Viviane Sassen

Visible / Invisible, 14 May 2019 - 20 October 2019

Viviane Sassen displays some monumental images in four salons of the Grand Trianon that she has chosen among the many shots taken during her intense exploration of Versailles and its history. For example, a cropping of Puget's Milon de Crotone, the back of a sculpture or a coded letter from Marie Antoinette to Axel von Fersen, disproportionately enlarged and altered by colored interventions, establish a dialogue with the rich decor of the rooms. "I felt," writes the artist, "that showing photography in this context was quite challenging – the space is overpowering not only in its historical importance and iconic identity but in its sheer physical scale.

I felt a statement was necessary in terms of the size of the works to be able to compete with the large spaces" Viviane Sassen, who is also known as a fashion photographer, has chosen to work with non-professional models who she met on site. Past and present confront each other. These huge prints are found in a slideshow that will be discovered later, in the Salon des Jardins. Images multiplied in abundance circulate revealing games of symmetry and surprising encounters between statuary and living models, or other details of architecture and furniture. A poetic text by Marjolijn van Heemstra read by British actress Tilda Swinton accompanies them. For this entirely new project, the artist sees her approach as a melancholic narrative about life and death, eros and thanatos. (Alfred Pacquement)

Visible / Invisible is curated by:
Jean de Loisy and Alfred Pacquement

Visible / Invisible, 14 May 2019 - 20 October 2019
Grand Trianon / Palace of Versailles
Versailles, France