FLATLAND

SPARK VALÉRIE BELIN What constitutes the terrain of Valérie Belin, one of the most celebrated French photographers of today, are her experiments with her artistic ideas on light, matter and the “body” of things and beings in general, as well as their transformations and representations. At SPARK Art Fair in Vienna FLATLAND presents her works from the series China Girls, All Stars, Mannequins and Still Lifes; works described by Clément Chéroux (Chief Curator of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, New York) as ‘the uncanny at work…that which disturbs’. Belin’s photographs mirror our confusions by simulating the real, when it is not. A large part of Belin’s work is an insidious critique of today’s mercenary illusion of perfection. Her All Star series for example, reminiscent of film noir, are over layered with vintage comics elements and her own graphic patterns, incorporating a mental world that is chaotic, saturated, and obsessive behind the construction of beauty. Clouding representations of reality that only have lose resemblance to real events, Belin highlights our collective fantasy by theatrically showing the very processes that are at work in creating this ‘fake’ reality world. The glimpses that viewers are seemingly afforded into their minds suggest they have embraced this hyper-reality.

Valérie Belin is one of the most celebrated French photographers working today. In presenting her work in The Netherlands FLATLAND works closely with gallery Nathalie Obadia in Paris/Brussel. Born in Boulogne-Billancourt (France) in 1964, Valérie Belin lives and works in Paris (France). She graduated from the École Nationale des Beaux Arts de Bourges (1983–88) and gained a DEA (the equivalent of a Master of Advanced Studies) in Philosophy of Art at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris (1989). Work of Valérie Belin (1964, Boulogne-Billancourt) has been exhibited extensively including in exhibitions in major shows at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York; Fondation Cartier, Paris; Musée du Louvre, Paris; De Pont Museum, Tilburg; Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea; Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris, France; Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Victoria & Albert Museum; London and in 2022 Norton Museum of Art, Florida, USA. She was awarded the Paris Photo prize in 1997 and the CCF (HSBC) Foundation for Photography Prize in 2000. Winner of the Prix Pictet in 2015 (Disorder), she was made an officer of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2017.

Established in 1983 by multi-genre professional musician-turned-art dealer Martin Rogge, Flatland is an Amsterdam-based gallery operating on an international scale. The gallery has been based since 2012 in the heart of art-rich Amsterdam—near the photography museum Foam, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Rijksmuseum—and is best known for representing innovative and international photographers. From this foundation, the gallery has expanded to a broader roster of contemporary artists using more varied media. Since 2015 the gallery is co-directed by Fiona van Schendel. In April 2020 Fiona became co-owner of the gallery. Van Schendel holds a MA degree in history from the University of Amsterdam and worked as historian at the International Institute for Social History, during which she published her book on plantations in the Dutch East Indies and received a PhD fellowship in international labour relations in colonial times. The gallery participates in different art fairs such as Art Rotterdam, Paris Photo, Art Brussels, Code Art Fair, Vienna Contemporary and participates in festivals such as Unseen photo fair, Amsterdam and Amsterdam Art Weekend. Since 2021 the gallery is honoured to work with Valérie Belin and Nathalie Obadia Gallery (Brussels/Paris).