The exhibition Fair Game Leipzig is an adaptation of a presentation of Nathalie du Pasquier’s work curated by Kate Sutton for the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) in Ljubljana in November 2018. Prints, graphics, paintings and wall paintings from the last 30 years are shown in a deliberately non-chronological arrangement of the extensive work of the INFORM prize winner 2018, forming a parcours that leads through the rooms of the GfZK old building.
Since the 1980s, she has been an extremely successful artist, working at the interface between design and fine art. She was a founding member of Memphis, an influential postmodern design and architecture collective in Milan. During this time she designed graphic surface structures for numerous textiles and carpets, along with objects and furniture. Some of these designs can be seen at the exhibition. Since 1987, du Pasquier has increasingly devoted herself to painting. Her design is influenced by African fabric patterns, the Wiener Werkstätte and the British Arts and Crafts Movement. Most of her paintings describe the relationship between shapes, objects and spaces. The space and the work form an inseparable whole. Various objects reappear as protagonists in different contexts of her work. The journey through her work is a journey through the world of her things. The game referred to in the ambiguous title is concerned with several things at the same time: playing with things, playing with constructions and compositions in the picture and in the space, the challenge to the viewers, etc.
Nathalie Du Pasquier’s work has been making a comeback in the last two to three years. She continues to set standards and influence young designers. Here, her artworks can be seen for the first time on such a large scale in Germany.
Nathalie du Pasquier was born in Bordeaux (France) in 1957. In 1979 she moved to Milan, where she still lives and works today. Du Pasquier initially worked as a designer. In 1987 the focus of her work shifted to painting. She has participated in many exhibitions at institutions such as the Centre Culturel Francais, Naples, 1991, Museo de Arte Contemporano, Bahia Blanca, Argentina, 1995, Centre Culturel Francais, Milan, 1998, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 2004, Musée du Prieuré, Charolles, 2004, Institut Francais, Milan, 2014, Kunsthalle Wien and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, 2016/2017.
The INFORM – Prize for Conceptual Design, situated at the interface between graphic design and art, has been awarded on an annual basis since 2007. The prize consists of 5.000 euros, donated by Dr. Arend Oetker, and is linked with an exhibition at the GfZK. Previous prize-winners are Laurent Benner, Julia Born, Rebecca Stephany, Zak Kyes, Urs Lehni, James Langdon, Slavs and Tatars, Experimental Jetset, Karl Nawrot and Anja Kaiser.
The exhibition is accompanied by a booklet published by Nieves Verlag Zurich.
The exhibition is sponsored by Dr. Arend Oetker, the Friends of the GfZK and the Institut Francais.
