Artists

Sophie Calle

Sophie Calle, Take care of youself. French intelligence officer, Louise / Prenez soin de vous. Officier traitant de la DGSE, Louise, 2007, 
Color Print, Text, Frame, Photo 123 x 99 cm, Text 123 x 99 cm

 

 

Born in 1953, Paris, France
Lives and works in Malakoff, France

 

Sophie Calle is a writer, conceptual artist, photographer, movie director and even a detective. The changes of self-interpreted characteristics, depending on her professions, are all parts of her lifestyle. Her works are differed by the use of arbitrary sets of constraints and are reminiscent of the French literary movement of the 1960s known as Oulipo. Her works often examine human vulnerability, identity, intimacy, and they include panels of her own writings in compelling narratives. She also calls herself as a detective as she takes photographs and makes notes as she follows strangers on streets.

 As a renowned French artists, her work Prenez soin de vous (Take Care of Yourself), shown at the French Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale, is her most comprehensive and representative work. Prenez soin de vous is the final sentence of a break-up email that she received in the June of 2004. She perceived this awkward and unspontaneous text as a trait of way how men write letters to women. In addition, she asked other women to analyze it, according to their particular experiences. A total of 107 women with a variant of profession agreed to join in this project. These people had numerous occupations, varying from curator to criminologist. Each of them contributed to a co-creation by deconstructing and dissecting the text. By transforming their interpretations into a three-dimensional space, Calle gathered the work’s cerebral aspects and accentuates its playfulness, thus creating a vivid aesthetic object. Positioned at the boundary between private and collective experiences, her works allude to journalism, anthropology and psychoanalysis, as well as literature, diary and photo novel. By asking strangers to sleep in her bed, or inviting a random author to take charge of her destiny, she documents social interactions that require a pact of complete trust.

 As she is well known for her format of artwork as a combination of photography and novel, Calle was granted the Hasselblad Award in 2010. Her works have been exhibited internationally including solo exhibitions in Perrotin Gallery (2020), Fraenkel Gallery (2020), La Vieille Charité (2019), Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art, Chile (2019), Hara Museum, Tokyo (2019, 2013), Château La Coste, France (2018), Toyota Municipal Museum of Art , Japan (2015); Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Canada (2015); Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey, Mexico (2014); Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York (2014); 313 Art Project, Seoul (2013); Hara Museum, Tokyo (2013); Stavanger Art Museum, Norway (2013); Festival d’Avignon, France (2012); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2010); Musee d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice (2010); De Pont Foundation, Tilburg, Netherland (2009); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (2009); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2009) and many more. Her numerous group exhibitions include Museo Rizo, Palermo, Italy (2015); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (2015); Pompidou Centre (2014); Arario Museum, Seoul (2014); Shanghai Biennale, China (2012); The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis Missouri, U.S.A (2012); Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany (2012;, Tate Modern, London (2010); Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2010); PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2010); Royal Academy of Arts, London (2009); and Pompidou Centre, Paris (2007).. Her works are collected internationally including but not limited to: Tate Modern in London,  De Font Museum of Contemporary Art in Tilburg, and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

 

소피 칼은 개념 예술가이자 사진작가이며, 영화감독이다. 동시에 모르는 사람을 뒤따라가며 사진을 찍고 글을 쓰는 자기 자신을 탐정이라고도 말한다. 그녀의 직업에 따라 자체 해석되는 그녀의 개성은 그녀 삶의 일부분이다. 여러 가지 제한 조건들이 의도적으로 설정된는 그녀의 작품은 1960년대 프랑스 문학 운동 Oulipo를 연상시킨다. 그녀의 작품은 인간의 연약함, 정체성, 친밀감을 묘사하는데, 그녀가 직접 쓴 글이 작품 옆에 배치되며 관객에게 더욱 깊은 울림을 가져다준다.

제52회 베니스 비엔날레 프랑스관에서 전시된 작품 “Prenez soin de vous (Take Care of Yourself)”의 제목은 2004년 6월, 그녀가 남자 친구로부터 받았던 헤어지자는 메일의 가장 마지막 문장이었다. 그녀는 이 어색하고 준비된 듯한 글이 평범한 남자가 여자 친구에게 보내는 마지막 편지의 공통된 특성일 것이라 여기고, 다른 여성들에게 이것을 해석해달라고 부탁했다. 이 작업에 참여한 총 107명의 여성은 큐레이터, 외교관, 헤드헌터, 그리고 범죄학자까지 다양한 직업을 가지고 있었다. 그들은 각자 메일을 읽고, 분석하고 해체하였으며 재창조했다. 작가는 이들의 해석을 취합하여 하나의 개념적인 작품으로 완성했다. 이 과정에서 칼은 메일이 가지는 본래 의미는 상쇄시키고, 그것의 우스꽝스러움을 강조하여 강렬한 미적 작품을 만들어냈다. 사적인 경험과 공공적 체험의 경계에 위치한 그녀의 작품은 저널리즘, 인류학, 정신 분석뿐만 아니라 문학, 일기와 사진 소설 등을 떠오르게 한다. 처음 본 낯선 자신의 침대에서 자도록 하고, 무작위로 소설가를 초대해서 본인의 운명을 떠맡겨버리는 등, 작가는 완전한 신뢰를 바탕으로 이뤄지는 사회적 상호관계를 기록한다. 사진과 소설을 합친 작품 형식으로 유명해진 그녀는 2010년 Hasselblad 상을 받았다.

소피 칼은 Perrotin Gallery (2020), Fraenkel Gallery (2020), La Vieille Charité (2019), 칠레 Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art(2019), 도쿄 Hara Museum(2019, 2013), 프랑스 Château La Coste(2018), 뮌헨 Espace Louis Vuitton(2018), 파리Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature(2017), Fort Manson Center for Arts & Culture(2017), 바르셀로나 Centre de la Imatge(2015), 캐나다 몬트레올 Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal (2015), 서울 313 아트프로젝트 (2013), 파리 Palais de Tokyo (2010) 등에서 개인전을 가졌다. 그룹전으로는 MIT Visual Arts Center (2017), The Barnes Foundation (2017), 모스크바 Moscow Museum of Modern Art (2016), 뉴욕 Metropolitan Museum of Art (2016), 워싱턴 DC National Gallery of Art (2015), 프랑스 파리 Pompidou Centre (2014), 런던 Tate Modern (2010), 뉴욕 Guggenheim Museum (2010), 서울 리움 미술관 (2010) 등이 있다. 그녀의 작품은 런던 Tate Modern, 틸버그 De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art, 뉴욕 Metropolitan Museum of Art를 비롯해 세계 주요 미술관과 유수의 기관 및 컬렉터들에게 소장되어 있다.

SELECTED IMAGES

Sophie Calle, Où et Quand? Berck, 2004/2008, Print, text, neon, Dimensions variable
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013Sophie Calle, Où et Quand? Lourdes, 2005/2008, Print, text, frame, neon, marble, candle lights, shelf, Dimensions variable
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013Sophie Calle, Où et Quand? Lourdes, 2005/2008, Print, text, frame, neon, marble, candle lights, shelf, Dimensions variable
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013Sophie Calle, Où et Quand? Nulle Part, 2012, Calligraphy under Plexiglas, books, handwritten note, chain and pendent fitting iron, Dimensions variable
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013Sophie Calle, Où et Quand? Nulle Part, 2012, Calligraphy under Plexiglas, books, handwritten note, chain and pendent fitting iron, Dimensions variable
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013Sophie Calle, Où et Quand? Nulle Part, 2012, Calligraphy under Plexiglas, books, handwritten note, chain and pendent fitting iron, Dimensions variable
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013Sophie Calle, Take Care of Yourself series, 2007, Color print, text, frame, Variable dimensions
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013Sophie Calle, Take Care of Yourself series, 2007, Color print, text, frame, Variable dimensions
Installation view of <Où et Quand?>, 313 Art Project, 2013