Icar Press Release

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A WORKSHOP: A SPECIAL PROJECT PRESENTED BY THE PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO OF THE ÉCOLE NATIONAL SUPÉRIEURE DES BEAUX-ARTS AT ICAR-PARIS, MAY 8 - JULY 14, 2002

For the two months from May 8 to July 14, 2002 ICAR-Paris will be home to the photography studio of the École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris (the ENSBA). Directed by artists Patrick Faigenbaum and Marc Pataut, the studio operates in conjunction with the seminar of Jean-François Chevrier, Professor of Art History at ENSBA. The studio's photographic work, an investigation of the relationship between center and periphery, was presented at the exhibition Des territories (Territories) at the ENSBA, Quai Malaquais, Paris, October 8 - December 30, 2001. This work will be expanded and enriched at ICAR by an exploration of the theme of "water" as a geo-poetic and political phenomenon.

More than just an exhibition, the ICAR project involves the actual placement of the École des Beaux-Arts' studio on the premises of ICAR-Paris, which is testimony to the convergence of the approaches developed by the studio-seminar of the École des Beaux-Arts and ICAR's recent Art/Research 2000 Program.

The Workshop at ICAR will begin where the ENSBA exhibition left off some four months ago. It will bring to light the studio's on-going experimentation in linking the process of formative development (from a student to a young artist) to collective inquiry and debate. The Workshop will provide an occasion to open the photography studio to the public of ICAR, outside the walls of the École des Beaux-Arts.

It happens frequently that artists open their studios to visitors for a brief period of time. The studio is thus transformed into an exhibition space, and the activity of the artist is placed in the background. The approach here is entirely different. The activity, collective activity, will be brought to the forefront. The studio (and the related seminar) will be open to the public for the entire two-month duration of the exhibition. The studio will function as it usually does at the school, but within a more open context and with new participants.

As the work progresses, the original exhibition of May 8 and its initial presentation will evolve through July 14 into a different final form, enriched by the addition of new works, studies and research materials.

From its very inception, the Workshop program will include (during ICAR's opening hours on four afternoons from Wednesday to Saturday) special events with participation of Patrick Faigenbaum, Marc Pataut, Jean-François Chevrier, and guest participants, including William Hayon, member of the Regional Environmental Protection Board of the Ile-de-France (Diren); Vincent Barré, Professor of the ENSBA; Joan Roca, historian from Barcelona, Spain; Phillip Roussin, scientist of the CNRS (The National Center of Scientific Research of France), and others. The sessions of the seminar will continue every Tuesday evening at the École des Beaux-Arts.

On May 8 visitors to the Workshop will discover an exhibition containing elements of a working studio, including not only installed art works but also studies and work in progress. The functional organization of the space and the presence of specific studio equipment will help visitors understand what is being proposed and the kind of experience they are invited to share in the following two months.