Sylvie Fleury (born 24 June 1961) is a Swiss contemporary

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

artist known for her installations,

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

, and

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...

. Her work generally depicts objects with sentimental and aesthetic attachments in consumer culture, as well as the paradigm of the

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

, with much of her work specifically addressing issues of gendered consumption and the fetishistic relationships to consumer objects and art history. Fleury lives and works in Geneva.

Biography

Sylvie Fleury was born on June 24, 1961, in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, Switzerland. After her initial schooling, her parents sent her to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to work as an

au pair An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a mon ...

. She ended up falling in with a group of NYU students working on short art films. She then went on to study photography at the Germain School of Photography in 1981. While living in New York she worked as an assistant for fashion photographer

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...

for one day. Fleury then travelled onto India where she encountered learned Bharatanatyam dance, she returned to Geneva and worked for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. Under the pseudonym of Silda Brown, she began to collect items marked with a red cross. She converted her apartment into a dentist's cabinet because she was able to acquire a practice facility at a reasonable price.Die Zeit (retrieved 12 November 2008)
/ref> In 1990 she met the Swiss performance artist John Armleder from Geneva and became his assistant. In the same year she and Armleder moved to Villa Magica, a large old town house on the outskirts of Geneva. In 2004 Fleury and Armleder and his son Stéphane Armleder (1977), founded the Geneva Record Label Villa Magica Records. The label also published CDs and LPs from John Armleder and Sylvie Fleury, from Rockenschaub and John B. Rambo (aka Stéphane Armleder).

Career

Fleury's first show was at Rivolta Gallery in Lausanne in 1990 alongside Olivier Mosett and John Armleder. Through that show she met Eric Troncy and was invited to be a part of his seminal 1991 exhibition No Man's Time at the Villa Arson in Nice, France. In 1993 Fleury participated in the curated portion of the

45th Venice Biennale The 45th Venice Biennale, held from June 13 to October 13, 1993, was an exhibition of international contemporary art, with 45 participating nations. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Prizewinners of the 45th Biennale ...

. In the roaming section curated by Benjamin Weil, she had 3 models walking throughout Venice wearing reproductions of Yves Saint Laurent's

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

dress. Critics have labeled her work "post- appropriationist", and her books ''The Art of Survival'', ''First Spaceship on Venus and Other Vehicles'', and ''Parkett #58'' (with

Jason Rhoades Jason Fayette Rhoades (July 9, 1965 – August 1, 2006) was an American installation artist. Better known in Europe, where he exhibited regularly for the last twelve years of his life, Rhoades was celebrated for his combination dinner party/ ...

and James Rosenquist), have been featured internationally. In 2015, she won the Prix de la Société des arts de Genève. Fleury's work is in the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

, the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, and the

ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe The ZKM , Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (until March 2016: ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology), a cultural institution, was founded in 1989. and since 1997 is located in a listed industrial building in Karlsruhe, Germany, a former mun ...

Publications

* ''Sylvie Fleury – The Art of Survival''. Neue Galerie Graz, Graz 1993. * Sylvie Fleury: ''Sylvie Fleury''. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit 1999, . *

Götz Adriani Götz Adriani (born 21 November 1940 in Stuttgart) is a German art historian. Born as the son of an art historian (Gert Adriani), he studied history of art, archaeology and history at the universities of Munich, Vienna and Tübingen, earning a d ...

(Hrsg.): ''Sylvie Fleury – 49000''. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit, 2001. *''Centre of Attraction''. 8th Baltic Triennale. Bd. 1, Revolver, Frankfurt am Main 2003, . * Elke Kania u. a.: ''The Sublime is Now! Das Erhabene in der zeitgenössischen Kunst''. Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf/Schweiz 2006. * ''Sylvie Fleury''. CAC Málaga, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga. Málaga 2011, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleury, Sylvie 1961 births Living people 20th-century Swiss women artists 21st-century Swiss women artists Swiss contemporary artists Swiss sculptors Artists from Geneva Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres