At first glance, at the edge of the gallery, the photos are striking. The three shots by Joseph Dadoune, a Franco-Israeli, approach the flesh to the very extreme of its tissues: the blood of a heart sipped through a straw, kidneys outside a man’s body, a leashed dog skinned alive… Reality or fiction? That is the entire suggestion of these photographs.
But each is full of mystery, which only the public can interpret. Is it really a dog? And why is the Mona Lisa naked on a chair wearing a sailor’s cap? At the inauguration, Frédéric Méliani, photographer of the shot “The Mona Lisa”, was present and could answer us: “this photo is a futuristic projection treated in the style of reportage.
In this vision, the auctioning of human beings exists.” How to know the key to a work if its author is not there to guide us? Fortunately, art enthusiasts are there, and gallery managers deal directly with the artists; they know their way of working and the interpretation of their works.
“We are here to convey messages. Art serves to show things while interpreting society,” declares Chantal Helenbeck, manager of the Nice gallery, as well as a second one in Paris. She assumes the role of guide for an evening and alternates interpretations alongside Frédéric Méliani.
The bodies photographed by Halil Koyutürk are those of Turkish transvestites and transsexuals. They don’t shock but rather question. He works according to the tradition of reportage to get closer to this very closed environment, especially in Turkey. As for Ellie Badessi, he works in a more traditional and technical manner. His shots are all developed the old-fashioned way, far from digital. His bodies contrast between black flesh and the white material ranging from salt to sand. And Maxim Puglisi? His work is very original: a ballpoint pen tattoo on a photo! Everything is in the superimposition. “It is a real work of transgression that challenges the virginity of the image,” explains Fred Méliani.
But the most unusual group of photos is that of the “Arglove” collective; both in its way of working and in the result. The public can only wonder about the activity of all these characters brandishing a firearm around a “dead” and naked body. And in the middle of some scenes, a polar bear? A phrase comes to clarify the stagings: “Don’t kill the bear’s skin before you’ve sold it.” By reversing the well-known proverb, Arglove stages the theme of hunting Humans. And human flesh appears to us as a trophy displayed to everyone’s gaze. Regarding this anonymous collective, it works according to a board game strategy. Models and themes change depending on the group, which is composed of anonymities. You just need to contact them to participate.
Feel like escaping? Art is not inaccessible. You just need to enter. The Helenbeck gallery welcomes you in Nice, 6 rue Defly, from Tuesday to Saturday from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. And for the lucky ones passing through Paris, they will be able to enjoy, from September 19, the exhibition of Sarah Stites. Originally from the USA in Miami, she will exhibit on flesh and… hair! 5m long watercolor panels and in Indian ink.
Info: www.galeriehelenbeck.com
