
variable objects, variable dimensions
2013

Accident Painting
resin, phosphorescent spray, cotton canvas, spruce
121 × 31 × 4 cm
2012

C. R. O. M.
Group show with Paul Limoujoux, Nicolas Degrange and Camille Store
Tour Saint-Georges
Saint-Émilion, France
1–9 September 2012

Une Histoire de Plage
chair, latex, tarp, latex, tarp
130 × 80 × 35 cm
2012

L’une
resin, oil bottle
20 × 20 × 60 cm
2012

Levier
resin, bottle rack
60 × 40 × 40 cm
2012

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vk2P0PdWOPQ

4pm
video with sound
49 min 51 sec
2011

Mic/Not Working
écal
Renens, Switzerland
2012

Playing Labels (Cartels à Jouer)
37 playing cards, 62 × 87 mm
2012

Notes:
The origin of P+; the whole deck is P+ N.
PDF: English / Français

1/2 Agnès Martin
acrylic on canvas
76.4 × 76.4 × 2.5 cm
2012

Notes:
The best conditions for this canvas to be fully appreciated are met when it is hung at eye level, and is more than one size away from the other pieces.

1. 1/2 Agnès Martin

   Arthur Fouray,
   acrylic on canvas,
   2012,
   76.4 × 76.4 × 2.5 cm.

   Notes:
   The best conditions for this
   canvas to be fully appreciated
   are met when it is hung at eye
   level, and is more than one size
   away from the other pieces.

Arthur Fouray,

P+ N

CHROME
canvas on frame, spray-painted
2012

Notes:
This canvas can be displayed vertically, or diagonally, depending on use. The white wall is a quality choice.

1. CHROME

   Arthur Fouray,
   Canvas on frame,
   spray-painted,
   2012.

   Notes:
   This canvas can be displayed
   vertically, or diagonally,
   depending on use. The white wall
   is a quality choice.

Arthur Fouray,

P+ N

Arthur Fouray
Ok?
Installation view
Galerie Toroni, écal
Renens, Switzerland
2012

Arthur Fouray
Deux Rêves
Installation view in Ok?
Galerie Toroni, écal
Renens, Switzerland
2012

Et alors ? – PDF, French, 4 pages
Exercices de recherches – PDF, French, 9 pages
Espace / Sous-espace – PDF, French, 3 pages
Iceberg – PDF, French, 5 pages
Pour le plus beau des arts, essayez le Pop – PDF, French, 42 pages

Dal(le) Erranc(e)
2 resin bricks
25.5 × 12.5 × 6 cm
2012

Notes:
These two bricks must be presented side by side on the floor. The arrangement is left to the curator’s discretion.

PEPITO
resin and foam on Sagex
25 × 25 × 3 cm
2012

Notes:
This sculpture must imperatively be shown on the wall, at a height other than 175 cm.

1. PEPITO PIZZA

   Arthur Fouray,
   Resin and foam
   on sagex,
   2012.

   Notes:
   This sculpture must imperatively
   be shown on the wall, at a height
   other than 175 cm.

PEPITO PIZZA
Arthur Fouray,

P+ N

https://www.youtube.com/embed/moM7aVeR0Gc

P.A.V.
video with sound
14 min 23 sec
2012

P.A.S.
book on printed canvas
27 × 46.5 × 3 cm
2012

Notes:
This testimonial-sculpture is to be placed on the floor. Connection with the video ‘P.A.V.’ is not necessary.

1. P.A.S.

   Arthur Fouray,
   book on printed canvas,
   2012,
   27 × 46.5 × 3 cm.

   Notes:
   This testimonial-sculpture is to
   be placed on the floor.
   Connection with the video
   “P.A.V.” is not necessary.

Arthur Fouray,

P+ N

FAUX PLAFOND
rosette (white) on painted wall (blue)
125 × variable height × 2 cm
2012

Notes:
The rosette should appear on an azure/sea-blue background. The wall must be painted with scotch tape on the left and right, starting at the floor. The wall painting stops at the highest point the painter can reach. Paint is applied with a roller.

1. FAUX PLAFOND

   Arthur Fouray,
   Rosette (white) on
   painted wall (blue),
   2012.

   Notes:
   The rosette should appear on an
   azure/sea-blue background. The
   wall must be painted with scotch
   tape on the left and right, starting
   at the floor. The wall painting
   stops at the highest point the
   painter can reach. Paint is
   applied with a roller.

Arthur Fouray,

P+ N

FROMAGE
four layers of resin, yellow, orange, then 2× yellow, on object
25 × 70 × 15 cm
2012

Notes:
This panoptical object should be placed intelligently on the floor. It can also play with ‘FROMAGE (BIS)’.

1. FROMAGE

   Arthur Fouray,
   Four layers of
   resin, yellow, orange,
   then 2× yellow,
   on object,
   2012.

   Notes:
   This panoptical object should be
   placed intelligently on the floor. It
   can also play with “FROMAGE
   (BIS)”.

2. FROMAGE (BIS)

   Arthur Fouray,
   Spray paint and
   resin on object,
   2012.

   Notes:
   This panoptical object should be
   placed intelligently, on the floor,
   on the wall or on the ceiling, to
   raise a question about its
   function. It can also play with
   “FROMAGE”.

Arthur Fouray,

FROMAGE (BIS)
Spray paint and resin on object
2012.
Notes: This panoptical object should be placed intelligently, on the floor, on the wall or on the ceiling, to raise a question about its function. It can also play with “FROMAGE”.

P+ N

DE)a(F – PDF, French

Pre Natal Portfolio – English PDF
Pre Natal Portfolio – two-page PDF view