La Signature
Performance
Wiels, Bruxelles, Belgique
4 novembre 2015
Taking on art critic Raphaële Jeune’s term “artwork-artist-trademark”, Ludovic Chemarin© is a project founded by Damien Beguet and P. Nicolas Ledoux.
In 2011 they purchased upon contractual agreement the work and name of artist Ludovic Chemarin, following the latter’s decision in 2005 to end his artistic career.
The signing of Ludovic Chemarin© — a publication along the lines of a catalogue raisonné launched in April 2015 at the mfc-michèle didier gallery in Paris — is a crucial chapter in the development
of the Ludovic Chemarin© project.
Ludovic Chemarin himself, — in presence of Damien Beguet and P. Nicolas Ledoux (Ludovic Chemarin©) — will the be playing the part by signing the catalog Ludovic Chemarin©, placing his own signature on the rst page of the catalog, in accordance with the initial decision of the project initiators.
The otherwise common action of signing adopts here a performance status, where such action is to be understood as an artwork whose protagonist would not – or no longer – be the author but rather their representative.
Ludovic Chemarin is an artist who is politically committed in the mindset of his time, who is exhibited
in of cial places of contemporary art, supported by a recognized gallery in Lyon, France. He relatively
gains recognition, but without ever breaking the norm… However, in 2005, when he starts to receive more and more solicitations, Ludovic Chemarin decides to end his artistic career. He considers his approach
to be incompatible with the art system and the art market, which have become too toxic, too dif cult to live with, and impossible for him to follow on both a human and moral level.
The ceasing of artistic activity is a relatively frequent phenomenon, but one that is totally hidden, yet still, raises a lot of historical, symbolic, economic and societal questions, while implicating not only the artist who has to stop his activity. Our society doesn’t like failure; an artist mustn’t nd himself in a situation of insolvency.
Since 2005, Ludovic Chemarin doesn’t produce any works, he doesn’t show his work anymore: economically, and in terms of reputation, he isn’t an artist anymore, which he openly assumes and claims. On February 22, 2011, Ludovic Chemarin was bought by two artists. Yet the law prohibits the sale of human beings. In the economic system, when a company isn’t able to survive the legal redress, a sale of liquidation takes place, and a purchaser pursues the activity under the rm’s same name.
Invitation :
Michèle Didier
Performance
Wiels, Bruxelles, Belgique
4 novembre 2015
Taking on art critic Raphaële Jeune’s term “artwork-artist-trademark”, Ludovic Chemarin© is a project founded by Damien Beguet and P. Nicolas Ledoux.
In 2011 they purchased upon contractual agreement the work and name of artist Ludovic Chemarin, following the latter’s decision in 2005 to end his artistic career.
The signing of Ludovic Chemarin© — a publication along the lines of a catalogue raisonné launched in April 2015 at the mfc-michèle didier gallery in Paris — is a crucial chapter in the development
of the Ludovic Chemarin© project.
Ludovic Chemarin himself, — in presence of Damien Beguet and P. Nicolas Ledoux (Ludovic Chemarin©) — will the be playing the part by signing the catalog Ludovic Chemarin©, placing his own signature on the rst page of the catalog, in accordance with the initial decision of the project initiators.
The otherwise common action of signing adopts here a performance status, where such action is to be understood as an artwork whose protagonist would not – or no longer – be the author but rather their representative.
Ludovic Chemarin is an artist who is politically committed in the mindset of his time, who is exhibited
in of cial places of contemporary art, supported by a recognized gallery in Lyon, France. He relatively
gains recognition, but without ever breaking the norm… However, in 2005, when he starts to receive more and more solicitations, Ludovic Chemarin decides to end his artistic career. He considers his approach
to be incompatible with the art system and the art market, which have become too toxic, too dif cult to live with, and impossible for him to follow on both a human and moral level.
The ceasing of artistic activity is a relatively frequent phenomenon, but one that is totally hidden, yet still, raises a lot of historical, symbolic, economic and societal questions, while implicating not only the artist who has to stop his activity. Our society doesn’t like failure; an artist mustn’t nd himself in a situation of insolvency.
Since 2005, Ludovic Chemarin doesn’t produce any works, he doesn’t show his work anymore: economically, and in terms of reputation, he isn’t an artist anymore, which he openly assumes and claims. On February 22, 2011, Ludovic Chemarin was bought by two artists. Yet the law prohibits the sale of human beings. In the economic system, when a company isn’t able to survive the legal redress, a sale of liquidation takes place, and a purchaser pursues the activity under the rm’s same name.
Invitation :
Michèle Didier
