Wednesday 22.06.2016

An international selection of artists for La Littorale #6

An international selection of artists:
Art nOmad (France), Conrad Bakker (United States), Benedetto Bufalino (France), Shaun Gladwell (Australia), Joanna Malinovska - CT Jasper (Poland/ United States, Andrea Mastrovito (Italy), Robert Montgomery (Great Britain), Rachel Labastie (France), Fabrice Langlade (France), Lucy & Jorge Orta (Argentina/Great Britain/France), Laurent Perbos (France), Kemal Tufan (Turkey)

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From 26th August to 2nd November 2016, La Littorale #6 offers a journey through monumental works created by artists of several different nationalities, among them…

The Joanna Malinovska - CT Jasper duo (Poland/United States) has chosen the Anglet Biennial to present for the last time their extremely unusual installation Mother Earth, Sister Moon – a giant female cosmonaut in a space suit arising from the era of Soviet space travel, has unfortunately fallen out on the sky and onto the Bask coast. This sculpture and its colossal proportions houses, against all expectations, an unusual exhibition space. In 2013, for the Venice Biennial, the artists used it to present a fashion show.

The ephemeral works by Andrea Mastrovito (Italy) offer a reflection on migratory flows and the human condition. The sand sculptures created by this artist who is originally from Bergame, are in the shape of men and women in postures inspired by those of shipwreck victims and other migrants who have washed up on the European and Californian coasts, and will be laid out on the beaches of Anglet such that they will be gradually consumed by the waves, offering implacable power of suggestion.

Robert Montgomery (Great Britain) is a poet-sculptor. Paul Ardenne wanted him to be part of La Littorale #6 to present his light-poems. These are auto-luminescent installations used as a backdrop for poetic texts of powerful intensity. Through his words the artist addresses universal themes such as energy, love and human kindness in rare poetic language and using spectacular visual effects.

The collaborative work of Lucy & Jorge Orta (Argentina/Great Britain/France) explores social and ecological subjects through highly original works making use of the most diverse media. The signature of these two artists, one English, the other Argentinian, based in Brie, near Paris, and of world renown is, diversely, emergency design, recycled through intervention, fashion or even dishes or water treatment machinery. In Anglet, The Orta couple present an emergency vehicle exactly right for our times, a bus used as housing for people without official papers. This proposition is coupled with an encouragement made to biennial visitors to join their utopic nation Antarctica in exchange for a passport and a commitment to respect the environment on a daily basis.

It is by using humour, tinged with a hint of cynicism, that Laurent Perbos (France) transforms everyday items to make them part of a reflection on contemporary sculpture. His artistic concerns are focussed on ordinary items that he uses as materials. For La Littorale #6, he presents 'Babylon', fake palm trees made from pipes, rocks and plastic plants.

The 'U-BOAT' by Kemal Tufan (Turkey) is an allegory of power: the machine of terror that takes its place in an area to occupy it, watch it and, where necessary, punish it. This metallic installation, which looks like a boat washed up on the beach, will be covered, however, with coloured items of clothing, given by the public throughout the Biennial, in a legible metaphor of democratic control and power.


The sixth Anglet Bask Coast International contemporary art biennal has been named La Littorale, a name chosen to anchor this cultural event geographically. This time the event's artistic direction has been entrusted to writer and art historian, Paul Ardenne.

With La Littorale #6 the new curator wants 'selected artists to question the tensions and contradictions to which shores are now subject. This are in fact places that are sought after for the gentle lifestyle they offer as much as for being physical frontiers, limits, political spaces, bringing together stakeholders often with very different interests.'

Anglet adds to these aspects the idea of an 'ecological Eden, in grandiose natural surroundings'. The biennial thus restates its character as an open air exhibition, with wide open spaces for expression, where priority goes to themes linked to the complexity of the coastline: A leisure time seaside resort, a frontier contact area, a fragile rapidly evolving ecological space.


Communication and Press relation
Contacts France & international media
Agence Communication Culture
Sylvia Beder | sylvia@sylviabeder.com | t. +33(0) 1 42 18 09 42
Béatrice Martini | sbc@sylviabeder.com | t. +33(0) 1 43 20 51 07
www.sylviabeder.com

Contacts Anglet & regional media
Liane Béobide | l.beobide@anglet.fr | t. +33(0) 5 59 58 35 30
Nathalie Gomez | n.gomez@anglet.fr | t. +33(0) 5 59 58 73 01
Maryse Dupé | m.dupe@anglet.fr | t. +33(0) 5 59 58 35 60

Organization
Ville d'Anglet - Direction des Affaires culturelles et du Jumelage
Villa Beatrix Enea, 2 rue Albert-le-Barillier, 64600 Anglet. Tél. : +33(0) 5 59 58 35 60