Davide Balula - Galerie Frank Elbaz

Davide Balula

Davide BalulaBorn in 1978 in Portugal. Lives and works in Paris and New York..http://davide.balula.free.frhttp://www.lappareil.comEducation2004 DNSEP, École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy, France2002 DNAP, École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg, FranceSolo Exhibitions (selection)2014 Davide Balula, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brusells, Belgium2013 1. Turn West / 2. Form a Circle with your Mouth / 3. Let the Sun Set In, Francois GhebalyGallery, Los Angeles, USA2012 The Buried Works, galerie frank elbaz, Paris, France2011 Wall to Wall, Blackston, New York, USANiagara Falls and Cranberry Leaves, Gallery Clifton/Benevento, NY, USA2010 Introduction, (avec Charlie Jeffery), La Chambre Claire, Annecy, FranceLe compas dans l’œil, galerie frank elbaz, Paris, France« Là », Uma Certa Falta de Coerência, Porto, Portugal2009 American Wall Nut, Fake Estate Gallery, NY, USAThe Doors behind the darts, Envoy Gallery, NY, USA2008 Le Lac, le mensonge, Confort Moderne, Poitiers, France (catalogue)2007 De la place pour le sable, galerie frank elbaz, Paris, FranceEndless Pace, Museums Quartier Wien, Vienna, AustriaSirène du Mississipi, Musée de l'Objet, Blois & Ecole des Beaux Arts de Châteauroux &Bourges, FranceSirène du Mississipi, Project Room, CCC, Tours, FranceWhite Hey Mister Wave !, SMP, Marseille, France2006 L’Appareil : Un inventaire de la Collection, Nuit des Musées, Musée d’Art Contemporain duVal de Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, FranceFree Hand, Second Hand, Galerie du Jour Agnès b, Paris, France2005 Low Fidelity, Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, FrancePerformances2014 Squares, François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, USAPalais de Tokyo presents Bright Intervals, MoMA PS1, New York, USADes choses en moins, des choses en plus, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France2013 Analog Heart, Machine Project, Los Angeles, USAA Sculpture to Open Doors, Elizabeth Cline & Machine Project, Los Angeles, USAAir Drawings of the Guggenheim Museum, New York, François Ghebaly Gallery, Los

Painting Extravaganza, Cardi Black Box, Milan, Italy, curated by Ilaria BonacossaGuatavita, Eleven Rivington, New York, USALa musique du hasard, Palais de Thau, Reims, FranceHabitat (Some Pleasures and Discomforts of Domestic Life), 21st21st, NY, USALes Elixirs de Panacée, Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France, curated by Ami BarakThe Zero Budget Biennale, KLEMM’S, Berlin, GermanyCe qui vient, Les Ateliers de Rennes - Biennale d’art contemporain, Couvent des JacobinsRennes, FrancePerpetuum Mobile, Four boxes Gallery, Krabbesholm Hojskole, Skive, DanemarkBlindspot, The Wild Project, NY, USAAu fil de l’œuvre, La Galerie, centre d’art contemporain, Noisy-Le-Sec, FranceThe Zero Budget Biennale, Rokeby, London, UKInfinite Fold, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, FranceON/OFF, La Platine, Ecole Supérieure d’Art et de Design de Saint-Etienne, FranceBlack Mirror, Centre d’art scénique contemporain, Lausanne, SwitzerlandCharles Fourier. L’écart absolu, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie, Besançon, FranceThe Zero Budget Biennale, Pianissimo, Milan, Italy2009 Un nouveau festival, Centre George Pompidou, Paris, FranceZero Budget Biennale, Galerie Cardenas/Bellanger & Galerie Schleicher/Lange, Paris,FranceToe, Tap, Stomp, Step, Stamp, Spank, Snap, Slide, Shuffle, Shim, Sham, Scuff, Riffle, Pick,Leep, Hop, Heel, Flap, Dig, Click, Clap, Chug, Brush. Wing. Fake Estate Gallery, NY, USASeven in one ! seven in one third !!, Kate Werble gallery, NY, USAZweckgemeinschaft, Mica Moca, BerlinL’avenir d’une Illusion, Centre d’Art Contemporain Passages, TroyesRobot Monkey Baby Jesus Part I, Monkey Town, Brooklyn, NY, USAMesure du désordre, Le parvis centre d’art contemporain, Ibos, FrancePicnic, Domaine Départemental de Chamarande, FranceAs Small As It Gets, Art Since the Summer of '69, curated by Hanne Mugaas, Paul-AymarMourgue d’Algue, Fabienne Stephan, NYC, USAReturn to Function, MMoCA, Madison, USA, curated by Jane SimonBuilder Vor Boatin, Silver Shed, NY, USA, curated by Dirk Skreber008. Collections, nouvelles connexions, Frac Poitou-Charentes, Angoulême, France2008 The Possibility of an Island, MOCA, Miami, USAJe reviendrai, nouvel accrochage permanent du Mac/Val, Vitry-sur-Seine, FranceUovo open Office, Berlin, GermanyNuit Rouge, CCC, Tours, FranceAntidote, Galerie des Galeries, Galeries Lafayette, Paris, FranceVolume(s), Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain, LuxembourgThe Sound Of Art, TONSPUR_expanded at Freiraum/quartier21 and in the public space atMuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Austria, curated by Georg Weckwerth2007 The Sound of Music, Broelmuseum, Courtrai, BelgiumInventaire 2, MacVal, Vitry-sur-Seine, FranceDu machinique et du vivant, La Réserve, Pacy-sur-Eure, France, curated by Régis DurandScience Fictions, Czarna Gallery, Poland, curated by Severin DünserL’amorce ou la partition des possibles (sculptural bootlegs and remixed artworks), LIA, GrenobleAnzengruber Biennale, Caté Anzengruber, Vienna, AustriaThe lab, Into position, Vienna, AustriaThe Potential Meanings of Sound, Seoul, KoreaThe ubiquitus aural SFX, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, KoreaSongwon Art Center, Seoul, Korea

Davide BalulaRiver Painting (Napa Creek, Napa, CA), 2014, sediments on canvas, 30 x 38 in., UniqueRiver Painting (Napa Creek, Napa, CA), 2014, sédiments sur canvas 76 x 97 cm , Pièce unique

Davide BalulaBuried Painting (St-Claude), 2012-2013, Particules de terre sur toile, 83,5 x 62,5 cm, Pièce uniqueBuried Painting (St-Claude), 2012-2013, Dirt particles on canvas, 32 5/6 x 24 2/3 in., Unique

Davide BalulaRiver Painting (Big Sur River, California), 2013, Sédiments sur toile, 100 x 150 cm, Pièce uniqueRiver Painting (Big Sur River, California), 2013, Sediments on canvas, 39,3 x 59 in., Unique

Davide BalulaUntitled, 2009, planche, 150 x 80 cm, Pièce uniqueUntitled, 2009, plank, 56 x 33 in., Unique

Davide BalulaUntitled (Stretcher for Guggenheim, NY), 2011, Toile, bois, 250 x 170 x 25 cm, Pièce uniqueUntitled (Stretcher for Guggenheim, NY), 2011, Canvas, wood, 98 1/2 x 67 x 10 in., Unique

Exhibition views

Davide BalulaVue d’exposition, 2013, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FranceExhibition view, 2013, Georges Pompidou Center, Paris, France

Davide BalulaVue de la Performance Air Drawings of the Guggenheim Museum, NY, Davide Balula a invité la gymnasterhytmique Ani Keshishyan a utiliser son ruban et interpréter l’architecture iconique du Musée Guggenheimdessiné par Frank Lloyd Wright, FRANCOIS GHEBALY GALLERY, 2013View of the Performance Air Drawings of the Guggenheim Museum, NY, Davide Balula invited rhythmicgymnast Ani Keshishyan to use the ribbon and interpret the architecture of the iconic Guggenheim Museumdesigned by Frank Lloyd Wright, FRANCOIS GHEBALY GALLERY, 2013

Davide BalulaVue de l’exposition Les expériences Pommery, 2012, Caves Vranken-Pommery, Reims, FranceView of the exhibition Pommery’s experiences, 2012, Vranken-Pommery Cellars, Reims, France

Davide BalulaVue de l’exposition The Buried Works, 2012, galerie frank elbaz, ParisView of the exhibition The Buried Works, 2012, galerie frank elbaz, Paris

Davide BalulaCan’t Remember The Speed Of The Blast, 2007, Pétards, Structure, Dimensions variables, 2 ex.Can’t Remember The Speed Of The Blast, 2007, Firecrackers, framework, Variable dimensions, 2 ex.© Pierre Antoine20’000 pétards accrochés sur un pied de micro explosent en même temps. Il ne reste au sol que les débris. Unediffusion sonore haute fréquence à peine audible (16KHz) provoque une sensation acouphène telle une fausse cicatriceauditive.20’000 firecrackers hung on a mic stand explode at the same. Some residue of the red paper is left on the ground. Ahigh frequency (16KHz) simulates an artificial tinnitus.

Davide BalulaSpeaking in Flames (The Voice of the Fire Breather), 2014, FIre breather, English Interpreter. Performanceview, MoMA PS1.Speaking in Flames (The Voice of the Fire Breather), 2014, Cracheur de feu, Interprète en anglais. Vue de laperformance, MoMA PS1.

Davide BalulaThe Endless Pace (Variation for 60 Dancers), 2009, Chorégraphe: BIba Bell, Performance d’une heure,590 Madison Ave, New York City, Performa Biennale, 2009The Endless Pace (Variation for 60 Dancers), 2009, Choreography: BIba Bell, 1h performance,590 Madison Ave, New York City, Performa Biennale, 2009

Davide BalulaVue de l’exposition Le Lac, le mensonge, Le Confort Moderne, 2008, Poitiers, FranceView of the exhibition Le Lac, le mensonge, Le Confort Moderne, 2008, Poitiers, France© Pierre Antoine

Texts

Davide Balula, T Magazine, February 27th 2014

Davide Balula, Le Monde, February 28th 2014

Christopher Knight, “Davide Balula”, in Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2013.French artist Davide Balula takes a deep dive into a shallow pool for his new painting installation. Thedisarming reversals are confounding.The stairs, floor and three surrounding walls of the step-down room at Francois Ghebaly Gallery, whereBalula is having his Los Angeles debut, are painted a rich turquoise blue, its watery luminosity enhancedby the skylight overhead. Three large, pristine white canvases hang on the walls.Like Robert Rauschenberg’s 1951 white paintings, Balula’s capture only ambient light and shadow. Butthe French artist’s paintings are not conventional rectangles. Instead, three-dimensional polygons slope atthe bottom and curve away from the wall, almost like peeling paint.The paintings’ eccentric format derives from the tilted, sloping curved walls on the spiral ramp of theGuggenheim Museum, which architect Frank Lloyd Wright conceived as an ideal foil for easel paintings.The design, transferred here from New York to L.A., also switches the established relationship betweenWright’s walls and rectangular paintings hanging on them. The color likewise flips, trading in the NortheastAtlantic for a Southwest Pacific hue.Balula’s installation is titled with a set of instructions: “1. Turn West / 2. Form a Circle With Your Mouth/ 3. Let the Sun Set In.” Standing in his chromatically saturated, unconventional space makes one oddlylightheaded, all the while demanding close scrutiny in order to determine what is generating the swoon.At the entry Balula stuck pairs of colored pencils into several electrical sockets. An enigmatic gesture, itturns out to neatly prefigure the way the painting installation jams the circuits of standard Light and Spaceart.Francois Ghebaly Gallery, 2600 La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, (310) 280-0777, through March 2. ClosedSun. and Mon. ghebaly.comhttp://ghebaly.com/

Audrey Illouz, “Davide Balula”, in art press, N°391, July-August 2012.

Mara Hoberman, “Davide Balula”, in artforum.com, June 4th, 2012.

Emmanuelle Lequeux, “Davide Balula”, in Le Monde, April 22th 2012

Lillian Davies, “The Reluctant Studio Practice of Davide Balula” in www.artinamericamagazine.com, January 21st,2011Close WindowThe Reluctant Studio Practice of Davide Balulalillian davies 01/21/10Currently artist in residence at La Galerie, Noisy-le-Sec, French artist Davide Balula welcomed me to his studio in the Parisian banlieue on asnowy day in mid-January. Completing a nine-month residency at the public art space run by Director Marianne Lanavère, he is in the processof preparing work for group shows at La Galerie and Thaddeus Ropac (opens February 13), and a solo show at Frank Elbaz (opens February27)."A studio practice is really a very recent thing for me—before it was just the computer and the telephone," explained Balula, who moved into hisfirst studio in November 2008 as an artist in residence with Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in New York City. "I'm still doing the same type ofwork... it's just the attitude that may have changed." We first spoke about his work Endless Pace (Variation for 60 Dancers) (2009), which wasincluded in the PERFORMA 09 program. Since his laptop has been relegated to the kitchen, we watched a bird's-eye-view recording of theevent on the artist's iPhone."Work in two dimensions has always made me uncomfortable," said Balula as he introduced the work in his street level studio. "I've alwaysworked with sculpture, but I recently had the desire to develop a graphic practice—while keeping the idea of things that change with time."Describing painting as a "trace of action," this past year he has been working on a series of two-dimensional compositions on cardboard andwood: an archive of gestures—random scratches, splattered paint, pieces of colored tape—made during the realization of other works. Whilereflecting the artist's actions over time, as well as the real volume of the cardboard surface and the depth incurred by inscription, he considersworks like Cardboard Painting from the Watercolor Pencil Series (2010) autonomous, and plans to show them as paintings.Addressing the painterly representation of landscape, he has also begun another series in two dimensions: images of riverbeds, including thoseof the East River and the Seine, made by throwing a large piece of canvas, filled with pebbles and tied with a rope, into the waterways. Afterleaving the canvas submerged for about two hours, he pulls it back to shore, creating a visual record in water stains, algae and mud. Expansesof untreated canvas, the final works, East River Painting (2009), La Seine Painting (2010), and Douro Painting (2010), feature green or blacksmudges (depending on the health of the river), accumulations of silt and the occasional leaf of an underwater plant—poetic compositionsshaped by Balula's plunge into the natural environment.Above the stairway, a new monochromatic work, Burnt Painting #2 (2009) made from six even planks of dark charred wood aligned in a neatlyframed rectangle recalls Balula's ongoing concern with temperature, and materials that change over time. He mentioned Alberto Burri and LucioFontana—recalling the latter's assault on the monochromatic picture plane—as references in the creation of the carbonized surface. Nearby, ona white wooden board Balula found in the basement of La Galerie, he has cultivated an expanse of mold (Mildew Painting, 2009). With the helpof a humidifier, he has encouraged the growth of a wide swathe of black spores. I suggested the English word "corral" as a way to describe histreatment of material in each of these works. Engaging with fire, mold, riverbeds and the traces of actions gone "wild" in his studio, Balula is likea ranch-hand herding cattle, maintaining their safe transference and containment. Working with deliberate, arbitrary constraints, he opens hisconstructions to nature and chance. Balula agreed with my assessment, and tapped the piece of cowboy vocabulary into his phone.The last series of works Balula showed me were drawings made by sharpening a pencil above a textured sheet of paper in the rain. CobaltGreen, for example, from the series Watercolor Pencil Sharpened Under The Rain (2009), looks like the trace of a small explosion. Blue greenpencil shavings and a powdery dust bloom across the page, melting into the paper towards the edges with the flow of the rain. ReferencingMarcel Broodthaers' film La Pluie (Project pour un Texte) (1969), in which the artist writes in the rain only to see his words vanish with the fallingdrops, Balula taps into the poetry of futile action while successfully creating an enduring image. He gave a number of the works from this seriesto his family for Christmas presents—"the best ones of course," he laughed. Looking outside we decided it might be a good idea to try making afew more drawings in the snow.PHOTOS BY DAVIDE BALULAfind this article: http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/conversations/2010-01-21/studio-visit-