Silences

Annette Messager’s work voluntarily makes reference to popular practices and domestic use. Leaving off from a reassuring and playful universe, she nonetheless subtly implements the feminine condition, childhood and male-female relationships into her work and then clobbers them with a dose of irony. In the late 90’s, hand sewn words became an important component of her work. Poking fun at the silver screen, an allusion to Marcel Duchamp’s famous anagram, the rainbow colored letters in the word Ciineeemaa fill up space inviting us to participate in the game, to move the collective experience into the field of intimacy.

Ciineeemaa, 2001
Stuffed letters, rope, 10 elements; variable dimensions
Courtesy of the artist and the Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/Paris

© Adagp, Paris 2009

Berck-sur-Mer, 1943 – Lives and works in Malakoff