Season 2016: Morellet – Spoerri – Topor

The drawings of the caricaturist and master of black humor, Roland Topor, might not seem to have much in common with the austere graphics of François Morellet. Daniel Spoerri and Alexandre Devaux, Parisian guest curator of our exhibition, invited us to go beyond the superficial and discover a common ground in the shared sense of humor of these two artists. 

Thematic parallels can be clearly seen in the works of Topor and Spoerri: digestion as an expression of the eternal cycle of growth and decay is a topic that is repeatedly addressed. The human body is studied, dissected, turned upside down and reassembled. Devaux speaks of "variations" (hence the subtitle of the exhibition was »Variations on Diverse Themes«). 

This is where the work of Francois Morellet comes in. Lines, condensed into grids, the repetition of geometric shapes - many variants of a basic pattern. Commonalities with Daniel Spoerri's assemblages are not obvious, and yet both had a similar initial idea in their artistic development: they wanted to counteract the myth of the artist as genius. He should preferably not come through as an author. 

Exhibition period: March 20 – June 26, 2016