La Fratrie

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The French artist duo La Fratrie (Karim and Luc Berchiche) invite us to explore their universe via their "rock-islands". Through their formal and technical precision these mixed-media sculptures (made of silicone, silver, gold-leaf, iron, flocking…) turn their creators into the craftsmen of a utopian world in the most literal of senses ("having no known location; existing nowhere"). These aerial rocks equally constitute worlds of their own, as uprooted illusions of their place of origin. Such singular and complex fictions introduce narrative, and often allegorical scenes. They also provide us with sources for real reflection upon the brevity and fragility of life. 

  

Baptiste Lanaspeze est éditeur et directeur des éditions Wildproject 

What happened? 

Frozen in unsettling stillness, fossilized in their funnels of earth, almost identical but always remarkable, La Fratrie’s islands stop us in our tracks and repeat themselves like an obsessive code. In stark contrast with their surrounding landscape, in which a sense of vitality and elusive movement is found compressed, their fixity there within appears as an act of violence. 

Escape from their spell requires an examination of the evidence, which is exactly what La Fratrie’s islands do. They show the traces: of the little nothings that have changed everything, of a balance that has been broken, of something insignificant that concerns us intimately… the testimony to a daily shipwreck. 

But wait, there is nothing tragic in this, at worst a sense of the absurd. We find ourselves in the realm of dreams, where it may be dangerous but not deadly. These miniature lands revive the childish wonderment that always evokes, God only knows why, little worlds. 

In this strange phenomenon, in which our senses seem heightened, more aware of both themselves and their powers, we are just as likely to observe a giant blade of grass as a bonsai, the play of scale always a delight to the senses. 

As Leibniz subtly states, each level of being forms a mini-world, bringing with it its own singular perception of the universe, much like a convex mirror. La Fratrie’s microcosms, distinct, impeccable, and tripped up by their signification, float between sky and Earth in a sort of purgatory.

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Selected solo exhbitions 

 2020,

 « Our Common Future », School Gallery Paris, France

2019

 Carte  blanche « Mare Nostrum : identités méditerranéennes » Fondation Villa Datris, Espace Monte Cristo, Paris Art Paris, France

2018

 « I used to be a trader but i’am ok now » Ambacher Contemporary Gallery, Munich, Germany

« Voices from… » School Gallery Olivier Castaing, Paris ART

2017

 Solo show BEIRUT ART FAIR, Lebanon

« there is no planet B » Domaine Deuleuze-Rochetin, Uzès, France

2016

« Von hier aus » Ambacher Contemporary Gallery, Munich, Germany

« Comme des pierres jetés dans le vide » Montparnasse Museum, curated by Jean Digne & David Wizmane Gallery, Paris, France

2015

 « Hard to leave this shitty paradise » Nuke Gallery, Paris, France

« Hold on » Cut-log Art fair, David Wizmane Gallery, Paris, France

2013

« We meet by accident » Valentine de Badereau Gallery & Nuke Gallery, St Barthelemy

« The invisible end » David Wizmane Gallery,

2012

Villa UGC «everything is about to change», Enrico Navarra, Nuke Gallery & UGC, Cannes Festival, France

2011

« Doing strange things in the name of art », David Wizmane Gallery, Paris

« What Remains », Nuke Gallery, Paris, France

« Gold Digger » (solo show), Suty Gallery, Coye-la-Forêst, France

2010

« The Logic of French Riviera », Les Jumeaux, Ramatuelle, France

« Tell the truth and run », Nuke gallery, Konschthaus beim Engel, Luxembourg

2009

« Weak Show » Lacen Gallery, Paris, France

« Who will cast the first stone » Nuke Gallery, Paris, France

 

 

Selected group exhbitions 

2021

Rarity Gallery, Rarity Summer Contemporary Exhibtion 2021, Mykonos 

2019,

School Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris

Group Show Galleria Forni, Milano, Italy

« Mare Nostrum : identités méditerranéennes », Fondation Villa Datris, l’Isle-sur-laSorgue

ARTE FIERA Art fair Galleria Forni, bologna

 2018

Fondation FERNET-BRANCA, Collection David H BROLLIET (collective show) Saint-louis, France

Fondation DATRIS, (collective show) Isle-sur-lasorgue, France

ART KARLSRUHE International Fair Galleria Forni. Karlsruhe, Germany

ARTE FIERA Art fair Galleria Forni, Bolonia, Italy

Group show, School Gallery / Olivier Castaing, Paris, France

2017

OFF Art Brussels, School Gallery / Olivier Castaing, Bruxelles, Belgium

ART BASEL DESIGN MIAMI, Philippe Gravier Gallery, Basel,  Switzerland 

Villa UGC , Enrico Navarra gallery & UGC, Festival de Cannes

Parcours Saint-Germain, by Pierre Marcolini, Paris

2016

ART BASEL DESIGN MIAMI Galerie Philippe Gravier, Basel, Switzerland

Villa UGC , Enrico Navarra gallery & UGC, Cannes Festival, France

La Nuit de L’ICART, Paris, France

2015

Musée de la Vieille Charité, « Art Fiction, de la ville aux étoiles », Marseille, France

ST’ART Art Fair Strasbourg, France Espace

Motor Village,  Rond-Point des Champs Elysées, Paris 

2014

Centre Pompidou Metz, La semaine du goût, Metz, France

2013

Escalader le ciel sans échelle, David Wizmane Gallery,

Parcours Saint-Germain n°10, partenariat FIAC curated by AnnePierre d'Albis-Ganem

Salon Maison & Objets, Selection of l'Eclaireur, Paris, France. Collective Show,

2012

Génération Polluée, Nuke Gallery, Paris, France

Scope Art Fair Basel 11, Artaban Gallery, Basel Switzerland

Art Paris Art Fair 11 Enrico Navarra Gallery, Paris, France.

2011

Archichaos, curated by Julia Van Hagen - ArtStanding, Rove Project, London, UK

Summer Trees, Analix Forever, Genève, Switzerland

Even Now you can dream, Artaban Gallery, Paris, France

Art Paris Art Fair 10 Nuke Gallery, Paris, France

2010

Abu Dhabi Art Fair 09, Enrico Navarra Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Slick art fair 09, Lacen Gallery, Paris, France

Heart breakers, OFR gallery, Paris, France

2009

Christmas Show, Lacen Gallery, Paris, France

Art Paris Abu Dhabi 08, Enrico Navarra Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Slick Art Fair 08, Lacen Gallery, Paris, France

Scope Art Fair London 08, Lacen Gallery, London, UK

2008

On the Road, Pierre André Benoit Museum, Alès, France

Arménie mon ami, Artcore Gallery, Paris, France

2007

All the art I can fit in my roller-skate case, The Living Room Gallery, Manilla, Philippines

L'art oseur, art osé (collective show) Institut Supérieur des Carrières artistiques, Paris, France

 

 

PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS 

Fondation Datris, Paris, France 

BNP Paribas, Bruxelles 

Collection David Brolliet, Genève, Suisse 

Collection, Enrico Navarra, Le Muy, France 

Collection Philippe Gravier, Saint-Cyr-en-Arthies, France  

Collection, Ariane et Benjamin de Rotschild, Pregny-Chambésy, Suisse 

Henry Georges Muller, Paris, France 

Collection, Ora Itao, Paris 

Collection, Hugues et Marie Taitinger, Bruxelles 

 Collection, Brandolini d’Adda, Mexico 

 Collection, Isabelle Stanislas Paris 

Collection, Philippe Dian, Paris