Il faudrait que je me calme Group Show

Jean Claracq, Clément Courgeon, Joséphine Ducat-May, Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Johan Larnouhet, Maëlle Ledauphin, Pierre Seiter, Raphael Sitbon, Thomas Cap de Ville and Miranda Webster.
 
Mendes Wood DM Brussels is proud to present Il faudrait que je me calme, a group show curated by artists Nathanaëlle Herbelin and Jean Claracq.

With works ranging from painting – still life and portraiture – to photography, print, sculpture and performance, Il faudrait que je me calme places notions of collectivity and collaboration at the forefront of this exhibition. Herbelin and Claracq have selected eight young artists, formed in France and part of the same social and artistic circles that they move in, to share the exhibition space with them.

Reacting against a gallery system that can sometimes appear as tight-lipped, non-collegial and market-oriented, and prone to often favoring a handful of in-demand artists over others, Herbelin and Claracq want to open the floor to multiple voices – to young artists, at the start of their careers. “Artists know other artists better than anyone,” says Herbelin, “and that places us in the best position to be curators of a show like this. Artists are so generous with one another, and that’s so important.”

The title of the exhibition, which translates to “I should calm down”, loosely touches upon a number of ideas that Herbelin and Claracq were following while selecting the artists and artworks. “We came up with this title because many of these artists are in a way resisting the art world rhythm, which is inspiring to us. At the same time many of the works, the still-life and landscapes, for example, have meditative, contemplative qualities to them. We also wanted to somehow acknowledge the current global condition, which these artists seem to be completely outside of, which is rare,” Herbelin explains. “The title is like a sentence you might say to yourself when you are in a rush,” Claracq adds, “I feel that there is a multitude of artists reacting in different ways to this world, but always caring and meaningful – it’s a different perspective on anger.”