Metz
Second Jacques Lacanthe psychoanalyst should never forget that “the artist always precedes him”, a situation which would make any psychoanalytic interpretation of theart opera. This, however, does not prevent us from investigating the relationships that psychoanalysis has had since its origins with the world of art, thanks to the incursions into the depths of the unconscious of many twentieth-century artists.
Lacan’s History on the Couch, the book by Massimo Recalcati
by Massimo Recalcati
Precisely because of the exciting dialogue between these two universes, their convergences and their tensions, their sometimes conflicting and sometimes complementary views, the Pompidou Center in Metz (directed by Chiara Parisi) dedicates a beautiful exhibition entitled Lacan, the exposition. When art meets psychoanalysis (until May 27), curated by Marie-Laure Bernadac and Bernard Marcadé, two talented art historians, assisted by the psychoanalysts Gérard Wajcman and Paz Corona.
Through sixteen sections full of over three hundred works, including canvases, sculptures, installations, photographs, videos, documents, books and magazines, the exhibition on the one hand investigates the privileged relationships of Lacan with artists, while on the other hand it uses its categories as a gateway to the world of art, which in turn subjects the “Lacanian gaze” to a process of in-depth – and often ironic – critical revision.
Jacques Lacan as you’ve never seen him
by Daria Galateria
It must be said that the psychoanalyst was a friend of several artists, starting with Masson, Duchamp, Picasso o Dalí, to which he dedicated his thesis on paranoia. He was then a collector of works of art, among all of which, of course,Origin of the world by Courbetwhich he hid behind a sliding panel made by Masson, but also some canvases by Fontana o di Zao Wou Ki.
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Gustave Courbet, The origin of the world
Furthermore, Lacan was closely interested in the world of art on more than one occasion, as confirmed by his famous analyzes of Saint Lucia di Zurbarán or of Girls di Velázquez, but also the public defense of Niki de Saint Phallewhich in 1973 was violently attacked for Daddyhis iconoclastic video in which he tore patriarchal power to pieces.
Alongside the works owned or analyzed by Lacan, the Metz exhibition displays numerous artists of the 20th century who have dialogued with his work, but who often, especially if women, have also deconstructed or ironically parodied its conceptual junctions.
Precisely inspired by some of his most famous intuitions, the curators have set up a stimulating dialogue between works that are very different from each other but share a thematic dimension. For example, in the room dedicated to the “mirror stadium”, next to the Narciso by Caravaggio you can admire works by Little gun e Lavierbut also the sequence of Taxi driver with De Niro’s famous monologue in front of the mirror.
In the room dedicated to the “name of the father”, the Lacanian reflection that breaks with the patriarchal tradition resonates in the works of Louise Bourgeois, Camille Henrot o Sophie Calle, while in the rooms dedicated to “the object causing desire” or to the famous statement “there is no sexual relationship” works by Constantin Brancusi e Annette Messager, Tatiana Trouvé e Carol Ramauntil Female ecstasy di Anselm Kiefer which is found next to Blow job on Andy Warhol.
Naturally, the themes of language and gaze are also very present, for example with the works of Magritte e Kapoor, or the theme of identity, where we remember that for Lacan anatomy is not necessarily a destiny and everyone is free to escape the dictatorship of their own body. Hence the works dedicated to the theme of disguise, where the photos of Nan Goldin flank the Duchamp in LHOOQ, e Cindy Sherman accompanies the transgender artist Edi Dubien.
Furthermore, the theme of the body in its countless variations runs through the entire exhibition, thanks for example to the works of Maurizio Cattelan, Tracey Emin, Hans Bellmerbut also to Carpaccio Of Saint George and the dragon. And at the halfway point, it dominates almost naturally The origin of the world, to indicate the cardinal value of Courbet’s work for an exhibition that places sexuality and the gaze at the center of its device. The famous and discussed canvas, however, is flanked, and therefore critically redefined, by the works of some artists who deconstruct and distort it, effectively overturning the chauvinist vision of the nineteenth-century painter.
With their transgressive strength, Agnès Thurnauer, Deborah De Robertis, Valie Export o Betty Tompkins they mock the stereotype that reduces women to a simple object of male desire. Precisely the ironic dimension that runs through these works is also found in another space of the exhibition, where the works of those artists who on various occasions enjoyed mocking the psychoanalyst and his obsessions are displayed. Which allows the exhibition to escape any celebratory and monumental temptation.
That of Metz, in fact, is more than an apologia of Lacanaims to be a critical crossing of his work, thanks to a kaleidoscope of glances which, at the crossroads between art and psychoanalysis, try to tell us something about our obsessions and our impulses.
#Lacan #art #story #obsession
– 2024-05-02 01:24:30
