When Philosophy of Life meets Philosophy of Art
The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer JEANRICHARD is partnering with Gully, the well-known contemporary street artist. The result of this collaboration is the exhibition "Philosophy of Art" at Opera Gallery in Paris, which is opening with the unveiling of three watches and a work blending the themes of art and time. The opening featured the presentation of the "Graphiscope" special watch collection, inspired by the artist and consisting of three timepieces in a limited-edition series based on the JEANRICHARD Terrascope, and of a work featuring one of the brand's timepieces painted by Gully. "We wanted to leave Gully total freedom to express himself artistically, and what we see at Opera Gallery now is the interpretation of his creation, " declared Bruno Grande, Managing Director of JEANRICHARD.
"In this painting, I wanted to show a watch that is atypical in the world of watchmaking, and to do so, I looked for a presentation that would perfectly illustrate this difference under controlled conditions.
I was interested in what Cattelan had done in front of the Milan Stock Exchange with his L.O.V.E. sculpture, which was considered scandalous and shocking by some (in the financial world), but was accepted by the city council and even approved by the Milanese (given that the sculpture was installed there and its display was prolonged). What's more, it was a sculpture representing a hand, which seemed perfect for a watch, so I had the setting all worked out!
Then, so I could be out of kilter with the rest of this exhibition and create a surprise effect with this painting, I wanted to imagine, not through the eyes of a young boy but really inside his head and acting through his imagination, that he could project himself as a super-hero, with all the super powers of a super-street artist! Indirectly, the boy is me of course, and by depicting myself in the painting, I am also physically present in this exhibition! So I transformed this scene into a magic museum, setting aside any idea of money, which is too remote from the imaginary world of a child.
Here, we are one night of full moon with everything quiet, when I, Gully the super-hero suddenly emerge from nowhere, followed by an army of sparks coloured by Damien Hirst behind me, and I set about brightening up this quiet night and this conventional building with lots of colour.
Perched on top of this museum, I hit the roof with my fist, releasing enough energy to shake the structure of the building, which starts to crack in a burst of colours (just like Pollock's "dripping" effect), and all this energy is directed towards the finger and flashes out of it with the opposite effect to a lightning-conductor, until the watch worn by the hand is pressurised and cracked, and "Philosophy of Art" is engraved on the base.
Out of this cataclysm is born a Koons heart full of love, and two reality pieces by Christopher Wool have burst out of the wall, the one being "YOU MAKE ME", because otherwise you wouldn't be here looking at this painting, and the other "TERRORIST", for the vandal effect and the tracking helicopters shown in this work.
Following the cataclysm, all the sculptures by Cattelan, Koons and Murakami in the museum are thrown out of the window. Picasso raises his arms in a victory sign and Hitler looks at the heart as though he had never seen one before, while Murakami, already very highly coloured, laughs to see what is happening, the policemen and the lobster responsible for looking after the building find themselves with their heads the wrong way round, and Hirst's shark can only roar at the shadow of the heart!
On the front court, Cattelan's horses, which are very timid animals, have hidden their heads in the wall like ostriches, the Balloon Dog tries to understand in the middle of it all, and Hirst's vanity impotently points a finger.
And then the adult world suddenly wakes me up and plunges me back into the real world. "
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