08 Sep 2009

Boris Achour at Frac Champagne-Ardenne

Boris Achour's work constitutes an open, combinatorial system, one that is in perpetual evolution based on the affirmation of form, the joy procured from creating, and the necessity of making connections. It mixes heterogeneous elements without hierarchy from highly varied cultural and formal fields. Since 2006, Achour's work has been shaped by Spinoza's concept of 'conatus', namely, man's desire as a driving force, his will to persevere in his own being and increase his power to act. His exhibitions can be seen as episodes in a series in which the characters are works. These in turn form the elements of a constellation in constant expansion.

The point of departure for this Boris Achour exhibition is a short poem by Johann Scheffler, the 17th century German theologian and mystical poet better known as Angelus Silesius: 'The rose is without why, it blooms because it blooms, It pays no attention to itself, asks not whether it is seen'. From this quatrain, the artist draws a multitude of questions, notably with regard to the work's autonomy, sovereignty, and power of af-firmation, and the nature of its relationship to the spectator. These have nourished the conception of the works presented here, but they could also just as easily be so many points of entry into the exhibition. Boris Achour's work fully occupies all of the Frac, and he is true to the plurality that characterizes his work. He presents here an ensemble of new works that are at once heterogeneous and coherent.

Boris Achour was born in Marseille in 1966. He lives and works in Paris. Most notably, his work was shown in 'The Force of Art' at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2006 and in 2009, at 'September Spring' in Toulouse in 2009, the Biennial of Contemporary Art in Rennes in 2008, as well as in important international institutions such as S.M.A.K. in Ghent, the Montehermoso Cultural Center in Vitoria, and the Contemporary Art Museum of Bucharest. Boris Achour was awarded the Ricard Foundation Prize in 2002. He is represented by Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois in Paris.