Les Animaux Modèles 2022

15 June – 18 September 2022

General Public, Free Admission, Monday to Friday, 10AM – 5PM or by appointment (contact roslarts@rosl.org.uk)

Matilda Barretta | Laura Bygrave | bill daggs | Yun Kim | Miro King | Kalman Pool | Marc Chagall

Les Animaux modèles introduces the work of Matilda Barretta, Laura Bygrave, bill daggs, Yun Kim, Miro King and Kalman Pool, six contemporary artists invited to produce stage pieces for the forthcoming concert of Poulenc’s ballet score. The exhibition also contains two contextual works by influential modern artist Marc Chagall (1887 – 1985).

The concert performance of Les Animaux modèles, which will debut in the Princess Alexandra Hall on Friday 2 September is a cross-collaboration project conceived by pianist Joseph Havlat (2019 Keyboard Section Final winner, ROSL Annual Music Competition) including a new narration based on Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables present in the central six movements of the piece.

Les Animaux modèles (1940-42), was the third and final ballet composed by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) and was originally staged at the Paris Opéra, premiering on 8 August 1942. Sections of the ballet are based on stories from Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables (1668-94), a classic of French literature with 239 fables over 12 volumes collected from a wide variety of Western and Eastern sources adapted into French free verse

This exhibition is an opportunity to view each artist’s current practice in anticipation of this collaborative project. Displayed alongside excerpts from the new narration adapted by David Schofield and more information about the performance are two original hand-painted etchings by Marc Chagall (1887-1985), The Bear and the Two Companions (1952) and Death and the Woodcutter (1952). Originally commissioned by prominent French art dealer Ambroise Vollard, Chagall’s Les Fables de la Fontaine is considered one of the great print suites of the 20th century and the two selected for this exhibition are directly referenced in Les Animaux modèles. This loan is generously provided by Goldmark Gallery, Rutland as one of only 85 sets hand-painted by Chagall himself.

The allocation of the six fable movements are:

L’ours et les deux compagnons (The bear and the two companions) – bill daggs

La cigale et la fourmi (The grasshopper and the ant) – Matilda Barretta

Le lion amoureux (The love-sick lion) – Laura Bygrave

L’homme entre deux âges et ses deux maîtresses (The middle-aged man and his two mistresses) – Yun Kim

La mort et le bûcheron (Death and the woodcutter) – Miro King

Le combat des deux coqs (The battle of the two cockerels) – Kalman Pool

For further information and exhibition sales enquiries contact roslarts@rosl.org.uk

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Matilda Barretta (b. 1999, London, UK) lives and works in London. Matilda studied at Glasgow School of Art (2021), L’Ecole de Beaux Arts, Paris (2019) and Camberwell College of Art (2018). Recent exhibitions include Midnight Snacks, Avalon Cafe, London (2021); Glasgow School of Art Degree Show 2021, Wasp Studios and various other venues, Glasgow (2021); Rabbit Skin, The Glue Factory, Glasgow (2020); L’Exposition de L’Atelier de Tim Eitel, Main Hall of L’Ecole de Beaux Arts, Paris (2020) and Strange Visions, The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow (2019).

Laura Bygrave (b. 1984, Norwich, UK) lives and works in Norwich, Norfolk. Laura studied at Royal College of Art (2010), and Camberwell College of Arts (2006). Recent exhibitions include: CCCC, St Peter Hungate, selected by Outpost Gallery, Norwich (2019); Ecstasy in Norwich, Lower Green, Norwich (2018); Sightings, Caraboo Projects, Bristol (2018); Sex and Other States, Artlicks ‘Peripheries’ Weekend, South Kiosk, London (2018); Hands to Mouth, Fold Gallery, London (2017); and Modest Villa Immense Versailles, Kinman Gallery, London (2016). Laura was awarded the Kyoto City University Residency in 2009.

bill daggs (b.1981, London, UK) lives and works In London. bill studied MFA at Central Saint Martins (2021) and BA Fine Art at University of East London (2017). Recent exhibitions include The Front Room Show II, D Contemporary, London (2022); Prologue, Perlona Common Room, Shanghai (2021); Do Knot With Er, LUX Moving Image, London (2020); Cash is King 2, Saatchi Gallery, London (2020) and solo exhibition A Place That Reeked of Déjà vu, The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, London (2018).

Yun Kim (b. 1992, Daegu, South Korea) lives and works in London. Yun studied at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London (2021) and was awarded the Gaudio Family Foundation Scholarship. Forthcoming exhibitions include South London Gallery and Safehouse1. She has previously exhibited in Candid Arts Trust, Tate Modern and Apiary Studios.

Miro King (b. 1995, Hamburg, Germany) is currently based in London. Miro studied at Wimbledon College of Art (2019) and Royal College of Art (2021). King received the Clyde and Co. Art Award in 2019. He previously collaborated with Jil Sander’s +J Uniqlo Summer Collection 2020 and exhibited at Start Art Global, Saatchi London (2021).

Kalman Pool (b. 1996, China) is a Chinese artist working between China and London. He graduated from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago (2019) and received an MA Painting at Royal College of Art, London (2021). Recent solo exhibitions include; Unbearable Lightness, Duende Art Museum, Shunde, China (2021); KALMAN POOL, Jupiter Museum of Art, Shenzhen, China (2021); Mutation, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China (2021); New Tales Retold, iag Gallery (curated by The Magnetic Project), TX Huaihai, Shanghai, China (2021). Recent group shows include; The Pump House, Berntson Bhattacharjee Gallery, London (2022); London Grads Now. 21, Saatchi Gallery, London (2021); Kristallisierte Bewegung, Galerie KUB, Leipzig, Germany (2021) and Hot Air, Manor Place Warehouse (curated by BAD ART PRESENTS), London (2021). In 2022 Kalman has solo exhibitions planned at Jupiter Art Museum, China and Plan X Gallery, Italy.

Marc Chagall (born July 7, 1887, Vitebsk, Belorussia, Russian Empire [now in Belarus]—died March 28, 1985, Saint-Paul, Alpes-Maritimes, France), Belorussian-born French painter, printmaker, and designer who composed his images based on emotional and poetic associations, rather than on rules of pictorial logic. Predating Surrealism, his early works, such as I and the Village (1911), were among the first expressions of psychic reality in modern art. His works in various media include sets for plays and ballets, etchings illustrating the Bible, and stained-glass windows.