The RLBQ gallery in Marseille is hosting the exhibition La muraille opaque grimpe en quinconce et inversement (The opaque wall climbs in a staggered pattern and vice versa), a proposal by the curatorial collective Le Bureau/. Designed as an exhibition that presents an overall image, this project brings together the artistic proposals of seven young artists and the curatorial responses of the collective.

The project brings together artists Claude Cattelain, Cyril Dietrich, Johanna Fournier, Aurélien Mole, Julie Pagnier, Olivier Soulerin, and Julien Tibéri, who were invited to produce specific pieces for the exhibition: in situ proposals to be considered in an evolving manner. The period of work preceding the exhibition consisted of regular exchanges between the artists and curators, discussing the works and possibilities for their spatial arrangement. This stage is the subject of a specific hanging, crystallizing the construction of the project until its final form. Going beyond the simple documentary aspect, the restitution of these exchanges reveals the sedimentation process that constitutes the exhibition, in order to offer a plural reading of this set of works.

Inspired by the diversity of artistic proposals, the exhibition unfolds like a collage, based on Kurt Schwitters' historic “Merzbau” model. Schwitters transformed his house in Hanover into a Dadaist environment, composed of distinct and eclectic elements, in collaboration with other artists (Hausmann, Hoech, etc.). Le Bureau/ drew inspiration from this work in progress for the project La muraille opaque grimpe en quinconce et inversement (The opaque wall climbs in a staggered pattern and vice versa). Together, the works form a single exhibition-work, similar to an environment encompassing the space. By adopting a methodology similar to that of a (remote) workshop, Le Bureau/ sought to highlight the collective dimension of the exhibition: an essential concern of its collegial activities.

Le Bureau/ : Guillaume Baudin, Marc Bembekoff, Garance Chabert, Julie Pagnier, Céline Poulin, Émilie Villez