ORLAN: A Retrospective
September 25 — October 30, 2024
The Opening Gallery
42 Walker Street, New York http://theopeninggallery.com
The Opening Gallery is pleased to announce ORLAN: A Retrospective, a solo exhibition of works by ORLAN curated by Sozita Goudouna, PhD. Installed across the first floor of 42 Walker St, this monographic survey attempts to provide an in-depth examination of ORLAN’s life, artistic practices, and contributions to contemporary art.
Offering an overview of ORLAN’s life, including her education, early influences, and career milestones, the exhibition will explore ORLAN’s conceptual framework, focusing on themes such as identity, the body, and the use of technology in art. ORLAN’s fearless exploration of identity and beauty continue to resonate within the art community and inspire ongoing exploration of these vital themes. Through her provocative performances, ORLAN engages audiences in critical discussions about beauty standards, identity, and the role of the artist.
Her works challenge viewers to reflect on their perceptions and biases, fostering a deeper understanding of how societal norms shape individual identities. ORLAN’s most notable work involves using her own body as a medium for artistic expression. By undergoing a series of plastic surgeries, she transforms herself into a living artwork, challenging conventional standards of beauty and raising questions about the commodification and objectification of female bodies. This radical approach redefines the relationship between the artist and their work, blurring the lines between art and life. The artist’s entire oeuvre confronts and critiques patriarchal standards of beauty and femininity, advocating for women’s autonomy over their bodies and identities. ORLAN’s performances often engage with themes of feminism and the role of women in art history, making her a crucial voice in feminist art discourse. Her performances serve as powerful commentaries on the societal pressures women face, positioning her as a significant voice in feminist art history. By confronting and subverting patriarchal norms, she has created a space for dialogue around women’s agency in the art world.
ORLAN is regarded as a pivotal figure in art history owing to her revolutionary contributions to performance art. Her performances often incorporate elements of humor and irony, further subverting traditional notions of beauty. By presenting herself in unexpected ways, ORLAN invites audiences to engage with and reflect on their own beliefs about beauty, identity, and the body. This engagement fosters a critical dialogue around the pressures women face regarding appearance and the societal constructs that shape these perceptions. In addition to her physical transformations, ORLAN utilizes digital media and technology to expand her artistic practice. Her works often incorporate video, photography, and interactive elements, reflecting the intersection of art and technology.
Her impact on art history is profound, as she has redefined notions of beauty, challenged societal norms, and inspired new dialogues within the art community. Her innovative approach and commitment to exploring complex themes continue to resonate, making her a vital figure in contemporary art.
ORLAN : A Retrospective at The Opening Gallery in Tribeca New York September 2024
The Opening Gallery (42 Walker Street, New York, NY) presents a retrospective exhibition curated by Dr. Sozita Goudouna featuring landmark pieces such as Baiser de l’artiste and the opérations-chirurgicales-performances. The opening takes place on Wednesday September 25 and Thursday September 26. At both openings, ORLAN will be signing her autobiography, translated into English.
ORLAN is delighted to announce that her autobiography « Strip-tease : everything about my life, everything about my art » published in French by Éditions Gallimard, has been published in English by The Everyday Press.
The Maison Française of NYU (16 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003) is hosting a solo exhibition by ORLAN, curated by François Noudelmann where she is exhibiting for the first time her new series I authorize you to be me, I authorize myself to be you. Following on from her self-hybridizations, the artist pays tribute to the great pioneering women of history who defended the same causes as her, but long before her, and who in some cases gave their lives in the process. This gesture of hybridization with the other allows her to give them an artist’s kiss and create an encounter between women despite the mists of time that separate them.
Ceysson & Bénétière NYC (956 Madison Avenue, New York City, NY 10021–2610) exhibits ORLAN in a new group show curated by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand with Katya Grokhvsky, Hanae Utamura, Bianca-Abdi Boragi, Ayana Evans, Yasmine Anlan Huang, Anna -Ting Möller, Linnéa Gad and Katie Hubbell.
Events :
- ORLAN holds a meeting-conversation with Tatyana Franck at the Alliance Française (22 E 60th St 1077, New York, NY 10022) on September 30 at 6 pm.
- She will give a guided tour of her exhibition at Ceysson & Bénétière (956 Madison Avenue, New York City, NY 10021–2610) followed by a signing on October 03, accompanied by curator Anna Mikaela Ekstrand and artist Katya Grokhvsky.
- Lecture at the Maison Française (16 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003)
About the Artist:
ORLAN is an internationally acclaimed French artist. She is not tied to any one material, technology, or artistic practice. She creates sculptures, photographs, performances, videos, and videogames, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics (she has created a robot in her own image that speaks with her voice) using scientific and medical technics like surgery and biogenetic. Those are only mediums for her, the idea prevails, and the materiality pursues. ORLAN makes her own body the medium, the raw material, and the visual support of her work. It takes place as the “public debate”. She is a major figure of the body art and of “carnal art” as she used to define it in her 1989 manifesto. Her commitment and her liberty are an integral part of her work. She defends innovative, interrogative, and subversive positions, in her entire artwork. ORLAN changes constantly and radically the datas, which disrupt conventions, and “ready-made thinking”. She is opposed to the natural determinism, social and politic and to all domination forms, male supremacy, religion, cultural segregation, and racism, etc. Always mixed with humor, often-on parody or even grotesque, her provocative artworks can shock because she shakes up the pre-established codes.
ORLAN won the E-reputation award, designating the most observed and followed artist on the Web.
HONORS, AWARDS, GRANTS AND PRIZES
ORLAN has received several awards and grants throughout her career:
In 2020, ORLAN was made President of Hundred Heroines (London). In 2019, ORLAN received the Maestro Academico Emerito by Academia Di Belle Arti Di Roma delivered by the director of the Academia, Tiziana D’Acchille. In 2019, ORLAN was honored by the special price of the Woman of the year by the Prince of Monte-Carlo (Monaco). In 2018, ORLAN received the Hundred Heroines of Photography price from The Royal Photograhic Society at Paris Photo (Paris). In 2017 she received the International Award for Female Excellence from the Ministry of International Affairs in Genoa (Italy). In 2013 she received the E-REPUTATION Great Prize by Alexia Guggemos at Christie’s in Paris (France). In 2010, ORLAN was made Chevalier de l’ordre national du Mérite and received the medal from Fréderic Mitterrand, then Minister of Culture. In 2007, during the retrospective of her work at the Musée d’Art Moderne of her native town of Saint-Étienne, ORLAN received the Golden Medal of Saint-Étienne and the Bronze Medal of Saint-Étienne Métropole. In 2004 she won the top prize at The Moscow Festival of Photography (Russia). In 2003, ORLAN was made Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. The medal was delivered by Jean-Jacques Aillagon, then Minister of Culture. In 1999 she was awarded the Arcimboldo Prize for digital photography from Hewlett Packard (France) and won the Griffel-Kunst Prize in Hamburg (Germany). In 1993 she received the Prix Mona Lisa and Prix Lavoisier (France). In 1989 and 1992 she received two grants from FIACRE (Fonds d’Innovation Artistique et Culturelle en Rhône-Alpes) for her research and residency in Chennai (Former Madras, India). In 1967 she received the Top Prize from the ‘Bourse du Travail’ in Saint-Étienne (France).
ORLAN’s work is included in the collections of MoMA, LACMA and MOCA in LA, as well as Washington University in Saint Louis, and the Getty Research Institute where she was invited as an artist-researcher.
ORLAN created her famous seventh surgical-operation-performance, Omniprésence, in November 21, 1993 in New York, in collaboration with Sandra Gering Gallery this action ORLAN-BODY, which was broadcast via satellite, as there were no webcams at the time. In this staged performance, the artist had solid silicone implants, usually placed on the cheekbones to enhance them, placed on both sides of his forehead. The idea was to perform an operation that wasn’t supposed to bring beauty but, on the contrary, ugliness, monstrosity and undesirability. In the end, these bumps became organs of seduction. ORLAN says “it’s my convertible.” She creates post-operative photos from the Millennium Hotel, where she poses during the healing process in front of the Twin Towers on one side and the Three World Financial Center on the other. She calls them Refiguration of ORLAN, disfiguration of New-York and Women look like the moon, my eyes like flowers or Self-portrait with daffodils made by the body-machine six days after the operation.
In 1983, ORLAN performed the mesuRAGE of institutions and streets at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In this performance, she used her body as a measuring instrument: the ORLAN-BODY. A precise protocol allows the artist to record the number of times her body is contained within the museum space.
In 2006, ORLAN was honored to be invited to take up a residency at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles as a researcher and artist. She created an ORLAN-BODY of books by asking acclaimed researchers in residence with her to give her a book, or the title of a book that influenced their thinking, their work and their lives.
MAJOR AWARDS :
2003 ORLAN was elevated to the rank of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture Jean-Jacques Aillagon
2004 ORLAN retrospective special exhibition at the Gwangju Art Biennale
2005 ORLAN was invited to a residency at ISCP, New York, USA, by the French Association of Artistic Action
2006 ORLAN had the honor of being invited to a residency at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, USA as an artist-researcher where she exhibited
2009 “Le Baiser de l’artiste” was included in the book 100 Masterpieces of the 20th Century, published by the Centre Pompidou
2010 ORLAN was honored with the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit medal presented by the Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand
2013 ORLAN received the E-reputation award, designating the artist most observed and commented on the web
2017 ORLAN was awarded the Prize for Female Excellence for her entire body of work by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2018 ORLAN received the 100 Heroines award by The Royal Photographic Society 2019 ORLAN was honored with the Special Woman of the Year Award, given by Prince Albert II of Monaco
She was appointed Emeritus Professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy ORLAN received the Golden Panda Photography Awards from the Chengdu Museum, China Who’s Who France honored ORLAN by including her in their platform
2020 ORLAN was elevated to the rank of Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor by Madame Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin
2021 ORLAN wrote her autobiography ORLAN, Strip-tease: Everything About My Life, Everything About My Art,published by Gallimard and received the François Morellet Prize for this work
ORLAN represented France at the European Union Pavilion at the Beijing Art Biennale, China
2024 ArtFacts ranked ORLAN 21st among living French artists and 408th worldwide
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS :
2024 Hibridaciones, Terreno Baldío Arte, México
Zona Maco Fair, Mexico
Todos somos chaac, Museum of Popular Art, Mexico
Group show, Art Paris, Ernst Hilger Gallery, Paris, France
The Verbund collection, Vienna celebrates its 20th anniversary, Albertina Museum, Austria
Lacan the Exhibition, When Art Meets Psychoanalysis, Pompidou-Metz, France Omniprésence II, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
ORLAN hybrids A.I, G.MAP, Gwangju, Korea
I allow you to be me, I allow myself to be you, Maison Française NYC, New York, USA
The Opening Gallery, New York, USA
Clear-sighted, Ceysson & Bénétière, New York, USA
2023 Retrospective, Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery, Luxembourg
6 Decades, Vertical Gallery, Verbund Collection, Vienna, Austria
Solo show, ARCO, Rocio Santa Cruz, Madrid, Spain
Solo show, PhotoESPAÑA, Rocio Santa Cruz, Madrid, Spain
Release party of her first album The Slow of the Artist, Olympia and Silencio, Paris, France
Tornar-se ORLAN, SESC Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
Group show, Shenzhen Museum, China
2022 ORLAN Manifesto, Bodies and Sculptures, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, France
The Crying Women Are Angry, Picasso Museum, Paris, France
Solo show, Masterpiece London, Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery, London, UK
Solo show, Paris Photo, Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery, Paris, France
Self-Hybridation Maya, Grand Museum of the Mayan World, Mérida, Mexico
2021 ORLAN represented France at the European Union Pavilion at the Beijing Art Biennale, China
Solo show, Paris Photo, Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery, Paris, France
2019 ORLAN SAINT-ORLAN, Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery, New York, USA Petition Against Death, Le Lieu, Montreal, Canada
2018 Artists and Robots, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2017 Body of Proof, MACBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
ORLAN Retrospective at MACRO, Rome, Italy
ORLAN en Capitales, European House of Photography, Paris, France
2016 ORLAN-Techno-Body, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
2015 Variable Weather and Jellyfish Kisses, Bolit Contemporary Art Center, Girona, Spain
Zoom Baroque, Folds and Unfolds, Peccolo Gallery, Livorno, Italy
Terapia dell’Ibrido, Castello di Susans, Majano, Italy
2014 ORLAN The Icon of French Contemporary Art, Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Riga, Latvia
Self-Hybridations Artworks with Mask of the Beijing Opera, Seoul, Korea
2013 Mens Sana In Corpore, Museum of History and Art, Lessines, Belgium
2012 ORLAN / Arte Carnal y Cuerpo en Cuestión, Museum of Antioquia, Antioquia, Colombia
Hibridización y Refiguración, MAMBO, Bogota, Colombia
The Factory Direct, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, USA
MesuRAGEs (1968–2012), M HKA, Antwerp, Belgium
2011 A Bull on the Tongue, Museum of Fine Arts, Nantes, France
2010 ORLAN Makes Her Cinema, Miami Cinematheque, Art Basel Miami, USA
The Arlequin Coat, Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, USA
ORLAN Remix, Are You Belgian? Or the Hybridized Drapes-Skins, La Cambre, Brussels, Belgium
2009 Unions Mixtes, Mariages Libres et Noces Barbares, Abbaye de Maubuisson, France
Self-Hybridations, Museum of the New World, La Rochelle, France 2008
ORLAN: Post Identity Strategies, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia Suture-Hybridation-Recycling, Espacio AV, Murcia, Spain
2007 Skin and Stone, Court Gallery, Perth, Australia
The Narrative, Museum of Modern Art, Saint-Etienne, France
2006 Mascarades, Dora Calvo Gallery, Salamanca, Spain
2005 Primitive Bodies, Digital Bodies, Museum of Fine Arts, Chartres, France Luminous Room, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2004 In Movement, UNESCO Salutes Women Video Artists of the World, UNESCO, Paris, France
ORLAN 1964–2004… Methods of the Artist, National Center of Photography, Paris, France
101 Tonson Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
Moscow House of Photography, Moscow, Russia
2003 The Plan of the Film, AFAA, Paris, France Favorite Elements, retrospective FRAC Pays de la Loire, Nantes, France
2002 Pre-Colombian Self-Hybridations, Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Canada
The Plan of the Film, Hôtel Le Martinez, Cannes, France
2001 The Plan of the Film, Fondation Cartier, Paris, France
Pre-Columbian Self-Hybridations, Sejul Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2000 ORLAN Triumph of the Baroque, Gallery of the Regional School of Art, Marseille, France
Magazin 4, Bregenz, Austria
Solo Show, FIAC, Galerie Yvonamor Palix, Paris, France
1999 Omnipresence 2, Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
Omnipresence, French Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1998 Refiguration-Self-Hybridation, Galerie Yvonamor Palix, Paris, France
1997 This is My Body… This is My Software, Camerawork, London, UK
ORLAN as Chimera Figure, CAPC, Bordeaux, France
1996 This is My Body… This is My Software, Zone Gallery, Newcastle, UK
Former Thérésa Space, Mexico City, Mexico Studio Stefania Miscetti, Rome, Italy 1995 Video Performance Retrospective, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
1994 Omnipresence, Chassis Post Gallery, Atlanta, USA
Haines Gallery and Lab Gallery, San Francisco, USA
1993 Omnipresence, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York, USA
1992 French Alliance, Bombay and Madras, India Interzone, Le Lieu, Quebec, Canada
1991 French Institute, Cologne, Germany
1990 Twenty Years of Advertising and Cinema of Sainte-ORLAN, Contemporary Art Center of Lower Normandy, Hérouville Saint-Clair, France
The Joy of the Day, Selling Wind… Selling Happiness, Galea Gallery, Caen, France 1989 Die Himmelfahrt oder die Abenteuer de Sainte-ORLAN, Koppelman Gallery, Cologne, Germany
1988 French Center for Foreign Trade, for the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris-Toronto, Paris, France
Pages of Artists Beyond Measure, ISELP, Brussels, Belgium
1987 Telematics and Creation, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Polyphonix 11, An International Festival of Live Poetry, Music, and Performance, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Estetica Diffusa, International Multimedia Center, Salerno, Italy Le Lieu, Quebec, Canada
1986 Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art, Venice, Italy
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1985 Metaphors of the Sacred, FACLIM, Limoges, France
1984 Arleri Gallery, Nice, France
Staging for an Assumption, J. and J. Donguy Gallery, Paris, France
1983 Sainte-ORLAN blesses the performance, Lyon, France
Experimental Art, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, Italy
Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany
1982 Espace Sixto/Notes, Milan, Italy
1981 Lyon Space for Contemporary Art, Lyon, France
Peccolo Gallery, Livorno, Italy
Studio Carrieri Gallery Martina Franca, Milan, Italy
Gn Gallery, Gdansk, Poland
1980 ICC, Antwerp, Belgium
Museum of Modern Art, Strasbourg, France
Second International Symposium on Performance Art, New Atrium Museum Tour Caisse d’Épargne, Lyon, France
1979 International Meeting of Body Art, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
International Meetings of Performance, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
1978 La Différence Gallery, Nice, France
Lara Vincy Gallery, Paris, France
1977 International Art Meetings, Caldas de Rainha, Portugal
FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Studio d’Ars, Milan, Italy
Contemporary Trends, Lyon Space for Contemporary Art, Lyon, France
1976 Christian Bernard’s apartment, Strasbourg, France
1975 Théâtre du Huitième, Lyon, France
Basel Art Fair, Pellegrino Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1974 Odile Guerin Gallery, Avignon Festival, France
1973 Living Paintings Situation-Quotations, La Mulatière, Lyon, France
Wuppertal Museum, Wuppertal, Germany
1972 Firminy, La Ricamarie, Saint-Étienne, France
House of Culture, Saint-Étienne, France
1971 Art and Life, Lyon, France University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France
1970 Living Paintings Situation-Quotations, Claude Delaroa Workshop, Saint-Étienne, France
1969 BODY-SCULPTURES, Claude Delaroa Workshop, Saint-Étienne, France Under the Big Top, Painting Festival, La Ricamarie, France
1968 Couture in chiaroscuro, embroideries of sperm stains on trousseau sheets, Claude Delaroa Workshop, Saint-Étienne, France
1967 Peagno Workshop, Saint-Étienne, France
1966 Paintings-Materials, Auberge de Dargoire, France
