La vie des tables

Whether in the kitchen, workshop or office, tables embody the place where intuitions take shape and are sometimes the only place where artists can work. La vie des tables pays tribute to this relationship with the “work table” – a place of refuge, play-area and obligatory passing-place.

For this exhibition, the Crédac has invited artists to send in their propositions as if they were sending a letter. They might have been thought up during the recent period of confinement or in response to this invitation, and can be spontaneous and modest, or of a more sophisticated, DIY variety. The envelopes or small packages themselves might be put on display, thereby highlighting the diversity of their origins, the beauty of their stamps and the uniqueness of their contents. As such, this project adapts itself to reality. It takes into account the constraints linked to distance and, out of sheer necessity and pleasure, brings back to life the mail art phenomena, which began in New York in 1962. As its name suggests, mail art’s principal mode of distribution was a spontaneous one, via the post. This “movement” brought with it the notion of attitude as object, one of the founding ideas of contemporary art during the 1970’s and which continues to be one of its key elements today. The various works of the artists are exhibited at the Crédac on a multitude of tables: kitchen or work, made from formica, ply-wood or wood, painted or bare, low or high, rectangular or circular. Together they constitute a thought-provoking landscape of the work of thought and intimacy, as well as that of the model, sketch and finished product. Whilst this project is in support of artists, it is also an expression of solidarity with social organisations such as Emmaüs and the network of Ressourceries (charity-based second-hand shops) which have suffered heavily in economic terms from the consequences of the pandemic. These items of furniture retrieved from such organisations give rise to a wide variety of contrasting styles. Together, they enable the driving force of inner lives to find its expression.
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With : Boris Achour, Pierre Ardouvin, Ethan Assouline, Marcos Ávila Forero, Nour Awada, Eva Barto, Eric Baudart, Katinka Bock, Roxane Borujerdi, Simon Boudvin, Anne Bourse, Flora Bouteille, Tiphaine Calmettes, Corentin Canesson, Ali Cherri, Gaëlle Choisne, Delphine Coindet, Mathis Collins, Morgan Courtois, Koenraad Dedobbeleer, Mimosa Echard, Aurélien Froment, Dominique Ghesquière, Louise Hervé & Clovis Maillet, Sheila Hicks, Ana Jotta, Véronique Joumard, Kiösk, Kapwani Kiwanga, Jonathan Loppin, Liz Magor, Paul Maheke, Charlotte Moth, Gyan Panchal, Estefanía Peñafiel Loaiza, Nelson Pernisco, Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Hugues Reip, Soraya Rhofir, La Ribot, Bojan Šarčević, Jorge Satorre, Shimabuku, Noé Soulier, Thomas Teurlai, Sarah Tritz, Francisco Tropa, Victor Yudaev, Raphaël Zarka