Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster
|
|
|---|---|
Gonzalez-Foerster in 2002
|
|
| Born | 30 June 1965 |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | École du Magasin Institute des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques |
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (born June 30, 1965, in Strasbourg, France) is a French artist and teacher. She is famous for her art that uses video, photos, and special installations. She also works in landscaping, design, and writing. Dominique likes to try new things. She often says she enjoys learning how to do something new as she creates art.
She lives and works in both Paris, France, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Contents
Biography
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1965. When she was 17, she worked as a museum guard in Grenoble. At the same time, she studied art at the École du Magasin. She also went to the Institute des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques in Paris. She started her art career in the 1990s. Back then, she mostly made films.
Her Art and Projects
Dominique's art is inspired by movies, books, modern buildings, and art history. Her work often explores city life in a quiet and personal way. She often uses pieces from her travels around the world. She puts them together to create something new. She once said that her art is more like theater and setting up scenes. She wants her art to make people think and interact with it. She hopes people will engage with her art, just like a writer wants people to read a book.
Her early art was mostly short, simple films that felt like dreams. Now, she works with many different artists. For example, she wrote a science fiction novel with artist Philippe Parreno. She also designed sets for rock singer Alain Bashung. In 2008, she worked with designer M&M. They created the letters for "Expodrome." This was a large, bright public art piece on a rooftop in Geneva. In 2009, she worked with composer Ari Benjamin Meyers on a show called "K62." It was part of Performa 09, a festival in New York. She has also helped Nicolas Ghesquière design displays for Balenciaga stores in New York and Paris. She even designed a house for an art collector in Tokyo.
For the 2015–2016 season, Dominique designed a huge picture for the Vienna State Opera. It was part of an art series called "Safety Curtain."
Art Shows
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster has shown her art in many places. Her first solo show in New York City was in 2014. It was called "Equinimod and Costumes." This show featured an art display of her own clothes. She has also had solo shows at famous places like the Centre Pompidou and the Tate Modern.
She also took part in big art events. These include the 2006 São Paulo Art Biennial and the 2009 Venice Biennale.
Tate Modern's Turbine Hall Art Project
One of her most famous projects was at the Tate Modern in London. It was called "The Unilever Series: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster: TH.2058." This show was open from October 2008 to April 2009. Dominique said she was excited about the project. She put a lot of energy into staying calm because the artwork was so huge.
The show was her first big public art project in the UK. It filled half of the huge Turbine Hall. "TH.2058" imagined Tate Modern 50 years in the future. In this future, London was always raining. Tate Modern was used as a shelter for people. It also stored artworks and cultural items. The big hall was filled with giant copies of famous sculptures. Rows of bunk beds were covered with books. A huge screen played "The Last Film" all the time. This film was made of short clips from science fiction movies. It showed a possible disaster but also the idea of shared memories.
Hispanic Society of America Art Project
In 2009, Dominique created an art project at the Hispanic Society of America in New York. It was called "chronotopes & dioramas." The Hispanic Society of America is a museum with many paintings, objects, and books. Dominique noticed it didn't have many 20th-century books. She wanted to fill this gap.
She worked with experts from the American Museum of Natural History. They created three special displays, like habitats. Instead of stuffed animals, these displays had books by nearly 40 authors. One display looked like water and tall things. Another showed a dry, flat desert. The third had trailing plants. They represented North America, the Desert, and the Tropics. Each display also had one small sign of human life. The underwater scene had an oil barrel. The desert scene had old concrete ruins. The tropical scene had an empty glass house. These items showed how time passes and things change. Many of the books in the displays were about worry and being far from home. She also made a large picture using words that formed a visual image. This project was housed in a part of the library.
Art Collections
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster's art can be found in many important collections. These include the Centre Pompidou, the Dia Art Foundation, the Guggenheim, and the Tate Modern. Her work is also at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the M+ Museum, and the Moderna Museet.
Awards and Recognition
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster has received several awards. In 1996, she had an artist residency in Kyoto, Japan. She also won the Mies van der Rohe Award in Krefeld that same year. In 2002, she received the Marcel Duchamp Prize in Paris.
