2012 Catalogue Archive

Valentin Carron’s work is compelling, yet hard to categorize. The Swiss artist critiques, references, and borrows from sources as disparate as art history, Alpine aesthetics (what he calls “Heidiland”), and ancient symbols. In this work – perhaps a sly take on the idea of portraiture or a reinterpretation of one of Robert Gober’s well-known wax legs – Carron offers up a leg in a worn-out sock (a hole in the heel is visible). The weathered sock suggests a world-weary character and the passage of time as the subject has walked for long distances. To make the piece, Carron created a cast of the subject’s leg. A bronze mold was made from this cast, and glass was then blown in the negative shape of the bronze mold. Valentin Carron’s work has been seen in solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Zürich; the Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris; and the Swiss Institute/Grey Art Gallery, New York University; group exhibitions include the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; the Kunsthaus Zürich; the Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany; and the Biennale de Prague. Carron will represent Switzerland in the 2013 Venice Biennale.