There are photographs hanging down from a table, and photographs gently curled. The man in these photos is their maker, Jimmy Robert.

Robertʼs works are chiefly a combination of photography and sculpture, also weaving in performance. The photos placed on a stand, the rolled-up photos upright on a low stage-like support actually also resemble sculptures of people, or theater performers. Photographic paper bends and tears easily, but for a few months is strong enough to stand on its own, and hard enough to place objects on. This ambiguous duality of fragility and robustness applies equally to photographic paper, and the body.

Let us also recall how for a very long time "orthodox" sculpture, and forms of physical expression such as ballet and opera, were dominated by white people. Jimmy Robert could be said to be addressing this history by literally throwing his body into the air and intervening in it. And moreover in a very intellectual, delicate, and somehow sensual manner.

For the Aichi Triennale 2022, Robert has chosen to display his works alongside items from the collection of the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art such as tea bowls and scroll paintings. The twisted, warped forms of the bowls, and the soft texture of the scroll paper, resonate visually with Robertʼs works. These items were originally works of art for people to take in their hands and enjoy, and as such, also speak to the relationship between people and artworks.

Jimmy Robert was the subject of a mid-career survey at Nottingham Contemporary in 2020, which traveled to MUSEION, then CRAC Occitanie, Sète. Recent solo exhibitions include Thomas Dane Gallery (2022; Naples); Künstlerhaus Bremen (2022); The Hunterian (2021; Glasgow); La Synagogue De Delme (2018; France); M Leuven (2017; Belgium); The Power Plant (2013; Toronto); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2012); and Jeu de Paume (2012; Paris). Robertʼs performances have also been presented at Tate Britain, London; MoMA, New York and Migros Museum, Zurich. His most recent performance Joie Noire premiered in 2019 at KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin and traveled to Kaaitheater, Brussels. Forthcoming solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Baden-Baden in 2022 and Moderna Museet in 2023.

Selected Works & Awards

2021

Solo Exhibitoin, Museion Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy

2021

Solo Exhibitoin, CRAC Occitanie, Sète, France

2020

Solo Exhibitoin, Nottingham Contemporary, UK

2019

Solo Exhibitoin, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany

2015

Solo Exhibitoin, M Leuven, Belgium

2013

Solo Exhibitoin, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada

2012

Solo Exhibitoin, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, USA

2012

Solo Exhibitoin, Jeu de Paume Paris, France

2009

Center for Contemporary Art, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan

2008

Yokohama Triennale, kanagawa, Japan

• Installation view at Aichi Triennale 2022
• Reprise, 2010
• Photo: ToLoLo studio

Exhibition