Fabrice Gygi

Fabrice Gygi places riots barricades at museums, hangs up bombs so that they resemble chandeliers, and makes a provisional voting booth for an undecided nation.

Artist Fabrice Gygi has compared himself to a figurative painter in that he copies objects that he observes in the world around him. Gygi uses their characteristics in forms and materials but displaces their function and context. At Magasin 3, the rooms are filled with sculptures in industrial and military materials such as stain- less steel, tarpaulin, and tension straps.

Gygi critiques authoritarian systems in our culture by studying everyday architecture and ordinary objects. He questions the police’s preparations ahead of expected riots and our obsession with feeling secure. His objects demand reflection. Confusing resemblances emerge between an object made for torture and a mon- key bar, between a refugee camp and a structure for housing a party. But, as exhibition curator Richard Julin emphasizes, there is also a sense of ”proximity and play, revolt and resistance” in his sculptures.

For the powerful, sculptural exhibition at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, the artist has made a new work. It is at once monumental and on a human scale, and gives a strong feeling of containment – a central theme of many of Gygi’s works. The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue with an essay by among others Irene Hofmann, curator OCMA.