There was quite a crowd at last night’s vernissage to launch Art In Pop, the exhibition at Magasin – Grenoble’s Centre National d’Art Contemporain.

This features exhibits by  those working at the cross-hatches of popular music and artistic practice, including John Armleder, Alix Lambert, John Miller, Genesis Breyer P. Orridge, Mayo Thompson, Don Van Vliet, Alan Vega and of course Malcolm McLaren.

One of the high points of curating the room dedicated to McLaren was publicly presenting for the first time his 1987 work I Will Be So Bad, one of a series he entitled the “Punishment Paintings”.

Visitors came from all over France for the preview, and told us they enjoyed the detailing of McLaren’s cross-disciplinary approach and collaborations across design, fashion, film, music and videos.

And I was tickled to receive this “souvenir” from the brilliant team who built the exhibition, lead by Eric Pourcel, featuring Richard acting punk:

Art In Pop is curated by Magasin’s Yves Aupetitallot with John Armleder, Young Kim of the Malcolm McLaren Estate, John Miller and I,  and runs from Oct 11 to January 4, 2015 at Le Magasin, Site Bouchayer-Viallet, 8 esplanade Andry Farcy, 38028 Grenoble.

Details here.

Tags: Alan Vega, Alix Lambert, Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Don Van Vliet, Genesis Breyer P. Orridge, Grenoble, John Armleder, John Miller, Magasin, Mayo Thompson, Young Kim, Yves Aupetitallot

//Recreation of facades McLaren commissioned and created for the early 70s iterations of the boutique at 430 King’s Road: Let It Rock (1971-72) and Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die (1972-74)//

The installation of the ambitious new group exhibition Art In Pop is underway at France’s Centre National d’Art Contemporain, the Magasin gallery in Grenoble.

//Paintings by the late Don Van Vliet being readied for hanging//

//Giant recreation of Daniel Johnston’s artwork for his 1983 cassette-only release Hi, How Are You//

Malcolm McLaren’s visual works, from student paintings through his experiments in fashion design, boutique environments, music and film to the installations of his final years, will be shown alongside art by such musicians as Don Van Vliet and Daniel Johnston and musical investigations by such artists as John Armleder, Alix Lambert and John Miller.

Art In Pop opens on October 11 and runs until January 4 next year.

Details here.

Tags: Alix Lambett, Captain Beefheart, Daniel Johnston, Don Van Vliet, Grenoble, John Armleder, John Miller, Magasin, Who Are You

//Positioning the 430 shop logos in the Malcolm McLaren room at Art In Pop. Photo: Magasin head of production Eric Pourcel//

‘Black is the most exciting colour’ (Goya). Black when used in different ways appears the most infinite and mysterious, the most spatial and loose.
Malcolm McLaren, essay for course at Croydon Art School, 1967

It’s exciting. Work is underway on building the Art In Pop group exhibition which opens next month at Le Magasin, France’s National Centre for Contemporary Art in Grenoble.

//McLaren’s first logo at 430 King’s Road was featured on the side of a 12m installation at Let It Rock at CIFF this summer. Foreground image of McLaren in Central Park, spring 1975, by Bob Gruen. Photo: Jean Francois Carly/Malcolm McLaren Estate//

//The Too Fast To Live shop frontage in this 60 x 40″ blow-up at CIFF//

Featuring artworks by musicians such as Don Van Vliet and Daniel Johnstone as well as musical ventures by artists including John Armleder and John Miller, Art In Pop incorporates the sizeable space dedicated to Let It Rock, the show exploring the work of the late Malcolm McLaren.

This will focus on McLaren’s investigations into the visual arts from the 60s to his death in 2010 along with the engagements with commercial media such as fashion, film and music for which he is best known.

In line with Let It Rock’s manifestation at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair this summer, the pink-on-black Let It Rock sign will be recreated, this time at the entrance to the Malcolm McLaren room.

For Art In Pop the sign is being matched by a giant reproduction of the shop logo which followed Let It Rock at 430 King’s Road: Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die.

The dominant use of black behind these logos riffs on McLaren’s repeated use of the colour in his work and should make for an impactful introduction to the show, which will feature hundreds of exhibits from throughout the cultural iconoclast’s artistic life.

//Founded in 1986, Le Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain is housed in an industrial hall built for the 1900 Paris World’s Fair by the workshops of Gustave Eiffel//

Art In Pop – which is curated by Magasin’s Yves Aupetitallot with John Armleder, Young Kim of the Malcolm McLaren Estate, John Miller and I – runs from Oct 11 to January 4, 2015 at Le Magasin, 8 esplanade Andry Farcy, 38028 Grenoble.

More info here.

Tags: Bob Gruen, Captain Beefheart, Croydon Art School, Daniel Johnstone, Don Van Vliet, Eric Pourcel, Goya, Grenoble, Gustave Eiffel, Jean Francois Carly, John Armleder, John Miller, Le Magasin, Let It Rock, Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, Young Kim, Yves Aupetitallot