Author: Sandrine Virginie HILAIRE

Most Wanted French by Sheng Qi

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Sheng Qi is a Chinese performance artist and painter. He was one of the original founders of the Chinese performance art group, Concept 21. In 1989, in protest to the massacre at Tiananmen Square, he severed the pinkie finger of his left hand and buried it in a porcelain flowerpot which remained in Beijing during his subsequent exile in Europe. In 1999 he returned to Beijing but mostly lives in London since 2010. His prevelant themes are the body language and its culture. All his works are painted in black, grey and red. More about Sheng Qi at http://bit.ly/1Aev9Dm

The Geography Of Innovation Is Shifting

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When a prominent venture capitalist of California invested one billion dollars in high risk green technology, Silicon Valley recalled the world that in innovation, geography is karma. What Vinod Khosla’s story tells us is that location is crucial when dealing with innovation and technology. Thirty years earlier Vinod left India to study management at Stanford University in California. In 1981, fresh out, he founded Sun Microsystems, a computer manufacturer . Innovations do not occur anywhere but often in geographic clusters where investors, large research universities, existing technology companies, engineers, designers, artists and scientists are always willing to think outside the box. Those people are part of what Richard Florida calls the Creative Class. His paradigm asserts that innovation is the outcome of creativity, this latter being the outcome of human creation for a concrete realization which then might lead to innovation. As far as geography and clusters are concerned, the Silicon Valley has been for several decades considered as the only creative and innovative hub worldwide. This is clearly changing. The geography of innovation is shifting. For proof, start with Google, …

Diaspora by Omar Victor Diop

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New work from Omar Victor Diop, the Senegalese photographer behind the striking [re-] Mixing Hollywood (Onomollywood), Le Futur du Beau and Le Studio des Vanités projects, is always a cause for excitement. The artist cimes back this month with a photo series at the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London. In a twelve-image set titled Project Diaspora, Diop showcases his penchant for vibrant colors and highly stylized portraits while again delving into the conversation about representation of Africans on the world stage. See more at http://bit.ly/1we57i5

China by Chen Jiagang

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Former architect and museum director, Chen Jiagang offers dazzling works mixing documentary and staged photography. His pictures paint the urban and social upheavals of contemporary China without artifice and with an undeniable subjectivity. Ruined cities, disfigured landscapes, abandoned factories or renaissance, scenes with deceptive appearances, all these places full of history and uncertainty are both documented and reinvented. He loves indeed to populate this apparent urban chaos with delicate female presences. Chen Jiagang captures the echo of a past life, of a forgotten memory with a necessary awareness. More about Chen Jiagang http://bit.ly/1uphPck

New York Chinatown par Franck Bohbot

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Franck Bohbot consacre sa recherche artistique aux espaces publics et aux paysages urbains. Fasciné par l’iconographie cinématographique, il centre sa création autour du rapport entre l’individu et l’architecture. Dans cette série, Franck Bohbot a pris le contre pied du cliché du Chinatown animé. Ici, pas de bruits, pas de livraisons, ni de rues animées, ou de touristes. Le silence et l’architecture du Lower East Side sont rois. A mi-chemin entre poésie et décors cinématographiques de science fiction, il a réalisé une série nocturne du quartier vidé de son activité, de ses habitants avec comme décor New York. Il en découle un voyage énigmatique, créant un univers pictural et quasi fantastique en pleine nuit. Franck Bohbot est le lauréat 2014 des International Awards of Architectural Photography http://bit.ly/1vchwU5

Story Fragments by Tomoko Takeda

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Artist and designer based in Tokyo, Tomoko Takeda transforms literary masterpieces works in his series も の が た り の 断 片(“Story Fragments”). With a bright light on the shape and structure, Takeda cut and carved the pages of books to form complex sculptural objects. The design of each piece is related to the story of the book. By translating these famous novels into a relevant visual work, Takeda gives them a new dimension.