Jacques Jarrige presents new kinetic sculpture at European Cultural Center for the Biennale Contemporary Art Exhibition in Venice.
Artist Jacques Jarrige installs a new kinetic sculpture at Palazzo Mora as part of the European Cultural Center (ECC)’s sixth edition biennial Personal Structures – Reflections, from April 23 to Nov. 27, coinciding with the Venice Biennale.
Inspired by Auguste Rodin’s Eternal Idol—a work that fascinated Jarrige as a child—the hanging ensemble of two sculptures in hammered aluminum rotates in dialogue with ambient air movement. The sculpture is accompanied by a looping video of the artist’s process screened throughout the Venice Biennale.
This year, ECC’s exhibition revolves around the idea of “reflections,” understood as both the image created from a mirrored surface as well as a thought, idea, or opinion formed from meditation. In Idol, Jarrige explores the dialogue between the viewer’s gaze and the kinetic figures, developing their generative relationship through reflections created through his hammered surface. Offering a direct connection between artwork and audience, the work reaches toward something universal and fulfilling.
In Idol, Jarrige explores the dialogue between the viewer’s gaze and the kinetic figures.
At Personal Structures, the theme of reflection will embody the dual meaning of, on the one hand, a visible episode perceived by the eyes and, on the other, a mental deed stemming from the action of thinking and pondering with the mind. As envisioned by the ECC curatorial team, the act of reflecting carries the potential to foresee possibilities and the responsibility of imagining a better future.
The exhibition features a wide selection of artworks from internationally renowned and emerging artists, photographers, and sculptors, as well as showcase projects by worldwide academic institutions, all of which will be exhibited in the historical venues of Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora, and Giardini della Marinaressa, located in the heart of Venice.
Jacques Jarrige lives and works in Paris. He engages in ongoing experiments with humble materials and forms. His vigorous pieces of furniture reflect the impulsivity of drawings in space. His aluminum and brass sculptures reach new monumentality while retaining their vital purpose.
The installation is part of an important year for Jarrige, encompassing the launch of a site-specific sculpture at Saint John the Divine Cathedral Church in New York alongside the launch of a large aluminum commission, the Pfizer Cascade in the newly renovated 630 Flushing Building in Brooklyn, in partnership with COPE NYC. These are also a showcase of new artworks at Valerie Goodman Gallery (from April 16 to May 27) and a mid-career publication celebrating his work, featuring, among others, texts by curator and writer Glenn Adamson and by award-winning French novelist Maylis de Kerangal.