Cyril Duval (born December 31, 1977), who works under the name Item Idem, is a French conceptual artist, designer, and filmmaker. He lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan.[1]

Item Idem
Item Idem in Taipei, 2019
Born
Cyril Loup Aime Duval Hörlin du Houx

(1977-12-31) December 31, 1977 (age 46)
NationalityFrench
Known forMedia based conceptual art, retail design
AwardsGreat Indoors Award

Biography

edit

Duval was born in Paris, France, in 1977.[2] His mother worked for the luxury goods manufacturer Hermès, while his father was an interior decorator. Duval studied for six years at the École nationale supérieure d'arts de Paris-Cergy, before moving to Tokyo in 2004.[3]

Career

edit

Duval's work encompasses conceptual art, film, sculpture, product design, and visual communication.[4] His alter ego Item Idem (Latin for "the same"),[5] operates as a brand for the artist, whose work often builds on top of existing fashion and retail brands.[6] The New York Times reviewed one of Duval's performances as "Celine Dion at the Oscars channeling René Magritte,"[7] while the writer John Stones has described the artist's persona as "Austin Powers pretending to be Philippe Starck, art directed by Marcel Duchamp and scripted by Oscar Wilde."[8]

Retail design and installations

edit

In 2004, Duval was discovered by Sarah Andelman, the creative director of Colette.[3] The Paris-based boutique teamed Duval up with the Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons in Tokyo.[9][10] His work began to incorporate interior design and conceptual installations. In 2004, Duval collaborated with other artists on a relational aesthetics-inspired, multidisciplinary space called Caniche Courage, and later transformed his three-story Shibuya residence into a living exhibition.[11]

Duval initiated a series of staged retail and working environments, beginning with The Wrong Store (2006) in Paris, a collaboration with Tobi Wong conceived as an ersatz gift-shop counterpart to Maurizio Cattelan's Wrong Gallery.[12] Back in Tokyo, he transformed the window display of a fashion boutique into a temporary work space titled The Wrong Office,[5] which he followed up with The Wrong Motel.

Duval collaborated with Bernhard Willhelm on the German fashion designer's flagship store at the PARCO department store in Shibuya, Tokyo.[13][14] The shop's re-use of cardboard, plastic, and rope materials was inspired by the resourcefulness of Japan's homeless communities.[3] The store won the Best Shop Concept for FRAME magazine's 2007 Great Indoors Award.[15]

In 2009, Duval participated in the Cycles and Seasons fashion and art event in Moscow.[16] In 2011, Duval was the first artist-in-residence at BLESS HOME, an apartment-cum-shop in Berlin,[17][18] which became his temporary studio while serving as the art director for Bruce LaBruce's production of Pierrot Lunaire.[19][17] In 2015, he built an installation as an interior for Airbnb's Art House for Art Basel Hong Kong.[20]

Duval has worked with a number of art publications, including as the Fashion Director for Tokion (2005),[21] Fashion Features Director for Modern Weekly China (2013), Special Projects coordinator for Flash Art (2006),[22] and as a collaborator with 032c,[23] T: The New York Times Style Magazine,[24] and LEAP Magazine.[25] He has also worked on large-scale commercial projects for CELINE and Ford.[26]

Exhibitions and collaborations

edit

In 2007, Duval reconfigured CELINE's Tokyo store to host his exhibition Displaysthetics during DesignTide Tokyo.[27] In 2008, he participated in Fredric Snitzer Gallery's show in Miami, Death by Basel, with an oversized Chanel logo in the style of McDonald's Golden Arches, as a comparison of the brands and their markets.[28] For AA Bronson's School for Young Shaman's exhibition in New York, Duval fashioned a cape out of Louis Vuitton bags and melted car tires, which was an homage to Joseph Beuys.[29][5]

For the exhibition Dysfashional at the Garage Museum in Moscow in 2010, Duval created a work titled Mount Blushmore, a crystal engraving which combined images of fashion icons Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld.[30] In 2014, Duval mounted his first solo exhibition at Johannes Vogt, New York, titled Voir Dire.[31][32][3][33]

In 2016, Duval participated in the Work in Progress artist residency in Times Square, New York.[34][35][36] That same year, he held an exhibition titled Method of Loci at The Breeder Gallery in Athens, Greece,[37][38] and collaborated with Flash Art Special Projects in a special presentation at Paramount Ranch.[39][40]

Duval has exhibited at the Centre Pompidou, the Garage Museum,[41] MoMA PS1, and Palais de Tokyo.[42] His work has been featured in 032c, Casa BRUTUS, FRAME, The New York Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Harper’s Bazaar Korea, and WWD.[2][43]

Shanzhai Biennial

edit

Duval is the co-founder of the artists collective Shanzhai Biennial with stylist Avena Gallagher and artist Babak Radboy. The collective describes itself as a "multinational brand posing as an art-project posing as an [sic] multinational brand posing as a biennial",[44] "a pure brand unencumbered by products",[45] in other words a "meta-brand".[46] The name is meant to evoke a bi-annual art exhibition, but instead of taking a city as its namesake, it refers to the Shanzhai counterfeit consumer goods industry in China, and the intentionally incorrect appropriation of luxury brand names.[47] Inspired by knockoff goods in Manhattan's Chinatown, the collective was initiated as a critique of the art and fashion industries, as well as a celebration of the ingenuity and humour of Shanzhai culture.[48][49] The collective undertakes projects by invitation from cultural institutions or brands, and highlights the aspect of Shanzhai that M+ curator Aric Chen has called the "pop art of China".[50][51]

As a precursor to the collective's projects, Duval curated a selection of Shanzhai objects in collaboration with DIS Magazine.[52] The objects were photographed by Marco Roso for an exhibition titled Shanzhai Anxiety at Colette in 2011.[53]

Shanzhai Biennial No. 1 was held during Beijing Design Week 2012.[54] The artists created a fake fashion campaign photo-shoot based on the paintings of Chinese artist Yue Minjun, and installed a false store-front in Beijing's Chaochangdi village, complete with red carpet, rope lines, and a step and repeat press wall.[55][56] The ad campaign also ran as an eight-page editorial in the Chinese lifestyle magazine Modern Weekly.[57][47] When the New York Times mistook the project for "a high-concept fashion line" that hadn't yet produced a collection,[58] the artists decided not to issue a correction.[55]

Shanzhai Biennial No. 2 consisted of a video depicting the artist Wu Ting Ting dressed as a shampoo bottle and lip-syncing to a Chinese rendition of Sinéad O'Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U, and was displayed on an LED curtain for MoMA PS1's ProBio exhibition in 2013.[45][48]

The artists followed this up with Shanzhai Biennial No. 3 at Frieze London 2014, conceived as a branding exercise for the art fair.[45] Working with a local luxury real-estate agency, the artists transformed a booth space into a model real-estate office ostensibly selling a £32 million London mansion, complete with a professional ad campaign,[59][60] and trafficking in the Frieze brand with a fake luxury bag, and limited edition souvenirs.[61]

Shanzhai Biennial has collaborated with the designer Telfar Clemens,[62] the musician Fatima Al Qadiri,[57] as well as TankTV and DIS Magazine, and has exhibited work at West Bund Art & Design, Centre Pompidou, and the New Museum.[63]

Films

edit

In 2013, Duval created the short film Joss with Chinese artist Cheng Ran, depicting paper funeral items resembling fashion accessories and commercial brands being destroyed by flames and fire crackers.[64] The film has been screened at Palais de Tokyo (Paris),[65] K11 Art Foundation Pop-up Space (Hong Kong),[66] and Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei.[67]

Duval's short film NUII premièred at the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 2017. The film features corporate and political symbols being burnt in effigy.[68] His experimental short film COLD SINGLE was filmed in Taitung, Taiwan, with Taiwanese director Mel Hsieh, inspired by his life in the country. The film was presented for the first time at ASIA NOW at the Paris Asian Art Fair in 2019,[69][70][71] with its US première set for Frieze Los Angeles 2020 at the Paramount Theatre.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "ITEM IDEM". NOWNESS. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Cyril Duval". ExperimentaDesign Amsterdam 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "ITEM IDEM'S VOIR DIRE". VISIONAIRE. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Frieze Film & Talks: ITEM IDEM and Yang Fundong". Frieze. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Kennedy, Gabrielle (3 October 2008). "Cyril Duval gets inspired by poodles, Rem Koolhaas and Louis Vuitton". Design.nl. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  6. ^ Gartenfeld, Alex (Summer 2009). "AT HOME ONLINE". Fantom Photographic Quarterly (1): 36–37.
  7. ^ Silva, Horacio (8 June 2009). "Designer Knockoff". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  8. ^ Stones, John (19 June 2008). "Profile". Design Week. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  9. ^ "As Told To, by Item Idem". Interview Magazine. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  10. ^ Munz, Eva (13 December 2015). "Spielzimmer des Spätkapitalismus". WELT. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  11. ^ Castets, Simon (Winter 2009–2010). "CYRIL DUVAL control tower". Apartamento Magazine. No. 4. pp. 94–101.
  12. ^ Stones, John (2009). Very Small Shops. Laurence King Publishing. pp. 248–249.
  13. ^ Sterlacci, Francesca; Arbuckle, Joanne (30 June 2017). Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 530.
  14. ^ Onderwater, Alexandra. "Cyril Duval". Where They Create. PAUL BARBERA. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  15. ^ "The Great Indoors Award - Winners". The Great Indoors. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  16. ^ Silva, Horacio (14 May 2009). "Making a Racket - Item Idem". The New York Times Style Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  17. ^ a b Perlson, Hili (14 June 2011). "Cyril Duval". SLEEK. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  18. ^ Toth, Zsuzsanna (23 October 2013). "Mira Schröder". Friends of Friends. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  19. ^ Ladner, Michael (10 March 2011). "Bruce LaBruce and Item Idem At the Opera". BUTT. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  20. ^ Nguyen, David Minh. "Airbnb Art House HK". Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  21. ^ Marx, W. David (18 September 2006). "On the New Japanese Tokion". Néojaponisme. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  22. ^ "Announcement". Flash Art International. No. 306. January–February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. ^ "RAZZLE DAZZLE ITEM IDEM". 032c. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Cyril Duval". T Magazine. 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  25. ^ Li, Alvin (14 May 2016). "LEAP x Art Basel Hong Kong 2016 Roundup". LEAP. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  26. ^ "Item Idem Interview". Logo Magazine. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Displaysthetics". Tokyo Art Beat. 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  28. ^ Gartenfeld, Alex (5 December 2008). "As Told To, by Item Idem". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  29. ^ Bronson, AA; Duval, Cyril (2008). "Item Idem vs. AA Bronson". Stimuli. No. 2. pp. 102–109.
  30. ^ Pfeiffer, Alice (25 November 2010). "Item Idem Climbs Mount Blushmore". DAZED. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  31. ^ "ITEM IDEM Invades New York City with a "Tiki Pop" Reflection on Late Capitalism September 12, 2014". 032c. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  32. ^ LaSane, Andrew (10 June 2014). "Cyril Duval to Open First US Solo Exhibition at Johannes Vogt Gallery". Complex. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  33. ^ Ballesteros, Maxime (24 September 2014). "Item Idem "Voir Dire" opening at Johannes Vogt, New York". Purple. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  34. ^ Nunes, Andrew (28 June 2016). "7 Artists Take On an Unusual Artist Residency in Times Square" (Jun 29 2016). VICE. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  35. ^ Zabludowicz, Tiffany (14 May 2016). "Can Making Art Be an Office Job? Introducing Work in Progress, My New Corporate Artist Residency in Times Square". Artspace. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  36. ^ Chiaverina, John (25 May 2016). "Office Space: Artists Take Over 19th Floor of Times Square Building for Three-Week Residency". ARTNews. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  37. ^ "Item Idem: Method of Loci". My Art Guides.
  38. ^ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΙΔΗΣ, ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ (20 November 2016). "Μπαίνοντας με φλογοβόλο σε σούπερ μάρκετ: Στην έκθεση "Item Idem / Method of Loci", στη γκαλερί Breeder Πηγή: www.lifo.gr". LiFO (in Greek).
  39. ^ Piston, Job (February 2016). "Barn Rising: Scenes from an Unusual Art Fair at Paramount Ranch". W Magazine.
  40. ^ "The Setting is Paramount". Ran Dian. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  41. ^ Pfeiffer, Alice (25 November 2010). "Item Idem Climbs Mount Blushmore". Dazed. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  42. ^ Galvan, Martha (11 January 2016). "Consumer Reports: Item Idem". ARTnews. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  43. ^ "ITEM IDEM". Absolut Art.
  44. ^ "Shanzhai Biennial: Dark Optimism". NOWNESS. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  45. ^ a b c Cohan, Nate (30 April 2014). "Corporate Aesthetics: Shanzhai Biennial". Art in America. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  46. ^ Pasori, Cedar (15 October 2014). "Interview: Shanzhai Biennial Discuss Turning This Year's Frieze London Art Fair Into a Lifestyle Brand". Complex. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  47. ^ a b McGarry, Kevin (2013). "Shanzhai Biennial". Kaleidoscope. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  48. ^ a b Kretowicz, Steph (13 June 2013). "Wear the Apple logo, because you can". DAZED.
  49. ^ Pearce, Walter (1 May 2014). "Shanzhai Couture With Cyril Duval". Impose Magazine. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  50. ^ Duval, Cyril (27 July 2015). "SHANZHAI". LEAP. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  51. ^ Ottavi, Marie (12 November 2013). "La copie, nouveau pop art chinois". Libération (in French). Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  52. ^ Camblin, Victoria (2011). "Shanzhai Anxiety". DIS Magazine. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  53. ^ Key, Robin (3 March 2011). "Copy cat: New exhibition studies fake goods". LSN. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  54. ^ 2012 Beijing Design Week Guide Book. 2012. p. 327.
  55. ^ a b Sandberg, Patrik (12 November 2012). "Say Hai to Shanzhai". V Magazine. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  56. ^ "Copy Cats". PIN-UP. No. 12. Winter 2012–2013. p. 41.
  57. ^ a b "Shanzhai Biennial is Definitely NOT a Biennial!". dis. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  58. ^ Misheff, Johnny (3 October 2012). "Visiting Artists - Babak Radboy". T Magazine. The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  59. ^ Piejko, Jennifer (November 2014). "Shanzhai Biennial". ARTFORUM. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  60. ^ Pechman, Alexandra (17 October 2014). "Shanzhai Biennial at the Frieze Art Fair". W Magazine.
  61. ^ Burke, Harry (2015). "Portrait Shanzhai Biennial". Spike. Vol. Autumn 2015, no. 45. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  62. ^ Hughes, Aria (9 February 2018). "Telfar Clemens Is Teaching the Fashion Industry How to Be Inclusive". WWD. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  63. ^ "Shanzhai Biennial". Project Native Informant. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  64. ^ "Joss". Sedition Art. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  65. ^ Qian, He (21 January 2015). "INSIDE INSIDE CHINA/L'INTÉRIEUR DU GÉANT". LEAP. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  66. ^ Wee, Darryl (11 March 2015). ""Inside China- L'Intérieur du Géant" Comes to Hong Kong". Blouin Artinfo. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  67. ^ "Cheng Ran & Item Idem". Public Delivery. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  68. ^ Piejko, Jennifer (21 January 2017). "exclusive: artist cyril duval's explosive inauguration day video". i-D. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  69. ^ "ITEM IDEM - IRL". ASIA NOW. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  70. ^ "IRL Platform". ASIA NOW. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  71. ^ "Preview ASIA NOW Paris Asian Art Fair". Art Spectacle Asia. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.