Claire Fontaine Explained

Nationality:Italian / British
Education:Università degli Studi di Padova, Paris VIII / Glasgow School of Art
Known For:Conceptual art, Human Strike, ready-made artist
Claire Fontaine
Website:http://www.clairefontaine.ws
Caption:Fulvia Carnevale and James Thornhill at the House of Commons, Portikus, Frankfurt, December 2016
Birth Date:Founded in Paris, France 2004
Notable Works:Foreigners Everywhere (Arabic), 2005, In God They Trust, 2004

Claire Fontaine is a feminist, conceptual artist, founded in Paris in 2004 by Fulvia Carnevale and James Thornhill, an Italian-British artist duo who declared themselves her assistants.[1] Since 2018 Claire Fontaine lives and works in Palermo and has a studio in the historical centre of the Kalsa near Piazza Magione.

After lifting her name from a popular brand of French school notebooks and stationary, Claire Fontaine declared herself a readymade artist[2] [3] and began to elaborate a version of neo-conceptual art that often looks like other people's work. Claire Fontaine translated into English means "Clear Fountain" and can also be conceptually linked to the artwork Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, known as the most famous readymade.[4]

Work

Claire Fontaine uses the concept of the readymade as a way of criticising "production" disguised as a creation of more and more artefacts that are desirable because they superficially appear as new. Generally she works with appropriation on a formal level and she hijacks contents, using sculpture, installation, video and painting to create an emotionally loaded criticism of the author and the forms of authority at this stage of capitalism. This aesthetic approach that she describes as "expropriation", a way of giving an existential use value to pre-existing objects and artworks, also addresses the general crisis of singularity, which she describes as the individual and collective impossibility to give a meaning to one's life under the current political circumstance and the systematic surveillance, repression and countless limitations of our freedom. Claire Fontaine prefers to integrate the existing art circuit to create complicities and foster change which entails partaking in the mechanisms and subjects of the art industry including collectors, dealers and institutions.[5]

In an Interview with Circa Art Magazine in 2008 she states: "I think forming gangs, mafias, collectives, networks, bands of people is a way to survive in the hostile capitalist system and then eventually a way to become a pressure group, in order to transform these particular conditions."[6]

Writing and text based pieces play an important role in Claire Fontaine's work. She distributes texts in her exhibitions and she uses different registers in her writing such as poetry, critical theory, essays and manifestos. The artist criticises the hierarchy between visual and verbal expression.

In February 2020 she was invited by Maria Grazia Chiuri to create the mise-en-scène for Dior's Autumn/Winter 2020 collection for Paris Fashion Week which took place in the Les Tuileries. The artist used the catwalk to perform an operation of Institutional Critique investing the floor and the ceiling; she presented Newsfloor (Le Monde Pixelisé) (2020) and several large suspended LED signs stating for example: Patriarchy Kills Love, When women strike the world stops, Feminine beauty is a ready-made or Patriarchy = Climate emergency.[7] [8]

Monographs

Books

Writings

Interviews

Solo exhibitions

Further reading

[106] The Reader, Steidl & Partners 2009

External links

Notes and References

  1. Huberman. Anthony. Fontaine. Claire. 2008. Claire Fontaine. BOMB. 105. 22–29. 40428018. 0743-3204.
  2. Fontaine. Claire. 146876233. 2014. Ready-Made Artist. Qui Parle. en. 22. 2. 57–68. 10.5250/quiparle.22.2.0057. 10.5250/quiparle.22.2.0057. 1041-8385.
  3. Web site: Claire Fontaine. OperaViva Magazine. it-IT. 2020-05-26.
  4. News: Claire Fontaine. en. frieze. 105. 2020-05-27. 0962-0672.
  5. Web site: – Interview with Claire Fontaine: "Historical Fiction as Realism". 2008-05-25. realism working group. en. 2020-05-27.
  6. Harbison. Isobel. Gianni. Ilaria. 2008. The Glue and the Wedge: The Cases of Claire Fontaine and Canell and Watkins. Circa. 124. 48–53. 10.2307/25564920. 25564920. 0263-9475.
  7. Web site: Artist Claire Fontaine on the Dior Autumn-Winter 2020–2021 Set. YouTube. 2020-05-28.
  8. Web site: The incredible feminist decor from the Dior show in pictures. Vogue Paris. 25 February 2020 . en-GB. 2020-05-27.
  9. Book: CLAIRE FONTAINE : newsfloor.. 2019. Verlag DER BUCHHANDLUNG W. 978-3-96098-689-8. [Place of publication not identified]. 1126550396.
  10. Web site: VIAGGIO IN SICILIA #8 Free EnergyTribute to Ettore Majorana. 2020-06-09. Planeta Winery. en-US.
  11. Book: Claire Fontaine (Artist collective). Claire Fontaine : foreigners everywhere.. 2012. Walther König. Museion (Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy). 978-3-86335-170-0. Köln. 811743592.
  12. Book: Katrib, Ruba.. Claire Fontaine : economies. 2010. Museum of Contemporary Art. McDonough, Tom, 1969–, Claire Fontaine (Artist collective), Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami, Fla.). 978-1-888708-38-7. North Miami, FL. 652540968.
  13. Web site: Lo sciopero umano. 2020-06-09. DeriveApprodi. it-IT.
  14. Book: FONTAINE, CLAIRE.. LA GRVE HUMAINE : et lart de crer la libert.. 2020. DIAPHANES. 978-2-88928-046-9. [Place of publication not identified]. 1145103636.
  15. Web site: The Human Strike Has Already Begun & Other Essays. 2020-06-09. Mute. en.
  16. Book: Claire Fontaine (Artist collective). Human strike has already begun & other writings. 2013. 978-1-906496-88-3. London. 880682049.
  17. Book: Claire Fontaine (Artist collective). Human strike has already begun & other writings. 2013. 978-1-906496-88-3. London. 880682049.
  18. Web site: Claire Fontaine. Notas sobre economía libidinal (2011). 2020-06-09. Issuu. 31 March 2020 . en.
  19. Web site: Some instructions for the sharing of private property – Claire Fontaine – onestar press. 2020-06-09. onestarpress.com. en-GB.
  20. Web site: Éditions Dilecta. 2020-06-09. Éditions Dilecta. en.
  21. Book: Fontaine., Claire. Vivre, vaincre. Dilecta. 2009. 978-2-916275-50-5. Bilingual. Paris. 370359154.
  22. Web site: Claire Fontaine: Towards a Theory of Magic Materialism. 2020-06-09. diaphanes.fr. fr.
  23. Book: Hoffmann, Jens, 1974–. In the meantime : speculations on art, curating, and exhibitions. 31 March 2020. 978-3-95679-491-9. Berlin. 1114864084.
  24. Web site: The Visitor as a Commercial Partner: Notes on the 58th Venice Biennale. 2020-06-09. e-flux.com. en.
  25. Web site: È solo l'inizio / Rifiuto, affetti, creatività nel lungo '68. 2020-06-09. OperaViva Magazine. it-IT.
  26. Book: È solo l'inizio : rifiuto, affetti, creatività nel lungo '68. Bussoni, Ilaria,, Martino, Nicolas. 2018. 978-88-6948-107-9. Prima edizione. Verona. 1090171407.
  27. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  28. Book: Press, The MIT. Boredom The MIT Press. Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art . 27 January 2017 . 2020-06-09. The MIT Press. 9780262533447 . en.
  29. Book: Boredom. McDonough, Tom, 1969–. 2017. 978-0-262-53344-7. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 956263935.
  30. Web site: il manifesto. 2020-06-09. it-IT.
  31. Web site: Our Common Critical Condition. 2020-06-09. e-flux.com. en.
  32. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal » Weed and the practice of freedom. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  33. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  34. Web site: We Are All Clitoridian Women: Notes on Carla Lonzi's Legacy. 2020-06-09. e-flux.com. en.
  35. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  36. Fontaine. Claire. Fall 2009. Toward an Imageless Political Education. Diacritics, A Review of Contemporary Criticism, Johns Hopkins University Press, No.23. 39. 7–19. Project Muse.
  37. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  38. Web site: Human strike within the field of libidinal economy. 2020-06-09. The Anarchist Library. en.
  39. Book: Descent to revolution. 2010. Bureau for Open Culture. Voorhies, James Timothy., Bureau for Open Culture., Columbus College of Art and Design.. 978-0-9797476-4-9. Columbus. 649513797.
  40. Web site: Download Petit manuel de torture à lusage des femmes-soldats ePub eBook @4423A70628A820AC72B148D5F39303E9.FARMACRED.COM.AR. 2020-06-09. 4423a70628a820ac72b148d5f39303e9.farmacred.com.ar.
  41. Web site: 2020-06-09. L'immanenza del linguaggio: un dialogo con Claire Fontaine . 2020-06-09. Flash Art. it-IT.
  42. Morletto. Eva. 20 May 2020. L'arte di essere libere.
  43. Web site: Collecteurs. 2020-06-09. collecteurs.com.
  44. Web site: Pretend to be dead. 2020-06-09. White Fungus. en.
  45. Web site: Crano. Claire Fontaine, Andrew Culp and Ricky. Claire Fontaine, Andrew Culp and Ricky Crano: Claire Fontaine / Radical Philosophy. 2020-06-09. Radical Philosophy. en-US.
  46. Web site: 2012-02-03. Claire Fontaine: "La nostra Italia bruciatache alla fine non cambia mai...". 2020-06-09. La Repubblica.
  47. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  48. Web site: Art Papers. 2020-06-09. artpapers.org.
  49. Harbison. Isobel. Gianni. Ilaria. 2008. The Glue and the Wedge: The Cases of Claire Fontaine and Canell and Watkins. Circa. 124. 48–53. 10.2307/25564920. 25564920. 0263-9475.
  50. Web site: Circa Art Magazine • Writings on Visual Arts in Ireland. 2020-06-09. Circa Art Magazine. en-US.
  51. Web site: Claire Fontaine by Anthony Huberman – BOMB Magazine. 2020-06-09. bombmagazine.org. October 2008 .
  52. News: Filipovic. Elena. Josef Strau. en. frieze. 109. 2020-06-09. 0962-0672.
  53. Web site: Claire Fontaine Zoo Galerie. 2020-06-09. fr-FR.
  54. Web site: Zoo Galerie. 2020-06-09. fr-FR.
  55. Web site: Claire Fontaine – "Taccuini di Guerra Incivile" — T293. 2020-06-12. t293.it.
  56. Web site: Air de Paris – Claire Fontaine – Téléphone Arabe. 2020-06-12. airdeparis.com.
  57. News: Lack. Jessica. 2008-07-11. Exhibition preview: Perplexed In Public, London. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-05-27. 0261-3077.
  58. Web site: Perplexed in public. 2008. Kunstaspekte. 2020-05-28.
  59. News: Johnson. Ken. 2008-12-05. The Art Fair as Outlet Mall. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-05-27. 0362-4331.
  60. Web site: Claire Fontaine – 11.02 – 19.03.2011. 2020-06-09. airdeparis.com.
  61. Web site: Air de Paris – Claire Fontaine. 2020-06-09. airdeparis.com.
  62. Web site: "No Family Life": Claire Fontaine at Air de Paris. 2011-09-20. The Toronto Review of Books. en. 2020-05-28.
  63. Web site: Equivalences, 2012, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris. 2020-06-09. Galerie Chantal Crousel. en.
  64. Web site: Généralités – Claire Fontaine – galerie Chantal Crousel – Critique. Salmeron. François. 18 April 2012. paris-art.com. 2020-05-27.
  65. Web site: Claire Fontaine CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts. 2020-06-09. archive.wattis.org. en.
  66. Book: Considine, Liam. https://books.google.com/books?id=bqtqDwAAQBAJ&pg=269. France and the Visual Arts since 1945: Remapping European Postwar and Contemporary Art. 2018-09-20. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. 978-1-5013-4154-0. Dossin. Catherine. 269. en. Claire Fontaine, Redemptions.
  67. Web site: Claire Fontaine Launches Contemporary Art Series in Museum Lobby. 2020-06-09. The Jewish Museum.
  68. Web site: The Jewish Museum. thejewishmuseum.org. 2020-05-27.
  69. Web site: CLAIRE FONTAINE Stop Seeking Approval. Considine. Liam. 2015-04-02. The Brooklyn Rail. en-US. 2020-05-27.
  70. Web site: May our enemies not prosper Galerie Neu. 2020-06-09. galerieneu.net.
  71. Web site: Galerie Neu. Artforum. 23 June 2016 . en-US. 2020-05-27.
  72. Web site: Berlin – Claire Fontaine: "May Our Enemies Not Prosper" at Galerie Neu Through July 15th, 2016. en-US. 2020-05-27.
  73. Web site: Claire Fontaine / Same war time zone. HOLDING. en-US. 2020-05-28.
  74. Web site: confort moderne. 2020-06-09. confort-moderne.fr.
  75. Web site: 2019-03-08. La borsa e la vita, Claire Fontaine e il capitalismo in mostra al Ducale di Genova. 2020-06-09. Repubblica TV – Repubblica. it.
  76. Web site: redazione. 2019-05-02. Carige per i Rolli Days apre al pubblico collezioni d'arte e caveau. 2020-06-09. Liguria Business Journal. it-IT.
  77. Web site: OK NO SYNNIKA. 2020-06-09. synnika.space.
  78. Web site: 2020-04-11. Galerias Municipais de Lisboa Your Money and Your Life. 2020-06-09. Galerias Municipais de Lisboa. pt-pt.
  79. Web site: Verso. 2020-06-09. versobooks.com.
  80. Web site: 2020-05-21. Out of This Disaster, New Approaches to Art May Emerge. 2020-06-09. Literary Hub. en-US.
  81. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal » On Claire Fontaine at Reena Spaulings, Los Angeles. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  82. Web site: MAY, Quarterly Journal. 2020-06-09. mayrevue.com.
  83. Web site: 2020-02-26. PFW FW20: Dior's Ode to the Past is a Path to the Future. 2020-06-09. Whitewall.
  84. News: Dürrholz. Johanna. Paris Fashion Week: Sorry, das ist Poster-Feminismus. de. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 2020-06-09. 0174-4909.
  85. Book: A companion to feminist art. Robinson, Hilary, 1956–, Buszek, Maria Elena, 1971–. 978-1-118-92917-9. Hoboken, NJ. 1081376220.
  86. News: Collettivi di artisti, sul mercato l'unione fa la forza. it. Il Sole 24 ORE. 2020-06-09.
  87. Web site: il primo amore. 2020-06-09. ilprimoamore.com.
  88. . Beech . Dave . Marina Vishmidt: Speculation as a Mode of Production – Forms of Value Subjectivity in Art and Capital . Art Monthly . 425 . April 2019 . 37–38 .
  89. Book: Vishmidt, Marina.. Speculation as a mode of production : forms of value subjectivity in art and capital. 2019. Haymarket Books. 978-1-64259-051-7. Chicago, IL. 1088740454.
  90. Book: Frantzen, Mikkel Krause. Going nowhere, slow : the aesthetics and politics of depression. 29 November 2019. 978-1-78904-215-3. Winchester, UK. 1124609251.
  91. Web site: Maida. Desirée. 2019-08-21. Claire Fontaine per l'ottava edizione di Viaggio in Sicilia di Planeta. 2020-06-09. Artribune. it-IT.
  92. Web site: Storie dell'Arte / Claire Fontaine, ready-made per riflettere sul senso delle cose. 2020-06-09. Corriere della Sera. it.
  93. Book: Mansoor, Jaleh, 1975–. Marshall Plan modernism : Italian postwar abstraction and the beginnings of autonomia. 30 September 2016. 978-0-8223-6245-6. Durham. 930683605.
  94. Web site: Andrea Rossetti. 2019-04-12. Prendi i soldi e vivi! exibart.com. 2020-06-09. exibart.com. it-IT.
  95. Web site: Les pompiers entre dévouement et amertume . 2020-06-09 . Le Monde diplomatique.
  96. Web site: il manifesto. 2020-06-09. it-IT.
  97. Web site: 2016-12-20. Claire Fontaine . 2020-06-09. Flash Art. en-US.
  98. Web site: GG. Are We All Migrants? Zérodeux / 02. 2020-06-09. en-GB.
  99. Web site: 2015-07-03. Portrait Claire Fontaine. 2020-06-09. Spike Art Magazine. en.
  100. Chari. Anita. Crisis and Redemption: Claire Fontaine on the Critique of Neoliberalism. Contemporary Political Theory. January 2013 . en.
  101. News: Wiley. Chris. Claire Fontaine. en. frieze. 146. 2020-06-09. 0962-0672.
  102. Web site: 2012-01-18. Locating Claire Fontaine. 2020-06-09. Temporary Art Review. en-US.
  103. Book: Art since 1900 : modernism, antimodernism, postmodernism. 2011. Thames & Hudson. Foster, Hal.. 978-0-500-23889-9. 2nd. London. 765578047.
  104. Web site: Just who on earth is Claire Fontaine? - Art. 2020-06-09. Time Out London. en.
  105. Web site: Conversation entre Claire Fontaine et Manuel Fadat. 2020-06-09. calameo.com.
  106. Web site: Exhibitions. 2020-06-09. New Museum Digital Archive. en.
  107. Web site: Get Lost: Claire Fontaine – a-n The Artists Information Company. 2020-06-09. en-US.
  108. Web site: Fulvia Carnevale and John Kelsey. 2020-06-09. Artforum. March 2007 . en-US.
  109. News: Claire Fontaine. en. frieze. 105. 2020-06-09. 0962-0672.
  110. Web site: Musings on the Mutinies to Come The Village Voice. 2020-06-09. The Village Voice. 11 October 2005 .
  111. Book: Tiqqun.. Conscious organ of the imaginary party : exercises in critical metaphysics. libcom.org. 2011. 978-1620490099. Paris. 896732445.
  112. Tiqqun. 2000. Theory of Bloom. libcom.org.
  113. Book: Fontaine, Claire. Ready-made artist and Human Strike: A Few Clarifications. mute. 2009.
  114. Web site: Fontaine. Claire. readymadeartist.
  115. Web site: Fontaine. Claire. readymadeartist. Twitter.