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Espacio Fundación Telefónica presents the artist's first solo exhibition in Spain, featuring a journey around his creative universe through seven audiovisual installations.
C/ Fuencarral, 3, Madrid
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It is now essential to reserve your visit before attending an exhibition: choose your time slot and obtain your free entrance ticket by clicking on the 'Reserve' icon.
Espacio Fundación Telefónica presents the artist's first solo exhibition in Spain, featuring a journey around his creative universe through seven audiovisual installations.
In his first major solo exhibition, Joanie Lemercier (Rennes, 1982) immerses the viewer in a journey through different landscapes that transport us from the contemplation of refined abstract lines and the fascination caused by magnificent computer-generated mountains to the disturbing reality of an overexploited nature. By means of seven large installations, this exhibition curated by Juliette Bibasse addresses the importance of nature in Lemercier´s life and artistic practice, and reflects on the representation of the natural environment through technology.
A pioneer in the artistic use of video mapping and co-founder of the AntiVJ collective in 2008, Lemercier’s work focuses on creating pieces that use projected light to generate experiences that alter our visual perception. Using computer programming and the manipulation of devices, Lemercier manages to turn the projectors into a source of light capable of transforming the appearance of objects and making us question our understanding of reality.
In contrast to the fascination generated by digitally “manufactured” environments of the first part of the exhibition presented in Madrid, the second part reveals the reality of a nature full of scars caused by human overexploitation. Captivating, immersive installations of algorithmically generated landscapes, evocative volcanoes and imaginary geographies born of human-machine collaboration, give way to the overwhelming image of destruction of one of Europe’s largest and most polluting coal mines. Through colossal images captured by drone, Lemercier abandons fiction to confront us with the urgency of safeguarding our environment.
Three of the seven pieces of the exhibition are new creations: Edges, a large-scale hand-drawn landscape depicting Mount Fuji magnified by a layer of projected light; The Hambach Forest and the Technological Sublime, in which Lemercier shows the deforestation of one of Europe’s oldest forests; and Desirable Futures, a space for pondering and contemplation where the artist invites visitors to reflect on the present and imagine possible futures.
Among the other four exhibits, we shall find Eyjafjallajökull and Fuji, both part of the volcano series. The first one is inspired by the famous Icelandic volcano that wreaked havoc on air traffic in northern and western Europe during the spring of 2010, while the second one is composed of a large-scale hand-drawn landscape depicting Mount Fuji augmented by a layer of projected light. In addition, visitors shall also discover Montagne, cent quatorze mille polygones, a piece that represents a large valley surrounded by mountain peaks, a complex landscape made of a very simple grid mesh distorted by an algorithm; and finally, Paysages Possibles, an installation comprised of a plotter that acts as an extension of the artist’s hand, drawing a unique and personal universe of mountains.
Joanie Lemercier’s works have been exhibited at the China Museum of Digital Art in Beijing (China), Art Basel Miami (United States), Tokyo city View (Japan), The Roundhouse London (UK), Sonar festival (Spain), Barneys NYC (USA) and the Sundance Film Festival (United States), among other venues.
