Mirror Mirror: An Exhibition in Homage to Suzy Solidor
Exhibition
/
24 Oct 2012
-
25 Nov 2012
Published: 22.10.2012
Velvet da Vinci
- Mail:
- info
velvetdavinci.com
- Phone:
- 415.386.2492
- 415.441.0109
- Curator:
- Jo Bloxham, Benjamin Lignel
- Management:
- Mike Holmes and Elizabeth Shypertt
Chain: Urban Jewellery: Suzys Charms, 2012
Zinc
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Twenty-nine artists from fourteen countries have accepted our invitation to study - and creatively respond to - the life of Suzy Solidor. We believe that their propositions constitutes a tribute to her singular life. A distorted mirror of that collection of portraits, this collection of objects prolongs it (some of the jewels are portraits themselves) but 'exceeds' it as well.
Artist list
Jivan Astfalck, Maisie Broadhead, Liesbet Bussche, Carole Deltenre, Iris Eichenberg, Rebekah Frank, Kiko Gianocca, Sophie Hanagarth, Kirsten Haydon, Leonor Hipólito, Mike Holmes, Peter Hoogeboom, Lisa Juen, Lauren Kalman, Susanne Klemm, Emmanuel Lacoste, Natalie Luder, Irma Mae, Mia Maljojoki, Jorge Manilla, Nanna Melland, Seth Papac, Marie Pendariès, Nathalie Perret, Ruudt Peters, Constanze Schreiber, Karin Seufert, Bettina Speckner, Manon van Kouswijk.
A singer, model, writer and actress, Suzy Solidor (1900 – 1983) was an intensely iconic figure of the Parisian night-life during the roaring twenties: she owned a nightclub in Paris, where she used to woo her audience with a staple of sailor songs in homage to Surcouf, the corsair of St Malo she claimed as her ancestor, or chronicle the love affairs of men and women. A self-avowed sexual predator, she openly dated both, and became somewhat of a de facto advocate of sexual freedom. Popular with German troops during the Second World War, her first club - la Vie Parisienne - was closed shortly after the libération, and Solidor forbidden to run an establishment for 5 years. She opened her next club in 1949, and moved to the French Riviera in 1960, where she stayed until her death.
From the moment she arrives in Paris from Brittany, Solidor becomes a sought-after model for painters, sculptors and photographers. She sits for everybody, it seems, from Cocteau to Bacon, and what probably started as an easy bread-earner for the young provinciale beauty eventually became part of the singer’s mise-en-scène of herself: she slowly built-up a collection of more than 200 portraits of herself, which lined the walls of her successive clubs...and some of which she took with her on her travels. Forty of these paintings now hang in a room dedicated to her in Château Grimaldi, which is situated next to Espace Solidor.
Solidor is a modern-day Narcissus: hers is a fretful form of self-commemoration, and she is probably closer to the doubting queen in ‘Snow White’ than to the self-engrossed mythological character. While some of her more transgressive contemporaries used photography and painting to pick-axe gender determinism, these portraits were not an opportunity for her to transform herself, and elaborate on the androgyny that so seduced her audience. She seems more interested in using art to multiply and reflect her own image: her collection of portraits track her through the day (from nudity to cocktail dress) and over the years (they were painted over four decades), but rarely outside a quite repetitive format. In short, she is not Claude Cahun (or Cindy Sherman) but rather the Queen Mother of mermaids, using the creative pluck of men (and some women) to amass evidence of her sway over them.
Twenty-nine artists from fourteen countries have accepted our invitation to study - and creatively respond to - the life of Suzy Solidor. We believe that their propositions constitutes a tribute to her singular life. A distorted mirror of that collection of portraits, this collection of objects prolongs it (some of the jewels are portraits themselves) but 'exceeds' it as well. Indeed, the practices represented in Mirror Mirror (jewellery, object, installation) are not mimetic; their point is not to resemble the 'sitter', but to outfit her fictions of identity: "I am a pirate / a singer / a (wo)man eater / a brittany gal who fled her native Saint-Malo…the better to ply Parisians with nostalgic shanty songs." The conceit that this jewellery is for someone specific in turn allows the makers to pretend that it is someone's: their pieces at once designate and invent new Suzy fictions. What better medium indeed than jewellery to fuel her mild mythomania?
Exhibition catalog available.
This exhibition was first displayed at Espace Solidor in Suzy Solidor's own village of Cagnes-Sur-Mer France. This is the only US venue.
From the moment she arrives in Paris from Brittany, Solidor becomes a sought-after model for painters, sculptors and photographers. She sits for everybody, it seems, from Cocteau to Bacon, and what probably started as an easy bread-earner for the young provinciale beauty eventually became part of the singer’s mise-en-scène of herself: she slowly built-up a collection of more than 200 portraits of herself, which lined the walls of her successive clubs...and some of which she took with her on her travels. Forty of these paintings now hang in a room dedicated to her in Château Grimaldi, which is situated next to Espace Solidor.
Solidor is a modern-day Narcissus: hers is a fretful form of self-commemoration, and she is probably closer to the doubting queen in ‘Snow White’ than to the self-engrossed mythological character. While some of her more transgressive contemporaries used photography and painting to pick-axe gender determinism, these portraits were not an opportunity for her to transform herself, and elaborate on the androgyny that so seduced her audience. She seems more interested in using art to multiply and reflect her own image: her collection of portraits track her through the day (from nudity to cocktail dress) and over the years (they were painted over four decades), but rarely outside a quite repetitive format. In short, she is not Claude Cahun (or Cindy Sherman) but rather the Queen Mother of mermaids, using the creative pluck of men (and some women) to amass evidence of her sway over them.
Twenty-nine artists from fourteen countries have accepted our invitation to study - and creatively respond to - the life of Suzy Solidor. We believe that their propositions constitutes a tribute to her singular life. A distorted mirror of that collection of portraits, this collection of objects prolongs it (some of the jewels are portraits themselves) but 'exceeds' it as well. Indeed, the practices represented in Mirror Mirror (jewellery, object, installation) are not mimetic; their point is not to resemble the 'sitter', but to outfit her fictions of identity: "I am a pirate / a singer / a (wo)man eater / a brittany gal who fled her native Saint-Malo…the better to ply Parisians with nostalgic shanty songs." The conceit that this jewellery is for someone specific in turn allows the makers to pretend that it is someone's: their pieces at once designate and invent new Suzy fictions. What better medium indeed than jewellery to fuel her mild mythomania?
Exhibition catalog available.
This exhibition was first displayed at Espace Solidor in Suzy Solidor's own village of Cagnes-Sur-Mer France. This is the only US venue.
Brooch: Sphinx & Ice Radium, 2012
Polystyrene, pvc, silver, steel / Enamel, reflector beads, copper
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: She Would Be On The Beach In The Morning, 2012
Found photo, resin, forex, silver, steel
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Choker: Pearls for Girls, 2012
Porcelain, pigment, silk and gold
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Piece: I love Paris (released 2012), 2012
Vinyl, paper
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: A Young Mans Heart, 2012
Daguerréotype, silver, diamonds
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Piece: Untitled & Ex Votos, 2012
Steel, 18 kt gold solder / Copper
Two necklaces as part of a set & two objects
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Cufflinks: Embrasses, 2012
Mussels, rayon thread
Two arm cuffs made from the opposite halves of mussel shells
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Object: Diaphano, 2012
Polyester, glass, silicone, distilled water
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Piece: Yin + -Yin, 2012
Stainless steel, cubic zirconia, enamel on copper, glass, battery-box, light switch, cable
Belly-piece / Neck-piece / Brooch
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Video Installation: Certainly Red, 2012
Digital media player, DVD, frame
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Moments of Glory, 2012
Snake skin, leather, wood, silver, gold 14K
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Piece: Les Importables [The Unwearables] (For Suzy Solidor), 2012
Jewelers’ wax, silver, embroidered fabric, cotton thread
Three cockades
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Neckpiece: The Lure Of Radium, 2012
Enamel, microbilles de verre, pigment photoluminescent, transfer photographique, cuivre, nylon, photoluminescent pigment, photo transfer, copper, nylon
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Neckpiece: Rosa Rubea Homuncula, 2012
Sterling silver, powder-coated brass, early 19th C vintage garnet settings, black Sapphires + AI203 synthetic raw and semi-finished rubies, sapphires
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Neckpiece: Ssssssssuzy, 2012
Silver, found object
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Installation: Unbound, 2012
Chains, antique key
Installation and video
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Object: Suzy Fetish, 2012
Carved basswood, bone, brass, pearls, gesso
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Neckpiece: Suzanne Louise Marie Marion, 2012
Cotton
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Object: Reine Dun Jour, Reine Pour Toujours, 2012
Gold-plated copper
Crown
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Object: La Vie Parisienne, 2012
Leather, copper, steel, silver, bottle, vintage tag
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Neckpiece: Mythe de Nuit, 2012
Amber, Shells, Epoxy, Silver
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Necklace: Vénus With Necklace, 2012
Stolen gold, lead, paint, plaster of Paris
Set of three long necklaces with wall mountings
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Neckpiece: French Kiss, 2012
Leather, forged iron
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Object: Untitled, 2012
Steel, felt, panty hose , silk
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Velvet da Vinci
- Mail:
- info
velvetdavinci.com
- Phone:
- 415.386.2492
- 415.441.0109
- Curator:
- Jo Bloxham, Benjamin Lignel
- Management:
- Mike Holmes and Elizabeth Shypertt
-
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