Nicolas Clair

“I work, let’s say, toward something like a generalized collage—a forced encounter between autobiographical elements, forms and techniques borrowed from experimental art, and cultural references that I have read, seen, or heard.

What is it about? I think that—perhaps with the exception of the drawing series titled Les lents, and even then—one possible backdrop is the Internet and widespread digitization, the absolutely delirious accumulation of archives currently underway, and the occasional discovery of texts, images, or simply testimonies of ways of life that strike us as extraordinary. As for collage, in the broad sense, I believe too much importance is generally given to the question of meaning, whereas I am searching for something closer to surprise and reversal—reversal of meaning, for example.

It’s a big word, but my ideal of art is multidimensional, multidirectional, and personal.”

Career

“After graduating in art in 2011 from the Villa Arson, the Fine Arts school in Nice, I believed that video alone could ‘solve’ all the problems that confronted me—supported by meticulous sound work. After going around in circles for quite some time, it became clear that I could not manage with these means alone. Today, I try to reintegrate drawing, text, and lightweight images into my practice, without abandoning video and sound material.”

Exhibitions

2021 – Carte blanche to Nicolas Clair, Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris
2020 – This Is the Way the World Ends, UTOPIA Residency, Piedigriggio
2019 – Turtle BIENVENUE, Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre stand, Cité des Arts, Paris
2016 – La liberté sans nom, CRAC Alsace, Altkirch
2016 – Waiting for Carnaval, Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris
2012 – Vidéo d’art sur grand écran, Musée d’Art Moderne, Nice
2011 – Hannibal der Blau Reiter, Galerie Vorschau, Munich

Publications 

2021 – Un truc come true, audio cassette, Transcachette Tapes Label
2021 – Les lents, Éditions Clair
2020 – Christine et le feu d’artifice, in À partir de n°2, Éditions Adverse