Paris Internationale - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes

Ermes has been founded in 2015, initially as a gallery without a permanent space. Every exhibition was organized in a different venue; in March 2017 the gallery opened the first permanent space in Vienna, a former horse stable in the heart of the city. The program follows an intuitive approach, it presents Italian and international artists whose practices investigate diverse media: sculpture, painting, photography, video, performance, and installations. In December 2020 the gallery will open a new space in Rome, presenting a solo exhibition by Japanese artist Kazuna Taguchi.

Represented artists: Nick Bastis, Jakub Czyszczoñ, Gina Folly, Nicole Gravier, Jieun Lim, Diego Marcon, Darius Mikšys, Nicola Pecoraro

Linke Wienzeile 36 / 1C
1060
Vienna

info@ermes-ermes.com

Nicole Gravier

Already in her first works from the 70s, Gravier started using photography as a privileged instrument to investigate and reveal the stereotypes of language and communication in the media, focusing on the mechanisms of conditioning and demystification of the concepts of happiness, well-being, success and femininity.

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Nicole Gravier (*Arles, 1949).

Already in her first works from the 70s, Gravier started using photography as a privileged instrument to investigate and reveal the stereotypes of language and communication in the media, focusing on the mechanisms of conditioning and demystification of the concepts of happiness, well-being, success and femininity.

In 1973, on the occasion of her first solo exhibition at the Multitudes gallery in Paris, the artist presented the series Cartes Postales, in which she played on the juxtaposition of illustrated postcards and photos taken by herself that imitate these visual models, with the intent of revealing the clichés inherent to the promotional pictures. The frames used in these postcards influence the way tourists view and experience these places.

Since 1976 she began to work on a series of photographic collages, the cycle of Mythes et Clichés (1976-80), which would become the leitmotif of her artistic career.

In these works, Gravier examines various languages, particularly those of the Photo Novel and Advertising.

Here we present a selection of works from the series Mythes et Clichés, Publicité (1976-80) which explores the world of images used in advertising and in women’s magazines, where the invitation to consumerism is masked by the “virtual promise” of love, beauty and success. The artist plays on the ambiguity of an image, juxtaposing advertising photographs with authentic details. Even if with an extreme delicacy and irony, Nicole Gravier conveys a full understanding of how the power and malleability of language in the spread and strengthening of dominant cultural forms can open the field to its re-appropriation as an instrument of emancipation from the latter.

Nicole Gravier (*1949, Arles), lives and works in Arles, FR. She studied at the Académie de Beaux Arts in Aix-en-Provence and at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, graduating in painting. She was professor of Artistic Anatomy at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bergamo, Naples and Florence and at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan until the end of 2017.

Selected exhibitions: It’s Urgent, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Luma Foundation, Arles, (2020); Nicole Gravier and Nora Turato, Words Are Way Too Easy To Play With, Ordet, Milan, (2020); Photoromans: Mythes et Clichés, Ermes-Ermes,Vienna, (2020); The unexpected subject.1978 Art and Feminism in Italy, curated by Marco Scotini, Raffaella Perna, FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, (2019); L’altro sguardo, Fotografie italiane 1965-2018, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, (2018); L’altro sguardo, Fotografie italiane1965-2015, Triennale di Milano, Milan, (2015); Beyond the Photographic Frame, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (1999); 54 artistes visif et 25 poetes interpretent la Pubblicité, curated by Elio Santarella, Maria Teresa La Notte, Spazio Console, Milan,(1999); Vraiment. Féminisme et Art, Centre National Art Contemporain, Grenoble, (1997); Typish Frau, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, (1997); Mannersm, A theory of culture, curated by Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver,(1982); Venice Biennale,The Time of the Museum: Special Projects, Venice, (1980); Kunst im sozialem Kontext, Kunstverein Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe,(1980); 7X7 / Sette critici per sette artiste, Loggia Rucellai, Florence,(1979); Europe-America.The different avant-gardes, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Rome,(1976); Solo show, Gallerie Ecart, Genéve,(1976); Solo show, Galleria Monti/ Sperone, Rome,(1975); Contemporanea, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Villa Borghese, Rome, (1973); Solo show, Multitudes Gallery, Paris,(1973); Solo show, Galleria la Bertesca, Genoa,(1973)

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Installation view, Nicole Gravier, Photoromans: Mythes & Clichés, 2019, Ermes - Ermes, Vienna. Courtesy of the artist and Ermes-Ermes.

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Installation view, Nicole Gravier, Photoromans: Mythes & Clichés, 2019, Ermes - Ermes, Vienna. Courtesy of the artist and Ermes-Ermes.

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Installation view, Nicole Gravier, Photoromans: Mythes & Clichés, 2019, Ermes - Ermes, Vienna. Courtesy of the artist and Ermes-Ermes.

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Installation view, Nicole Gravier, Photoromans: Mythes & Clichés, 2019, Ermes - Ermes, Vienna. Courtesy of the artist and Ermes-Ermes.

Kazuna Taguchi

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale
Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

the eyes of eurydice #9, 2019
Gelatin silver print (hand printed by the artist)
14.7 x 10.5 cm
Ed. 3/3 + 2AP

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

the eyes of eurydice #1, 2019
Gelatin silver print (hand printed by the artist)
14.7 x 10.5 cm
Ed. 3/3 + 2AP

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

the eyes of eurydice #5, 2019
Gelatin silver print (hand printed by the artist)
14.7 x 10.5 cm
Ed. 3/3 + 2AP

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

the eyes of eurydice #11, 2019
Gelatin silver print (hand printed by the artist)
14.7 x 10.5 cm
Ed. 3/3 + 2AP

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

the eyes of eurydice #4, 2019
Gelatin silver print (hand printed by the artist)
14.7 x 10.5 cm
Ed. 3/3 + 2AP

Kazuna Taguchi (*Tokyo,1979)

Using images from magazine clippings as her model, Kazuna Taguchi paints an anonymous, imaginary woman with astonishing realism. She then photographs the resultant oil painting, and after a patient operation in the darkroom, produces a photographic print which will be shown as the final work. Standing in front of her skillfully finished photographic print, a viewer will feel the strange yet irresistible sense of reality in the woman’s image. This work derives from an essential consideration of image and matter. Image is not matter, but instead remains invisible unless it is tied to a physical support. Taguchi, however, lets this connection dislocate in multiple ways. She, in effect, distills the immaterial nature of the image. The process involved in her work is more complicated than various photo-based paintings which are common to us, and her decision to present her work in the form of a photographic print suggests that her concern lies in an idiosyncratic attempt to purify and substantiate the image simultaneously.
Excerpt from a text by Kyoji Maeda

We present a selection of works from the series Eurydice, which were shown in the exhibition The Autumn Sale of Dreams and Haus der Matsubara, 2019, at Significant Other in Vienna.

Kazuna Taguchi (*Tokyo, 1979) lives and works in Vienna, AT. She studied at Tokyo University of the Arts where she graduated with an MFA and was conferred with a Doctorate in Painting Major (Ph.D.)

Selected solo exhibition: solo show, Ermes-Ermes (upcoming); The Eye of Eurydice, Void+, Tokyo, (2019); Wienfluss, Museum Haus Kasuya, Kanagawa, (2017); You are a mirror, reflecting me, Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich; (2016) Gray, Mosaicism, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, (2011); It is as it is, Gallery2, Seoul, (2010); Half in Gray, void+, Tokyo (2009); It is as It is, ShugoArts, Tokyo (2009); Portrait of Absence, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, (2006); A Photograph Within, Taro Nasu Gallery, Tokyo, (2006); Kazuna Taguchi, Taro Nasu Gallery, Tokyo, (2005); Kazuna Taguchi, Galerija Zlatno Oko, Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro, (2005); Kazuna Taguchi, Savremena Galerija, Zrenjanin, Serbia and Montenegro (2005); Kazuna Taguchi, Galerija SKC, Beograd, Serbia and Montenegro (2005); Stars, Gallery Kaku, Tokyo (2005); Still Life, Gendai Heights Gallery Den, Tokyo, (2004); Kazuna Taguchi, Gallery Kaku, Tokyo, (2004); Lost Bromide: Tomohiro Nishimura Selection Vol.11, Gallery Maki, Tokyo (2003) 

Selected group show: The Unremarkableness of Disobedient Desire, Lucie Drdova Gallery, Prague (2020); Autumn Sale of Dreams and Love (with Haus der Matsubara), Significant Other, Vienna, (2019);  Is there something I should know, Vinifero, Vienna, (2019); Reading Images: The Time of photography, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, (2019); And, Then (with Yuki Kimura and Chihiro Mori), Museum Haus Kasuya, Kanagawa, (2019); Isotherm, Museum Haus Kasuya, Kanagawa, (2019); Retrospective of museum collection: 2014→1890, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Osaka, (2018); ShugoArts show, ShugoArts, Tokyo, (2018); UnJapan, Kanzan Gallery, Tokyo, (2017); Ripple effect - through the surface, MA2 Gallery, (2017); Ecce Homo: The Human Images in Contemporary Art, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Osaka, (2016); CLK (with Lotte Lyon and Christian Hutzinger), Capsule, Tokyo (2015); TOKYO2020, Christophe Guye galerie, Zurich, (2014); Sleeping Beauty, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, (2014);  The Crimson Sun (with Iwanaga Tadasuke), ShugoArts, Tokyo, (2013); Somewhere Between Me and This World- Japanese Contemporary Photography, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, (2012); Parallel Visions: Japan and Korea Contemporary Photography, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong, (2012); Recording Line of Sight, ShugoArts, Tokyo, (2012); Pandemonium, XYZ Collective, Tokyo, (2012);  Simple Things, Nagoya Citizens Gallery Yada, Aichi, (2011); Yokohama Triennale 2011: Our Magic Hour, Yokohama Museum of Art, Kanagawa (2011); Japancongo: Carsten Hollers double-take on Jean Pigozzis collection, Le Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, (2011); Trace Elements: spirit and memory in Japanese and Australian photomedia, Performance Space, Sydney, (2009); Re:Membering, Doosan Art Center, Alternative Space LOOP, Seoul, (2009); Mr.Freedom X, A+, Tokyo, (2009); Trace Elements: spirit and memory in Japanese and Australian photomedia, Tokyo, Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, (2008); Faithful Documents: Japanese Contemporary Photography, AKI Gallery, Taipei, (2008); Biennale Cuvee, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria, (2008); Attempt, Museum Haus Kasuya, Kanagawa, (2007); The Photograph: What You See & What You Don’t, Chinretsukan Gallery of the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo (2007);  
VOCA2007: The Vision of Contemporary Art, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, (2007);  
Portrait Session, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, (2007);  2006 Taipei Biennial: Dirty Yoga, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, (2006); 
Rapt! 20 contemporary artists from Japan, Center for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne and multiple venues in Australia, (2006); my cup of tea -Private Luxury, Taro Nasu Gallery, Tokyo, (2006); Chaosmos ‘05: Unreal Reality, Sakura City Museum of Art, Chiba, (2006); July exhibition (with O JUN and Sakuji Yoshimoto), Gallery KAKU, Tokyo, (2005); Voice of Site: Tokyo-Chicago-New York, Chinretsukan Gallery of the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, (2004); Bookmarks, Ai gallery, Tokyo, (2003) 

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Installation View - The Autumn Sale of Dreams and Haus der Matsubara, 2019, Significant Other, Vienna. Courtesy of Significant Other, photo kunst-dokumentation.com

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Installation view - The Autumn Sale of Dreams and Haus der Matsubara, 2019, Significant Other, Vienna. Courtesy of Significant Other, photo kunst-dokumentation.com

Ermes - Ermes - © Paris Internationale

Installation view - The Autumn Sale of Dreams and Haus der Matsubara, 2019, Significant Other, Vienna. Courtesy of Significant Other, photo kunst-dokumentation.com

Kazuna Taguchi works her way from image clippings and constructs the female figure at her own discretion. The result is then painted or drawn, which in turn is photographed and carefully manipulated in the darkroom it finds its final expression in a photographic print. The merger of sourced reproductions, drawn textures and photographed surfaces simulates a realism that stands in direct opposition to the history of portraiture, since this persona never did nor ever will exist. Taguchi’s approach is subtle and considerate: by not existing, the portrayed women reveal themselves as masks of those who might exist, entrancing us in their ghostly existence of womanhood.

Text by Laura Amann

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