It is necessary to imagine that the wall on which the surfers line up on a beach in Malibu or elsewhere compose and recompose a set of stories and shapes with each new sliding session. There are many possible stories. There are also famous walls in the history of surfing. The one on which Miki Dora, known as Da-Cat, signified her authority in the 1960s in a tag, «Da-Cat Rules», is one of them. Between the surfboards planted in the sand and the «Locals only» displayed on the walls, there was a question of territories, a certain form of outrageous virility and exclusivity of landscapes.
The exhibition A Swinginâ Summer , which, like all Olivier Millagouâs exhibitions, takes its title from a surf movie, takes as its origin this vertical plane facing the sea and which carries against it the expression of this vital need for the horizon. To think of an exhibition as a beach wall is to place the viewer on the ocean side in the middle of the swell, ankles licked by the foam of the waves. Above all, it means much more than an attachment or commitment, a way of being and looking at the world. The beach as an omnipresence, as a natural environment, an eco-system from which an artistic production can be extracted. So each of the works on display owes its origin to this strip of coastline. Sculptures moulded directly into the sand, beach drawings, painted and sun-exposed road signs, and of course totem boards ready for travel... everything is extracted and aligned frontward in front of (or on) a painted wall.
In A Swinginâ Summer , you can see it from East to West. The exhibition is a sequence that makes up a rainbow. An exhibition born from a summer rain. The chromatic scales are intertwined from red, orange, yellow, yellow, green, blue to purple. And the sound of an orchestra composed of the sea, a few boards, wind and sand, diffuses into space the breath of what we could rightly take for the mother of all surf music. The stage is set. Peter is a large pink and red sculpture, it lives in this space, it is the most imposing of the three surfable sculptures. It is distinguished by its size, by the superposition of its Polynesian deities motifs, as well as by its evocative shape which seems to have something to prove. If it was possible that the expression of virility could still be seen in surfing codes today, we think that Peter could probably testify to it. But it is Peter Drouyn whom Olivier Millagou summons, one of the most respected surfers, the model of a generation, and who in 2012 changed sex to Westerly Windina during a trip to Thailand. Here as elsewhere, there are worlds that stand on the fall of elders.
All the surfable sculptures are made from materials (bio-foam, linen fibre, organic sourced resin...) and techniques (channel, finless, rockers, tails...) derived from shaper1 know-how. However, their nature is thwarted by the desire to shift the question of their performance to the formal rendering side. Irregular, disproportionate, even asymmetrical, they stand upright, face each other and despite their glaring handicap seem to be waiting for us to finally decide to throw ourselves into the water, belly flat.
Facing the wall of A Swinginâ Summer , a community is gathered. Peter (Drouyn), Miki (Dora) or Rod (Madchado), cross strange figures, a mixture of tikis2 and cartoon, pinned as we show the ancestral statuettes of distant cultures in museums. Moulded in the sand of a beach, they would have the power to make the right waves happen. Pray for the possibility of a tube. Sheep Janis Joplin, lemur Kurt Cobain, horse Lee Hazlewood, are also part of the celebration (and the tubes happen). Coarsely painted on traffic signs, they make sure that nothing really becomes normal. For Olivier Millagou, they are the hallucinated apparitions of a wild world, a hippie vision in which hairpieces are worth all identities. We are on a territory of beliefs, a playground where stating things is like making them real. At sunset, a sign confirms what we had felt in the moment, it is above all a question of pleasure. Announcing «La maison du jouir», the sign evokes Gauguinâs last residence in the Marquesas Islands. On his foundations the painter had not felt the need to tag his authority but had written on it the motto of what he considered to be a precept of happiness: «Be in love and you will be happy».
Thinking of an exhibition as a beach wall allows you to build stories, dig tunnels and gather your own. A Swinginâ Summer, is Olivier Millagouâs fourth monographic exhibition at Sultana Gallery, bringing together a heterogeneous, hedonistic and solar community.
Guillaume Mansart
1.The shaper is the craftsman who makes surfboards.
2. Tikis are small Polynesian sculptures representing half human, half divine characters.Il faut sâimaginer que le mur sur lequel les surfs sâalignent sur une plage de Malibu ou dâailleurs composent et recomposent un ensemble dâhistoires et de formes Ă chaque nouvelle session de glisse. Il est de multiples rĂ©cits possibles. Il est aussi des murs cĂ©lĂšbres dans lâhistoire du surf. Celui sur lequel Miki Dora, dit Da-Cat, signifiait dans les annĂ©es 1960, son autoritĂ© en un tag, « Da-Cat Rules », en fait partie. Entre les planches de surf plantĂ©es dans le sable et les « Locals only » affichĂ©s sur les murs, il Ă©tait question de territoires, dâune certaine forme de virilitĂ© outrageuse et dâexclusivitĂ© des paysages.
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Lâexposition A Swinginâ Summer qui, comme toutes les expositions dâOlivier Millagou, emprunte son titre Ă un surf movie, prend pour origine ce plan vertical faisant face Ă la mer et qui porte contre lui lâexpression de ce besoin vital dâhorizon. Penser une exposition comme un mur de plage câest placer le regardeur du cĂŽtĂ© de lâocĂ©an au milieu de la houle, les chevilles lĂ©chĂ©es par lâĂ©cume des vagues. Câest surtout signifier bien plus quâun attachement ou quâun engagement, une maniĂšre dâĂȘtre et dâenvisager le monde.
La plage comme une omniprĂ©sence, comme un milieu naturel, un Ă©co-systĂšme duquel peut sâextraire une production artistique. Alors chacune des Ćuvres exposĂ©es doit son origine Ă cette bande de littoral. Sculptures moulĂ©es directement dans le sable, dessins de plage, panneaux de signalisation peints et exposĂ©s au soleil, et bien sĂ»r planches totĂ©miques prĂȘtes au voyage... tout sâextrait et sâaligne frontalement devant (ou sur) un mur peint.
A Swinginâ Summer se parcourt du regard dâEst en Ouest. Lâexposition est une sĂ©quence qui compose un arc-en-ciel. Une exposition nĂ©e dâune pluie dâĂ©tĂ©. Les gammes chromatiques sâemboitent du rouge, orange, jaune, vert, bleu jusquâau violet. Et le son dâun orchestre composĂ© de la mer, de quelques planches, de vent et de sable, diffuse dans lâespace le souffle de ce quâon pourrait prendre Ă juste titre pour la mĂšre de toutes les surf music. Le dĂ©cor est plantĂ©.
Peter est une grande sculpture rose et rouge, elle habite cet espace, elle est la plus imposante des trois sculptures surfables. Elle se distingue par sa taille, par la superposition de ses motifs de divinitĂ©s polynĂ©siennes, autant que par sa forme Ă©vocatrice qui semble avoir quelque-chose Ă prouver. Sâil Ă©tait possible que lâexpression dâune virilitĂ© puisse encore transparaitre dans les codes du surf aujourdâhui, on se dit que Peter pourrait sans doute en tĂ©moigner. Mais câest Peter Drouyn quâOlivier Millagou convoque, un des surfers les plus respectĂ©, le modĂšle dâune gĂ©nĂ©ration, et qui en 2012 changea de sexe pour devenir Westerly Windina Ă lâoccasion dâun voyage en ThaĂŻlande. Ici comme ailleurs il est donc des mondes qui sâĂ©rigent sur la chute dâanciens.
Lâensemble des sculptures surfables sont rĂ©alisĂ©es Ă partir des matĂ©riaux (bio-mousse, fibre de lin, rĂ©sine bio sourcĂ©e...) et des techniques (channel, finless, rockers, tails...) issus du savoir-faire shaper1. Cependant leur nature est contrariĂ©e par lâenvie de dĂ©placer la question de leur performance du cĂŽtĂ© du rendu formel. IrrĂ©guliĂšres, disproportionnĂ©es, voire asymĂ©triques, elles se tiennent debout, font face et malgrĂ© leur handicap criant semblent attendre quâon se dĂ©cide enfin Ă se jeter Ă lâeau, ventre Ă plat. Face au mur de A Swinginâ Summer, une communautĂ© est rassemblĂ©e. Peter (Drouyn), Miki (Dora) ou Rod (Madchado), croisent dâĂ©tranges figures, mĂ©lange de tikis2 et de cartoon, Ă©pinglĂ©es comme on montre les statuettes ancestrales de cultures lointaines dans les musĂ©es . MoulĂ©es dans le sable dâune plage, elles auraient le pouvoir de faire advenir les bonnes vagues. Prier pour la possibilitĂ© dâun tube. Brebis Janis Joplin, lĂ©murien Kurt Cobain, cheval Lee Hazlewood, sont aussi de la fĂȘte (et les tubes adviennent). Peints grossiĂšrement sur des panneaux de signalisation, ils veillent Ă ce que rien ne devienne vraiment normal. Ils sont pour Olivier Millagou les apparitions hallucinĂ©es dâun monde sauvage, une vision hippie dans laquelle les postiches valent toutes les identitĂ©s. On se situe sur un territoire de croyances, un terrain de jeu oĂč Ă©noncer les choses revient Ă les rendre rĂ©elles.
Au soleil couchant, une enseigne confirme ce quâon avait ressenti dans lâinstant, il est avant tout question ici de plaisir. Annonçant « La maison du jouir », lâenseigne Ă©voque la derniĂšre demeure de Gauguin dans les Ăles Marquises. Sur ses soubassements le peintre nâavait pas Ă©prouvĂ© le besoin de tagger son autoritĂ© mais y avait inscrit la devise de ce quâil considĂ©rait ĂȘtre un prĂ©cepte de bonheur
« Soyez amoureuses et vous serez heureuses ».
Penser une exposition comme un mur de plage permet de construire des histoires, de creuser des tunnels et de rassembler les siens. A Swinginâ Summer , est la quatriĂšme exposition monographique dâOlivier Millagou Ă la galerie Sultana, elle rĂ©unie une communautĂ© hĂ©tĂ©rogĂšne, hĂ©doniste et solaire.
Guillaume Mansart
1 Le shaper est lâartisan qui fabrique les planches de surf.
2 Les tikis sont de petites sculptures polynésiennes représentant des personnages mi humains mi divins.