Cuturi Gallery is a next generation art gallery founded on the belief that art should be empowering and meaningful for everyone. A curator of change and a custodian of artistic diversity, Cuturi Gallery is a challenger of vested interests and of the status quo, pushing the boundaries of how galleries operate. The gallery connects broad audiences to high-quality art by diverse talents that speaks to the heart and tells the story of an undiscovered generation of aspiring artists that will have the art world aching for more. Diminishing aristocratic traditions and providing transparency in an art world that is at times daunting, Cuturi Gallery presents an inclusive and democratised art ecosystem which fosters greater collaboration, understanding and appreciation of art amongst artists, collectors and the industry at large.
61 ALIWAL STREET, SINGAPORE 199937 +65 6980 3068 | +65 8182 0214 | SINGAPORE@CUTURIGALLERY.COM CUTURIGALLERY.COM
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Cuturi Gallery is pleased to present Past Forward, a solo exhibition of Vincent Fournier (b.1970, France). In marking the French artist-photographer’s inaugural exhibition in Singapore, Past Forward will bring together a selection of work from his critically acclaimed series Space Project (2007–), Brasilia (2012–), and from the latest Kosmic Memories (2020–). Primarily working in photography, Fournier produces imaginary archives that envision different mythologies for the future. Fournier is driven by a curiosity for utopias, where his photographs span through the lenses of space exploration, visionary architectures, and the
technological transformation of the living, among others.
By
capturing current technological advancements in his exploration of futuristic fiction, Fournier’s photographs reside in a liminal space across different temporalities of our past, present and future. His choice of subject matter not only gives rise to certain aesthetic and philosophical concerns about our existence, but also embodies a capacity to generate stories that straddle between the real and imagined realms of what our world could come to look like. While bordering several oppositions between fact and fiction, science and faith, the ambiguity in Fournier’s images goes beyond these simplistic binaries to expand the field of possibilities toward visualising, dreaming and imagining of our future. His works can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), the Centre Pompidou, and Fondation Louis Vuitton, among others. Most recently, Fourier has staged solo exhibitions at the Fondation Bullukian, Lyon (2019) and Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna (MAMbo), Bologna (2017). In addition to major group exhibitions at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2019), Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2019) and the ArtScience Museum, Singapore (2017). For Past Forward, Fournier will be presenting works from his founding series Space Project (2007–). Tracing the historical trajectory of space exploration, Space Project (2007–) documents man’s fundamental desire to explore and discover the infinite Universe and its unknowns. Such encompasses historical moments of humanity’s adventure in space, from the space race during the Cold War, to Project Apollo in charting man’s first steps on the Moon, to the future NASA Space Launch System (SLS) destined for Mars. Fournier presents otherworldly cinematic scenes of researchers in sterile environments, elaborate futuristic-looking machines across research centers, and space-suited men traversing mysterious terrains. Dreaming beyond the observable Universe, Fournier’s photographs provide glimpses into man’s relationship with the vast emptiness of space, reflecting and extending into the varied considerations of the larger cosmos we inhabit.
Conceived at the beginning of the space age, Brasilia (2012–) examines the architecture of the Brazilian capital located in the middle of the desert. Conceptualized and designed by urban planner Lucio Costa and architect Oscar Niemeyer, Brasilia is a city fossilised in a utopian future as imagined in the 60s, and currently sits on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Bearing geometric abstractions of minimal and open qualities, the structural elements of the city’s architecture emanates a promise for the future, albeit tinged with nostalgia. As part of his staged photographs, Fournier places local inhabitants against the city’s monumental architectural features, transforming each image into a life-sized stage. The theatricality of his scenes lends to a surrealness in thinking about the constructed fantasies of our collective future.
Brasilia
(2012–)
appears to be suspended in
time, documenting a city of tomorrow frozen in time, caught between the past and the future. Kosmic Memories (2020–) reveals extraordinary architectures, veritable totems of civilization of the future erected as so many signs of a possible elsewhere. Built mostly in concrete and at the tops of stellar landscapes, a telluric power from elsewhere emerges from these monumental architectures. Their location, while often a place of memory, also coincides with dawn or dusk, with a lateral light that reinforces their strangeness. "Where does it come from? Where did it come from? What is inside? Where and when will it start again? Who, the snow that holds back or the sky that calls (reminds?) Will have the last word? Fournier's eye creates a link with the unfathomable mystery of the endless universe. And he asks: where did it come from? When is it going to start again? Or not.
Through Past Forward, Fournier brings us on a journey in navigating and contemplating the varied aspects of humanity’s ambiguous future, one that is filled with expectations, unease, and aspirations.
PAST FORWARD: VINCENT FOURNIER ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS SPACE PROJECT (2007–)
Ergol #14, Arianespace [CGS] Kourou, French Guiana, 2007 Next available edition:
Ed. 1/10
Artwork on display:
100 x 130 cm
Other available sizes:
150 x 200 cm 180 x 235 cm
PAST FORWARD: VINCENT FOURNIER ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS SPACE PROJECT (2007–)
Phase VI Space Gloves [ILC] Dover, U.S.A., 2017 Next available edition:
Ed. 3/10
Artwork on display:
130 x 100 cm
Other available sizes:
200 x 150 cm 235 x 180 cm
PAST FORWARD: VINCENT FOURNIER KOSMIC MEMORIES (2020–)
Tjentište #3, 2020 Next available edition:
Ed. 2/10
Artwork on display:
135 x 100 cm
Other available sizes:
200 x 150 cm
PAST FORWARD: VINCENT FOURNIER ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS BRASILIA (2012–)
The National Museum of Brazil #4, 2019 Next available edition: Artwork on display: Other available sizes:
Ed. 2/10 90 x 153 cm 150 x 255 cm
PAST FORWARD: VINCENT FOURNIER ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS BRASILIA (2012–)
National Congress of Brazil #2, 2019 Next available edition: Artwork on display: Other available sizes:
Ed. 2/10 90 x 153 cm 150 x 255 cm
PAST FORWARD: VINCENT FOURNIER ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS BRASILIA (2012–)
The Claudio Santoro National Theater, Spiral Staircase, 2019 Next available edition: Artwork on display: Other available sizes:
Ed. 2/10 90 x 153 cm 150 x 255 cm
VINCENT FOURNIER Born in 1970. Lives and works in Paris. Solo Exhibitions 2019 Space Utopia, Domaine des Etangs, France Space Utopia, The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Brasilia – A Time Capsule, Spazio Nobile, Brussels, Belgium Fondation Bullukian, Lyon, France 2018 Past Forward, Galerie du Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France Space Utopia, Centre d’Art Sacré, Transphotographiques et galerie Provost-Hacker, Lille, France Space Utopia, Galerie Perpitch&Bringand, Paris, France 2017 Past Forward, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Foto Industria, Fondazione MAST, Bologne, Italy Post Natural History, Australian Center for Photography (ACP), Sydney, Australia 2016 Post Natural History, Perth Centre for Photography, Perth, Australia Post Natural History, Alliance Française, Melbourne, Australia Post Natural History, Galerie Spazio Nobile, Bruxelles, Belgium Past Forward, New Square Gallery, Lille, France 2015 Post Natural History, La Galerie, Hong-Kong, China 2014 Post Natural History, Espace Quai 1, Vevey, Switzerland Brasilia, Magasin, Le Bon Marché, Paris, France 2013 The Man Machine, Science Museum/Fabrica, Moscow, Russia 2012 Space Project & The Man Machine, Les Rencontres d’Arles, France The Man Machine, Joye Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium Space Project, Clic Gallery, New York, USA 2010 Space Project, The Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubai, UAE Tour Operator, Galerie 27AD, Milan, Italy 2009 Space Project, Galerie Marunouchi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Group Exhibitions 2019 Maan/ Moon, FOMU – the museum of photography, Antwerp, Belgium Moonlight – 50 Years of Photographing the Moon, Royal Museums Greenwich, London, UK and Sweden. Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Australia Civilization, The Way We Live Now, Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing The Future and Arts, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan Le Cerveau-Nuage as part of Design et Merveilleux, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Etienne Space Utopia for the event In Our Time: A Year of Architecture in a Day, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Étienne, France
2018 2017
2016 2015
2014
2013
Future Cross Boundaries, Taiwan Design Museum, Taipei, Taiwan Man Machine, Lianzhou Foto Festival, Lianzhou, China Centre Pompidou, galerie Mnam/cci, Imprimer le Monde, Paris, France Hello, Robot, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany The Universe and Art, ArtScience Museum, Singapore Hello, Robot, MAK, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria Space Oddity within the Mois de la Photographie de Paris, Maison des Arts de Créteil, France PAD fair, Paris, France The Universe and Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan Salon du PAD Paris, Paris, France Foire Amsterdam Art Fair, The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands Art Central Fair, Hong Kong Alive, La Fondation EDF/Electra, Paris, France Salon AD, Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs de la ville de Paris, Paris, France Space Project, Centre 798 Art Zone / Thinking Hands, Beijing, China Space Odyssey 2.0, Z33 House for Contemporary Art, Hasselt, Belgium Biennale Internationale de la Photographie et des Arts Visuels, Liège, Belgium Festival Getxophoto, Bilbao, Spain Festival Kyotographie, Kyoto, Japan Festival Cortona On the Move, Italy La science à l’œuvre, Le Centre d’Art Contemporain de Pontmain, Pontmain, France False Fake, Le Centre de la Photographie de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland Post Natural History, Netherlands Architecture Institute, Bio Design, Rotterdam, the Netherlands Grow Your Own, Science Gallery, Dublin, Ireland Salon Show Off, Paris, France London Art Fair, London, UK
2012
2010
2009
2008 2007 2006
Foire Bergamo Art Fair, Italy Foire Taipei Photo, Taipei, Taiwan NoFound Photofair, Foire, The Contemporary Photography Fair, Paris, France Imagine Science Film Festival, New York, USA A Theatre For Constructed Ecologies, Berlin, Germany Mouvement Art Public, Montreal, Canada Milan Art Fair (Miart), Milan, Italy Shanghai Art Fair, China Tokyo Art Fair, Tokyo, Japan Taipei Photo, Taipei, Taiwan Philipps de Pury & C°, Contemporary Photographs auction, London, UK Tokyo Art Fair, Tokyo, Japan Festival Image’08, Vevey, Switzerland Abu Dhabi Art fair, Dubai, UAE The New Landscape, Leonard Street Gallery, London, UK Foire Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Public and Private Collections Centre POMPIDOU, Paris, France The MET – Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, USA Collection Dragonfly (Domaine des Etangs / Primat), Massignac, France The St John of God Art Collection, Australia Collaborations 2015 Baccarat Art Collection, Baccarat Hotel, New York, USA 2014 ISETAN Department store, Tokyo, Japan 2013 The amazing Spider-Man II, Columbia Pictures, California, USA 2013 Le Bon Marché, Paris, France
61 ALIWAL STREET, SINGAPORE 199937 +65 6980 3068 | +65 8182 0214 | SINGAPORE@CUTURIGALLERY.COM CUTURIGALLERY.COM
@CUTURIGALLERY