Jean Charles de Quillacq develops sets of sculptures that are both organic and abstract, conceptual and fetishistic. Through them, he questions the relationships between our bodies, and explores their penetrability and porosity, particularly to our capitalist regimes. His project aims to deploy all the positive potential of being soft, if we allow ourselves to be crossed by logics other than those validated by our capitalist systems.

Quillacq will speak about his recent research at the Villa Medici in Rome, in which he was interested in the Italian concept of morbidezza (softness/feebleness). While the term “morbide” in French always tends to denote a malady of some sort, the Italian derivation of morbidezza in the 16th century evolves rather towards a positive appreciation of softness, at the same time as the representation of a new body, much younger than traditionally, and of an indistinct gender, appears. The softness of these reborn bodies is linked to the way we think about our relationship to the world. It is about blending in with the beings and things around us, dealing with their dynamics, strengths and hazards, and prioritizing the invention of unstable practices rather than identity.

This discussion is part of the approach of Jean Charles de Quillacq for whom bodies and their representation, the choice of materials and their interactions, social arrangements and the organization of work, are the main issues of his practice. For him, the exhibition is often also a space for performances, playing with the codes of the institution, the delegation and the authority of his works. Personal exhibitions have been dedicated to his work; in recent years at Bétonsalon, Paris, Ma système reproductive; at Art3, Valence, Ma sis t’aime reproductive; in Ampersand, Lisbon, Pros; as well as at Galerie Marcelle Alix, Paris, Foals grow horses; at Café des Glaces, Tonnerre, Sepultura and at the Chapelle des Petits Augustins, Paris, A real boy. He published, with Elsa Vettier, the book Saint-Pierre-des-corps, edited by Sombres torrents, 2020.

Image: Jean Charles de Quillacq, Presentation of the work, 2021, lead, acrylic resin, glass, artificial sweat. Exhibition view, Possessed, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2021 © Aurélien Mole