Annette Messager, "At the Same Time 2", 2021, installation; 5 drawings, acrylic on Japanese paper, 70 sculptures, various objects, mat black aluminum foil, 720 × 490 cm. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Rebecca Fanuele. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.

The Power Station of Art (PSA) presents “Desire Disorder”, the first major solo exhibition in China by renowned French artist Annette Messager. Running from July 6 to October 8, 2024, the exhibition features over 70 works across various media, including drawings, photographs, sculptures, and installations. This exhibition revisits significant moments in Messager’s half-century-long career and it also showcases large-scale installations adapted to the PSA’s space.

Annette Messager, "12 Little Effigies", 1990, 60 × 15 cm (each with string), 230 × 194 × 10 cm (overall). Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Atelier Annette Messager. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.Annette Messager, "My Vows under Net 5 Columns", 1998, 16 framed black and white photos, 19 framed text on paper, nets, 267 × 235 × 50 cm. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Atelier Annette Messager. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.

Emerging in the 1970s, Messager’s art stands apart from the prevalent focus on gender identity and intimate relationships that dominated the works of women artists of that era. Her works seamlessly incorporate feminist sensibilities with surrealist strategies and approaches. She views memory as a vessel for inspiration, using everyday materials to create assemblages that transcend reality, dramatically constructing a seemingly self-referential yet expansive world encompassing a vast range of experiences. 

Annette Messager, "Hapy", 2006, netting, metal wire, cord, 115 × 195 cm. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Marc Domage. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.Annette Messager, "My Transports", 2012-2013, various objects, wood, metal, wheels, blankets, black wrap, dimensions variable. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Marc Domage. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.

Messager addresses complex themes through multifaceted allegories and fictions, blurring the boundaries between fiction and truth. Her work often reveals tensions and contradictions which reflects the complexity of our emotion life and our existence. The hybrid nature of her works is deeply connected to art movements such as Surrealism, Dadaism, and Art Brut, evoking in viewers multiple associations and experiences - romantic, unsettling, and even absurd. Keenly aware of life’s endless desires, Messager goes beyond the disorder of everyday thoughts. Through skillful use of everyday materials and concise artistic language, Messager explores a diverse array of addressing global social and political issues, as well as more ontological and inner questions. Fairy tales, mythology, and doppelgangers are motifs that recur constantly in her creative inquiries.

Annette Messager, "My Transports (detail)", 2012-2013, various objects, wood, metal, wheels, blankets, black wrap, 39 × 67 × 54 cm. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Marc Domage. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.Annette Messager, "Jumping", 2018, down jacket, string, 114 × 80 × 17 cm. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Rebecca Fanuele. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.

Language and words play an essential role in Messager’s approach and serve as the triggers for her creation. Each of her titles carries a very specific meaning. The title of this exhibition, “Desire Disorder” is derived from the artist’s keen observations of her surroundings and her introspective view of her career. For Messager, desire is disordered yet powerful. She sees art creation as the urge to explore the world, the relentless pursuit of truth, and boundless whims and fantasies. These disordered desires arise not only from the inner world of an individual but also from the outside world.

Annette Messager, "Tête à tête", 2019-2020, 77 drawings, acrylic on paper, 42 × 32 cm (each). Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Rebecca Fanuele. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.

This inaugural solo exhibition in China features the artist’s career from the 1980s to the present, showcasing iconic works such as Casino (2004-2005), which won the Golden Lion for French Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale, At the Same Time 2 (2021), an installation created in recent years, and Tête à Tête (2019-2020), a large-scale installation featuring 75 drawings. Casino, offering an immersive experience, invites viewers to embark on an allegorical journey. A vast, billowing sea of red silk heaves like the inhalation and exhalation of breath, while multiple puppet heads suspended overhead rise and fall. Projected onto the site is a giant clock with hands running backwards, serving as a reminder of the vanity of time and space. The installation weaves together the story of Pinocchio’s adventures and the artist’s personal experience through ever-changing scenes in progression. For Messager, the artist is a player, constantly exposing herself, mixing reality and fiction. The term “casino” refers to both risk and joy, much like Messager’s work, which stands on the tangent between tragedy and comedy.

Annette Messager, "Casino"(detail), 2004-2005. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery.

Dominating PSA’s main hall on the ground floor is Messager’s large-scale installation, Dependance/Independance (1995-1996), in which stuffed animals, plastic, colour pencils, black and white photographs, and various daily objects are suspended from ropes and nets. This work evokes memory and imagination with its grand scale and demonstrates the artist’s reflection on the relationship between different creatures in the world, and her concepts of life and death. 

Annette Messager, "Daily", 2016, 30 elements; synthetic leather, cloth dolls, painted fabric, netting, dimensions variable. Courtesy Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Thierry Bal. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.

Another installation work, Daily, also uses everyday objects to construct one of Messager’s fantasy world. By suspending oversized ordinary familiar objects in a dramatic manner, Messager challenges our taken-for-granted notions of everyday life, comfort and habits and allows hidden narratives to emerge from the mundane, interrogating the symbolic value one sticks on their belongings. In addition, Messager presents in this exhibition a special sound work, As If (2022), within PSA’s chimney, where whispers of the artist echos through the space taking the visitors to a tour inside their own consciousness. Messager is always questionning the truth and “as if” refers to the way everyone pretends to be, to behave, to communicate, sometimes neglecting one’s true desires or state of mind. Messager gently reminds us that we are all acting in life and we stage it.

Annette Messager, "The Boardwalk of the Snail", 2019, fabric, various materials, 140 × 32 × 32 cm. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Rebecca Fanuele. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.Annette Messager, "The Wandering of the Snail", 2022, various objects, black wrap, wood, 148 × 20 × 20 cm. Courtesy of Annette Messager and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Rebecca Fanuele. ? Annette Messager, ADAGP, 2024.

About the Artist

Annette Messager was born in Berk-sur-Mer in 1943. She lives and works in the south of Paris. She was awarded the Praemium Imperiale for sculpture in 2016. She won the Golden Lion for best national pavilion for French Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art presented a major exhibition of her work in 2022. Her recent solo exhibition was presented at ARoS, Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark in 2023. Recently she has exhibited at the Institut Giacometti in Paris (2018), the Institut Valencià Art Modern (IVAM) in Spain (2018), and the Villa Medici in Rome (2017). In France, an important exhibition was put in at the Musée des Beaux-Arts and at the Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode in Calais, in 2015–16. In 2014 Messager had major exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art MCA, Sydney, and at K21 in Düsseldorf. Earlier solo shows have been exhibited at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Monterrey (MARCO), Mexico (2011); the Hayward Gallery in London (2009); the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland (2008); the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea (2008); and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (2008). A major retrospective of her work was organized by the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 2007.

About the Exhibition

Dates: 06/07/2024 — 08/10/2024

Venue: 1F, Power Station of Art, Chimney

Organizer: Power Station of Art

Courtesy of Power Station of Art.