Barthélémy Toguo 08.9.2023 - 11.9.2023 Barthélémy Toguo: Winner Pommery Prize 2023 Presentation "Urban Requiem" (2015) by Barthélémy Toguo at The Armory Show in New York
Now in its fourth year, the Pommery Prize recognizes an outstanding presentation of large-scale artwork from the Platform section at The Armory Show. The jury for the prize included Frédéric de Goldschmidt, Collector; Gannit Ankori, Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum; and Mme. Vranken, co-owner and head of the marketing division of Vranken-Pommery Monopole.
The installation is comprised of a series of ladders holding life-size portrait busts sculpted from Iroko wood. The floor beneath these structures is covered by images of boxes used to ship bananas, an element that recurs across a selection of Toguo's installations. The busts function as stamps, with the recognizable calls to action of recent protest movements, from #MeToo to #BlackLivesMatter, carved into their bases. Oversized in comparison to a traditional stamp, these functional sculptures require significant effort to utilize, parodying administrative gestures.
Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Paris & New York
Photo:
Installation view: BarthélémyToguo, Urban Requiem (2015) at The Armory Show, 2023. Photo by Jon Cancro / Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Paris & New York.
