about
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Founded in 2009, It’s Our Playground is the Paris based artist duo made up of Camille Le Houezec (1986) and Jocelyn Villemont (1986). IOP has been developing a body of work on the porosity and circulation of art practices from a broad professional position (as artists, curators, and teachers), a variety of intervention formats and initiatives favoring working with other artists, and a combination of styles and techniques. Along with reappropriating images through online publishing and curating group projects, It's Our Playground’s recent activity has been shifting towards the production of composite visual works in immersive environments. They are represented by Galerie Valentin, Paris.

Solo exhibitions include 'Elle disait bonjour aux machines' at La Villa du Parc in Annemasse, 2019 ; 'Artificial Sensibility' at Bonington Gallery in Nottingham, 2017 ; 'Reconstructive Memory' at Galerie Valentin in Paris. Curated exhibitions include 'Deep Screen' at Parc Saint-LĂ©ger in Pougues-les-eaux, 2015 ; 'Show Room' at Glassbox in Paris, 2016. Group shows include 'Bande Ă  part' at Mrac in SĂ©rignan, 2018 ; 'Site Visit' at Kunstverein Freiburg, 2017, 'Ambiance d’Aujourd’hui' at Mains d’Ɠuvres in Saint-Ouen, 2016.
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All images courtesy of It's Our Playground 2019


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Left : Beatriz Olabarrieta, We are for viewers or heads within a head, 2017 - Right : Yonatan Vinitsky, Pssst! Pssst! Just keep looking the other way, 2014 Centre : Ola Vasiljeva, Found Objects, 2016 - Right : Beatriz Olabarrieta, Undercover (silver more than grey), 2017

M. QUELQUE CHOSE

Les Bains douches, Alençon, France, 2018
There is something fundamentally normal in the objects, clothing, and places described by Jean Follain in his poems and prose texts. The talent of this poet, who was born in Normandy in 1903, lies in his way of humbly writing about reality without employing images or metaphors. He was a contemporary of the Surrealists and yet his work was not of the same time as the movement. Follain’s writings exist between tradition and modernity, the countryside and the city, Canisy, Saint-Lî, and Paris. The poetry shows this writer’s attention, with each passing instant, to his daily surroundings. The form of a glass, the lapel of a collar, the turned-up nose of the waiter – so many slight details that would come together and dazzle the hoarder he was.
In the course of our research we discovered many manuscripts of his poems scattered among other documents that are striking for their utter banality. Beer coasters, bits of paper table covers from the local pub, letterhead paper, most of these documents are adorned with Follain’s free-flowing line. A man shown sporting a tie and decked out with a pair of antennae, dozens of portraits of moustachioed faces, a pet snail, a man wearing a skirt – despite the yellowed and dog-eared paper, these dream drawings seem to belong to the present. In this exhibition, the drawings, which were executed in a private context, were for the most part separate from the writings but were not considered works of art. Displayed on tables suggesting how they originally appeared, they can now be seen for the first time as forming an art practice in their own right, appreciated for their quality, which is immediately obvious. Is it the elegance of a pen wielded by a man who spent long hours with numerous artist friends, or the steady line of the ballpoint that never seems to break contact with the surface of the paper that imbues Follain’s drawings with such a contemporary look?

M. Quelque chose (Mr. Something) presents side by side the Norman poet’s drawings and the work of three artists working today, Beatriz Olabarrieta, Ola Vasiljeva, and Jonathan Vinitsky. The latter have in common their distinctive use of the human figure as a vector of meaning and humor. Their modest forms, suggesting a series of silhouettes, catch the eye, which still can’t quite grasp them. Just like Jean Follain, Ola Vasiljeva often draws her inspiration from literature, historical events, or dreams, an inspiration that is necessary for her complex installations that combine drawing, sculpture, found objects, and video. The drawings featured here depict human figures or clothing patterns that flirt with sculptural forms.

Beatriz Olabarrieta’s installations evoke the drama of daily life and an occupation of space by talkative and fragmentary anthropomorphic figures. Through a cosmology of objects and forms that plays games with the contingencies of the present, the line becomes the language of that which cannot be put into words.

And at the start of each new project that Yonatan Vinitsky undertakes, there is an apparently harmless household object, an image found during the research phases of an artwork, the choice of a particular technique or material. The artist takes a particularly amused view of art history and the things surrounding it. Through numerous appropriations and quotations, he builds up his pantheon of references, delving into the history of Bauhaus as much as images used in advertising, and without distinction or hierarchy.

The show is thus the occasion for an unexpected meeting, that is, drawings that sprang from the ennui of a Norman poet working in the last century, and altogether contemporary pieces by three international artists who share a precise, poetic view of the world around them today.

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Jean Follain (born in 1903 in Canisy, died in 1971 in Paris) settled in Paris in 1925 and passed the bar in 1928. Leading a dual career as a judge and a writer, he was friends with the members of the “Sagesse” (Wisdom) group and was awarded the Prix MallarmĂ© in 1939. Writing outside of the Surrealist movement, this poet of the object helped to forge a new poetry (Usage du temps, Exister). In 1970 he was given the Grand Prix de poĂ©sie by the French Academy.


FRENCH VERSION

Il y a quelque chose de fondamentalement normal dans les objets, les vĂȘtements, les lieux dĂ©crits par Jean Follain dans ses poĂšmes ou textes en prose. Le talent du poĂšte nĂ© en Normandie en 1903, rĂ©side dans sa façon d’écrire le rĂ©el avec humilitĂ©, sans image ni mĂ©taphore, Ă  contretemps du surrĂ©alisme dont il est contemporain. Les Ă©crits de Jean Follain se situent entre tradition et modernitĂ©, entre la campagne et la ville, entre Canisy, Saint-LĂŽ et Paris. Sa poĂ©sie tĂ©moigne d’une attention de chaque instant Ă  son environnement quotidien : la forme d’un verre, le revers d’un col, le nez en trompette du garçon de cafĂ©, autant de dĂ©tails tĂ©nus qui viendront Ă©blouir l’accumulateur compulsif qu’il Ă©tait.

Lors de nos recherches, nous dĂ©couvrons ses manuscrits de poĂšmes au milieu d’autres documents d’une banalitĂ© frappante : des sous-bocks, des morceaux de nappe de bistrot, du papier Ă  entĂȘte, pour la plupart ornĂ©s du trait libre de Jean Follain. Un homme cravatĂ© affublĂ© d’une paire d’antennes, des dizaines de portraits de moustachus, un escargot de compagnie, un homme portant une jupe, ces dessins de rĂȘverie, malgrĂ© le papier jauni et cornĂ©, semblent appartenir au prĂ©sent. Dans cette exposition, ces dessins rĂ©alisĂ©s dans un contexte privĂ© seront majoritairement dĂ©tachĂ©s des Ă©crits sans pour autant ĂȘtre considĂ©rĂ©s comme des Ɠuvres d’art. PrĂ©sentĂ©s sur des tables Ă©voquant leur mode d’apparition, ils pourront ainsi pour la premiĂšre fois ĂȘtre considĂ©rĂ©s comme une pratique Ă  part entiĂšre, apprĂ©ciĂ©s pour leur qualitĂ© indĂ©niable. Est-ce l’élĂ©gance de la plume d’un homme frĂ©quentant de nombreux artistes ou le trait sĂ»r du stylo Ă  bille ne semblant pas quitter la feuille qui confĂšrent aux dessins de Follain cet aspect si contemporain ?

M. Quelque chose met en regard les dessins du poĂšte normand avec le travail de trois artistes contemporains : Beatriz Olabarrieta, Ola Vasiljeva et Jonathan Vinitsky. Ceux-ci ont d’abord en commun l’utilisation de la figure humaine comme Ă©lĂ©ment vecteur de sens et d’humeur. Leurs formes modestes, suggĂ©rant des silhouettes nous attirent sans que l’on ne puisse vraiment les saisir. Tout comme Jean Follain, c’est souvent dans la littĂ©rature, les Ă©vĂ©nements historiques ou le rĂȘve que Ola Vasiljeva puise l’inspiration nĂ©cessaire Ă  la rĂ©alisation de ses environnements complexes mĂȘlant dessin, sculpture, objets trouvĂ©s et vidĂ©o. Les dessins exposĂ©es ici reprĂ©sentent des figures humaines ou des patrons de vĂȘtements qui flirtent avec la forme sculpturale.
Les installations de Beatriz Olabarrieta Ă©voquent une dramaturgie du quotidien et une occupation de l’espace par des figures anthropomorphes bavardes et fragmentaires. A travers une cosmologie d’objets et de formes qui se joue des contingences du prĂ©sent, le trait devient alors le langage de ce que l’on ne peut mettre en mots.
À l’origine de chaque nouveau projet de Yonatan Vinitsky il y a un objet domestique apparemment anodin, une image trouvĂ©e lors de phases de recherches, le choix d’une technique ou d’un matĂ©riaux particuliers. L’artiste porte une attention particuliĂšrement amusĂ©e Ă  l’histoire de l’art et les choses qui l’entourent. A force d’appropriations et de citations, il dresse ainsi son panthĂ©on de rĂ©fĂ©rences, piochant aussi bien dans l’histoire du Bauhaus que dans des images publicitaires, sans distinction ni hiĂ©rarchie.

Cette exposition sera donc l’occasion d’une rencontre inattendue entre les dessins d’ennui d’un poĂšte normand du siĂšcle dernier et les Ɠuvres contemporaines de trois artistes internationaux partageant un regard prĂ©cis et poĂ©tique sur le monde qui les entoure.

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Jean Follain (nĂ© en 1903 Ă  Canisy, dĂ©cĂ©dĂ© en 1971 Ă  Paris) s'installe Ă  Paris en 1925 et s'inscrit au barreau en 1928. Menant une double carriĂšre de magistrat et d'Ă©crivain, il se lie avec les membres du groupe « Sagesse » et reçoit le Prix MallarmĂ© en 1939. Écrivant en dehors du surrĂ©alisme, poĂšte de l'objet, il a contribuĂ© Ă  forger une poĂ©sie nouvelle (Usage du temps, Exister). Il reçoit en 1970 le Grand Prix de poĂ©sie de l'AcadĂ©mie française.