The Harlequin's Dog

The exhibition "The Harlequin's Dog" at Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, juxtaposes works by Amy Sillman, Clément Rodzielski, and Étienne-Martin. The show uses the figure of Harlequin as a starting point, exploring themes of instability, fragmented identity, and shifting roles. Each artist's practice is characterized by decentering, assembling, and reconfiguring elements, leading to unpredictable forms that oscillate between figuration, abstraction, and theatricality.

The exhibition title references Étienne-Martin's sculpture "Arlequin ou Novalis" and a detail in Picasso's "Trois Musiciens" (1921). These serve as cues to examine the deconstruction of hierarchical relationships within image-making, including center vs. periphery, figure vs. background, and even animal vs. human. Sillman's paintings involve layering, erasure, and revision, revealing the process of transformation. Rodzielski's recent series "UZTITLED" utilizes zentai suits as a primary material, exploring surface fetishism and the body as a second skin. The exhibition investigates representational destabilization through color, silhouette, repetition, and oblique gestures, reflecting on the contemporary status of representation in an era of animation and humor.