David Douard’s sculptures draw from a world shaped by commodities and affects that span both the real and virtual worlds and shape our epistemologies. Accompanied by a video, Gold and smile (2019) is a sculpture, suspended from the ceiling, that resembles the Guy Fawkes anarchist mask or the wide grin of the Joker in Batman. Constructed from magnets, aluminum, metal chains, plastic and ceramic, as well as Amazon’s cardboard packaging, the work evokes flows of energy, as well as today’s high- speed delivery systems, online comment threads and algorithmic predictive technologies.
David Douard (b. 1983, Perpignan, France), lives and works in Paris. Language is the very basis of Douard’s work. The texts and poems he collects on the Internet are manipulated and transformed in order to become a vital flow, feeding into his sculptures. His work has been shown in multiple international institutions such as KURA. c/o Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, Milan (2018); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2014 and 2018); Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2015 and 2017); Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig (2016); Fridericianum, Kassel (2015); Sculpture Center, New York (2014); Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2014); Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris (2012). Douard participated in several biennials: 12th Biennale de Lyon, France (2013); Taipei Biennial, Taïwan (2014); Asia Culture Center-Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2018).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Gold and smile, 2019
Magnets, aluminium, metal chains, plastic, ceramic, Amazon cardboard
172 × 35 × 27 cm
Courtesy the artist, Rodeo Gallery and Chantal Crousel Gallery.
Presented with the support of Institut Français.
