With the works of artists: Wilfrid Almendra, Pierre Ardouvin, Valentin Carron, François Calvat, Alain Declercq, Christoph Draeger, Cyprien Gaillard, Patrice & Claude Gaillard, Laurence Huber, Fabrice Gygi, Lina Jabbour, Vincent Kohler, Olivier Kosta-Thefaine, Laurent Kropf, Laurent Le Deunff, Elodie Lesourd, Pierre Malphettes, Johann Milh, Nicolas Milhé, Anita Molinero, Bruno Peinado, Sandrine Pelletier, Laurent Perbos, Guillaume Pinard, Frédéric Plateus, Jérémy Profit, Till Rabus, Didier Rittener, Véronique Rizzo, Daniel Rugiero , Stéphane Sautour, Stéphane Thidet.

The “Buy-Sellf” exhibition at the CAPC contemporary art museum in Bordeaux, transposed the world of nightclubs. In Marseille, it was structured around an industrial type shelving and deciphered the codes of representation drawn from the systems of mass distribution. Welcomed in the suggestive setting of Villa Bernasconi in Lancy, the “Série Noire” exhibition is part of this same process of reflection. She explores the springs of film and genre novel.

From thriller to anticipatory fiction, from horror to science fiction, the pieces brought together evoke contemporary fears and anxieties. They test the mechanisms underlying their representation and play with reminiscence as with the shadow of doubt.

Plunged into darkness, the works are revealed like so many pieces of evidence, arouse suspicion and force us to remain on our guard. They address issues and practices of

different natures. They refer us to movements in the history of art, like the sculpture by Nicolas Milhé “Low to severe” which associates orthonormal figures of minimalism with the color code qualifying the degrees of the terrorist threat. They summon esoteric visions close to witchcraft and black magic like the work of Wilfrid Almendra "Ao pe do monte", a sort of scepter in the shape of an animal's paw surmounted by a piece of leather and of thongs. While in his engravings, Cyprien Gaillard projects us into an earlier future made up of bucolic landscapes where the signs of town planning intervene in a radical and unreal way.

Throughout this plot, we invite the visitor to follow a trail punctuated with clues and images, disturbing impressions of déjà vu. Conceived as the transposition of narrative forms used in a visual language, this exhibition highlights an ambiguous feeling, shared between a fascination for genre fictions, and a critical approach to the staging of contemporary psychoses. This shift marks our desire to create a look at the work of artists in relation to models anchored in our collective imagination.

Frédéric Latherrade