Hyères (Var). “Sea, Pop & Sun” is undoubtedly the most successful exhibition at Villa Carmignac since its opening to the public on the island of Porquerolles, in 2018, following the creation of the eponymous foundation by Édouard Carmignac in 2000. It must be said that the “charter” of the place is quite restrictive since each exhibition must appeal to the widest possible summer audience, also satisfy more knowledgeable and demanding visitors and each time highlight in the selection of a number of works from the founder’s collection. In other words, a challenge and a Spanish inn where everyone must be able to find what they are looking for by exploring this magnificent place barefoot (or possibly in socks) to “modify the perception, the sensation of the visit”according to the recommendations of the owners.
Entrusted to curators Anna Karina Hofbauer and Dieter Buchhart, the selection of this 9th opus meets all the criteria. First of all, the theme which fits perfectly with the island setting, then the number of works, 80 in total, fifteen of which come from the collection of Édouard Carmignac who has always been passionate about Pop art, and its main figures, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. It is also a series of “Sunset” by the pope of Pop (a series of screen prints on paper from 1972) which opens “Waterloo Sunset”, the first section of a journey which includes ten and whose suggestive titles set the tone and sound, since the visitor goes through “Ride The Wild Surf & Catch a Wave” as well as “California Dreamin'”, “Good Vibrations”, “The Times They Are a-Changin'”, like so many references to famous films or hits of the era. Because it is this era, the 1960s and 1970s, which is addressed here in its different aspects. If we refer to the song by Serge Gainsbourg Sea, Sex and Sun, from which the title of the exhibition is openly inspired, we say to ourselves that a term is missing, sex. But not at all. If not explicitly named, sexuality is almost present in all sections, starting with “Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds”, with Ice Cream (1964, [voir ill.]), a superb painting, suggestive to say the least, of Evelyne Axell (1935-1972) licking a very phallic ice cream cone. It is also a pleasure to see, by the same artist – unfortunately not shown often enough – The Call (1972), an enamel on Plexiglas, wood and Formica cut well in the spirit of the seventies. The sex that we find in many of the superb works of Martial Raysse, very present with historical pieces. Sex that we also find in two small sculptures by Théo Mercier (born in 1984) who also created an immense sculpture-installation in sand, concrete iron and lacquered resin, a sort of contemporary vanity designed for the central space of the Villa. A way of showing that the exhibition ranges from Pop art to current art and that the works are not interchangeable from one room to another, like the blue tones which dominate the entire room “(Sitting’on) The Dock of the Bay”.
The tour ends with this masterful work by Martial Raysse, Making and unmaking Pénélope That’s theRule (1966), a checkerboard whose squares can be modified to remake or undo the image. Just to remind you that “Sea”, “Pop”, “Sex”, “Sun” are also games and above all evoke the spirit, if not the reality, of a free, joyful, unbridled, carefree era.
