Thinking, creasing, ironing - and zap, the paper map transforms into a day-dress. Elisabeth Lecourt gets from me an award for being the folder of the decade. Unfortunately, the garments are not wearable - made only to be watched. Doesn´t matter. It´s fantastic anyway what Elisabeth Lecourt creases for us.
For three years now, the French-born, London-based artist develops map-garments that travel around the world to be presented in various galleries. Besides some other artwork by Elisabeth Lecourt, the current paper collection was presented at Berendsen Gallery in Rotterdam and the Foss Fine Art Gallery in London.

Photos via Elisabeth Lecourt

Press release:
CIRCLECULTURE GALLERY IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION OF BERLIN-BASED STREET ARTIST XOOOOX: “MOLOTOV HIGH HEELS”.
OPENING: JULY 17TH 2008, 7PM, EXHIBITION: JULY 18TH UNTIL SEPTEMBER 10TH 2008

XOOOOX has been a prolific graffiti artist since the mid 1990ʼs. Early experiments with collage gradually evolved into the artistʼs signature stencil work, typically life-size figures or appropriated designer logos found predominately on the streets of Berlin and in Paris, Milan, Vienna, New York…
The exhibition will include emblematic stencil work by xoooox, as well as new collage and sculpture made from common materials such as cardboard, flea market furniture, found objects and discarded fashion magazines. A large-scale, public work, will accompany the exhibition.
XOOOOX manipulates immediately recognizable logos of upscale brands like Coco Chanel, re-contextualizing these elitist class signifiers within the inherently egalitarian space of the urban public sphere, while commenting on the visual power of branding in general. Life-sized stencils of females, conspicuously posed and styled as models often are, depict the icons of fashionʼs cult of worship and recall the work of street art legends such as Blek le Rat, Misstick and Banksy, functioning as both traditional figurative studies and ironic representations of societyʼs obsession with the superficial. Although XOOOOXʼs stenciled images are inspired by the fashion spreads seen in magazines such as Vogue and avant-garde publications like Purple, this work is not a deconstruction of couture culture. On the contrary, each stencil, created painstakingly by hand, pays homage to the art form that is couture fashion, while criticizing the massmerchandising and advertising campaigns of global retail chains. Citing Pop Art, DADA and, of course, graffiti as major influences, the artist states, “You can use the power of fashion like a personal weapon. It can act like a shield, or it can destroy you.”

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
»Inoperable Poster Show« Vienna, 2007
»Finders Keepers« Milan, 2006
»Hollywood The Remix« New York, 2005
www.xoooox.com

For further information please contact the gallery.
Circleculture Gallery, Gipsstrasse 11, 10119 Berlin Mitte, Germany
berlin@circleculture-gallery.com, www.circleculture-gallery.com