French artist Camille Henrot is opening a comprehensive exhibition of new works at the Fondazione Memmo in Rome this Thursday, and on this occasion, the award-winning artist has painted a series of frescoes on the walls of the 16th century Palazzo Ruspoli, which houses the foundation.
The show is dedicated entirely to the exhibition’s titular day, Monday, and the chaotic range of emotions it inspires, both positive and negative, being the first day of the week in most cultures.
In addition to her first-ever frescoes, the artist also created a new series of large bronze sculptures for “Monday” that evoke a troupe of allegorical creatures. These are meant to embody the various mental states one experiences at the beginning of a new week, from melancholy to excitement at the possibility of change and renewal.
Camille Henrot working on Monday, Fondazione Memmo, May 2016. Photo: Daniele Molajoli.
Henrot, who lives and works in New York, became internationally known almost overnight with her video work Grosse Fatigue, which earned her the Silver Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.
Her large-scale, multifaceted installation The Pale Fox, consisting of eclectic found and eBay-sourced objects as well as personal paraphernalia, continued to manifest her preoccupation with documenting the chaos of life and archiving nature, narratives, and history.
Similarly, the newly-painted frescoes integrate found documents, papers, and small objects all relating to Henrot’s own creative inspirations, which oscillate between the mundane and the extraordinary.
The artist has also created a carousel-like installation of hybrid creatures for the Fondazione Memmo, that deals with the theme of transformation.
Camille Henrot working on Monday, Fondazione Memmo, May 2016. Photo: Daniele Molajoli.
The exhibition is the first chapter of a larger project that will include the remaining days of the week and will be presented on the occasion of the artist’s Carte Blanche at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in October 2017, an exhibition taking over the whole institution curated by Daria de Beauvais.
Camille Henrot, “Monday,” is on view at the Fondazione Memmo in Rome from May 12-November 6, 2016.