Galleries in Paris » Vincent J. Stoker

J.STOKER – GUTHARC

Galleries — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:11:09 +0000

“Heterotopia, the end of History”, Vincent J. Stoker

« The end of History » affirms a faith in man’s ability to surpass his own condition. Belief in progress finds expression in Hegel’s “The end of History”. Reason and technique should bring about the resolution of conflicts, heralding an age free of tension and beyond the boundaries of contradiction.
The places in the series « Heterotopia; The end of history » are self- imposed through their monolithic rigidity and appear as unalterable truths. The colossal face of these sculptures exudes that which seems eternally enduring. In an instant the gaze is seduced into forgetting and contesting the truth portrayed in « Heterotopia; The tragic downfall » which exposes the vanity of the monument and the precarious nature of society.
Belief in progress is irresistible. In flattering the eye it blinds us. Standing in the middle of this artificial rowdiness, this excess of civilisation perfectly detached from nature – a nature that appears here as an object for mourning – the viewer loses their footing, falling deeper into an abyss of culture. The dazzled gaze is overpowered. In a futile search for clarity, little by little, it allows itself to be swallowed whole. Man, as part of nature, is no more. He has entered the end of History, a time wherein his putrescent matter vanishes within the inorganic entrails of this surgical topography.
Vincent J. Stoker

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURES – GUTHARC

Galleries — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:21:51 +0000

Domestic architectures
Helen von Boch, Fernando et Humberto Campana, Pierre Charpin, Véronique Ellena, Konstantin Grcic, Enzo Mari, Philippe Million, Jasper Morrison, Serge Mouille, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Bernard Quesniaux, André Sornay, Ettore Sottsass, Vincent J. Stoker, Martin Szekely, Franz West, Frank Willems
These domestic architectures, objects, furnitures, lights are the things that make up our daily environment. They are the result of acute reflexions that atempt to renew the formal vocabulary of ti concieve a diffrent relationship between the object and its fonction.
These objetcs were or are destined, sometimes, for institutions or for the office. Their industrialized fabrication processes and the inherent need for solidity often are intrinsic components of thier conception. They were or are designed to be able to be widely diffused among the public.
The object is a product. it is subject to all of the contingencies of commercialisation – powerful corporations or more modest brands are strategic and commercial supports of production and distribution. These groups are marks that are based on anterioriety of thier creators to communicate and attract attention. But their dynamic force allows these creations a diffusion and eventual recognation normally unavailable to these most intimate creations destined for the elitist and precious circuit of the world of design galleries and art galleries.
The Mark and the strenght of it presence gives value to the object. Ultimatly, it is amosmosis for the same purposes : recognition, visibility, profitibility (in terms of image and economic resources). The designers synthesize the reflexions resulting from the most experimental work to concieve these products meant for a larger public. Here we find their conceptual signature. Thus the products fulfil their destiny. Sometimes they know great success sometimes they remain unknown because the demands of their production can create a cost preventing competitive commercialisation. Sometimes also the originality of the approach is not percieved by a large public and the buyers remain those who frequent art galleries who are too few for the objects to remain in production long.
Times does its work and the recognition gives these productions an exceptional character, a rarity. These objects become iconic.
The speculative fever burns. Then they are reissued so that a large public may have access to them.
The exhibition examines objects of iconic status and others recently created and currently available. The first were, before all else, objects destined for mass distribution.
The intelligence which prevailed at their conception allows us to see with clarity a value which few perceived when they were created.
The objects currently on the market are all designed by strong identities in the XXI century design world.
They are sometimes very modest, sometimes more expensive, but never issued in limited editions. We bet the near future will reveal the importance of these objects and we are confident today that tomorrow we would regret not having looked more closely.

Stoker Vincent.J – Gutharc

Galleries — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:18:25 +0000

Heterotopia is a fall. Architects frustrate nature by creating ascending shapes. Nature, on the contrary, tends to flatten everything. This series shows this eternal struggle that even monuments end up losing. The history of these places is the history of our crises and the history of the failure of utopian projects. These ruins reveal the dark hidden parts and cast doubts on autophagous systems that let destroy what they have built themselves. My work focuses on those mistakes and the forgotten losers of history. I give voice to those that are often ignored or neglected. Heterotopia is a testimony to today’s small ones, former monuments supporting great expectations. It also shows what would happen if mankind disappeared from the planet. Nature would reassert itself and reclaim its rights. Our civilization would be forgotten almost instantly, covered up with moss.
But Heterotopia is also a rise. It is the birth of a new order, the harmony of nature and culture. These places have never been as beautiful as today, in decay. Physics makes art and magnifies architecture. My photography praises the slow and meticulous work of time, the inspired worker. These stout and monumental monsters, relics of the past, murmur lessons to our ears. I hear them shout the brevity and fragility of our existence. They have an edification power. Could it be possible to imagine vanity and the “memento mori” in a more powerful way than the monument to ruin? Additionally, one may see in them an opportunity to make peace with our past. Humanity makes mistakes and people must be reminded of that. These terrible mutilations, we will end up liking them.
Behind the dust, the rust and under the rubble, we can sense the architects’ original visions of order and the rigid geometry of the buildings. The shots are framed with an almost mathematic exigency and show decrepit textures, all to try and make the viewer discern the conflict in these places that are falling into chaos and rising with meaning.
Vincent J. Stoker