King and Queen
King and Queen
2024
Installation, 1:30 video, series of film stills printed on handmade Hungarian paper, mirrors
Invited to work on the theme of fairy tales as part of a group exhibition held at the Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil, Emmanuelle Michaux created a video based on a 1960s amateur film titled King and Queen.
The artist knows nothing about the protagonists of the film, which she found by chance at a flea market. At first glance, it simply portrays a couple having fun on Epiphany, the Day of the Kings, but a sequence of gestures between the man and woman ultimately reveals a much more complex and violent relationship.
For this exhibition, Emmanuelle Michaux extracted a series of still frames from the film, which she displayed in frames alongside mirrors, all sourced from the castle’s attics. She also composed a short nursery rhyme with an ironic tone.
The installation acts as a revealing lens into the comedy of happiness. The artist questions appearances and invites the viewer to look beyond the surface of fairy-tale romance, uncovering its darker, more ambiguous side.
Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil (France), from March 29 to September 29, 2024
A satellite exhibition was organized at the Art Now Projects gallery in Geneva. For this occasion, Emmanuelle Michaux created a large composition, three meters by two, using shards of mirrors and film stills printed on torn paper.
Exhibition venue: Art Now Projects Gallery (Switzerland), from May 28 to June 1, 2024
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Les princesses refont les contes, au château, Le Berry Républicain, 27/05/2024
