Dear Shaded Viewers,
Theo Mercier was born in Paris in 1984 and lives and works between Paris and Mexico. I love the quote “Everytime I’ve gone somewhere else to see if I was there, I was.” Currently he is on an adventure in Peru after a very hectic year of producing art and directing an amazing theatre piece. The Musee de l’Homme invited him on a singular journey with the permanent collection. Tomorrow I’ll show you some of that but today I just wanted to concentrate on Theo Mercier. His work is at the cross roads of anthropology, ethnography, geopolitics and tourism. The sculptures and objects echo the permanent collection creating a mirror game between the real and the imaginary anthropology.
Mercier’s interest in unearthing things from the past started early when he used to accompany his parents digging through flea markets to find treasures. He has re-appropriated the most common household objects and turn them into something both erotic and humorous. I’ve followed his work for over a decade, I lost count, and am always amazed and delighted in what he produces. In 2010 I fell in love with his Spaghetti Monster called the Loner installed at the Modern Museum in Paris, http://theomercier.com/projet/id/14?lang=en, a few weeks ago I was entranced in his stage direction of La Fille du Collectionneur. I think that we met in 2008 when he was working with Bernhard Willhelm and then went to New York to intern with Matthew Barney. In 2009 he did the most amazing exhibition at the Musee de la Chasse and I visited him in Florence when he did a residence at the Villa Medicis and there are far too many exhibitions and awards to tell you about in my short post. I recommend you visit his site and have some fun. http://theomercier.com/?lang=en.
Later,
Diane