Kate Newby in Wallpaper

April 22, 2022

Reclaim the Earth, urge artists at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo

By Amy Serafin

Reclaim the Earth’ is both the title and the rallying cry of a new group exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. It looks beyond the Western model to other ways of existing in the world, where humans are an integral part of the environment rather than a dominating, and often destructive, force. ‘I am convinced that artists are like sentinels, warning us about the problems of society,’ says exhibition curator Daria de Beauvais.

The title comes from a collection of ecofeminist texts published in 1983. It is not a reference to militant feminism, De Beauvais explains, but rather ‘a term we find a lot in different struggles – to reclaim a territory, a sovereignty, an identity – and for different kinds of populations, notably Indigenous.’ Reclaiming the Earth means giving all life forms equal power to act.

The show features 14 artists or collectives, half of them Indigenous. The Palais de Tokyo brought in two scientific advisors to ensure curatorial accuracy. In line with the museum’s own pledge to become more sustainable, 80 per cent of the scenography materials come from prior exhibitions.

‘Reclaim the Earth’ starts outside, in the urban environment, with two works by the New Zealand-born artist Kate Newby. Newby does all of her work in situ, using local materials and techniques, and is a careful observer of her surroundings, including the oft-overlooked details of the places she exhibits. Near an outdoor fountain, she replaced five neglected squares of earth with bricks imprinted with traces like ancestral marks and fossils. On the building itself, Newby removed five damaged glass panes from the 1930s front door, inserting stained glass panes into which she pressed parts of her body – a hand, an elbow, a knee – to create abstract motifs. (The door can only be seen when the museum is closed to the public.) ‘She notices things nobody else does, and showed me the building in another way,’ says De Beauvais.

Newby created one more work by asking the Palais de Tokyo team to pick up all the bits of glass they found on the streets of Paris, then melting the pieces into porcelain shells that she scattered on the floor like a bed of colourful oysters.

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To view the full article visit Wallpaper

For more information about Kate Newby please contact the gallery:

info@coopercolegallery.com

+1.416.531.8000

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