Colette Justine
Encyclopedia
Colette Justine better known as Colette is a multimedia artist known for her pioneering work in performance art
, street art
and the constructed photograph. She is also known for her work exploring male and female gender role
s, her use of different guises and personas and for her soft fabric environments where she often appears as the central element.
She was born in Tunis
, Tunisia
, and grew up in Nice
, France before becoming a naturalized American citizen. She lives and works in New York City.
" after Delacroix
. She presented this work to the public in 1972. In an installation composed of white parachute silk, embedded lighting, lightbox
es, lavender painted floors inscribed with her personal code and with audio, she appeared as Liberté
. This tableau vivant
could also be viewed from the windows of the gallery. Fred McDarrah documented it and published in the Village Voice January 1973.
By 1973 Colette had completed the opus of her work : With white silk rushed parachute silk and embedded lighting and no visible furniture she turned her living space into a "Minimal Baroque" sculpture and included herself as part of it. The same year, Stefonatty gallery NYC had just opened its doors and offered the artist a solo show. The painter Malcolm Morley, and the conceptual artists Les levine, Dennis Oppenheim, Vito Acconci, Bill Beckley and Roger Welch also exhibited at Stefonatty. In her first solo show there, sixteen larger-than-life, three-dimensional paintings resembling her, titled "the Sandwomen" were showcased. The office of the gallery was completely transformed into a dream like environment, in the style of her living space. In this room she posed still everyday for the duration of the exhibition as the "Sleeping Gypsy" after Henri Rousseau
and titled it "The Transformation of the Sleepy Gypsy without the Lion". For the Norton Museum, in Miami, Florida, 1974, Colette posed as Persephone in "Persephone's Bedroom" in a billowing parachute dress. The environment created for that theme was made up with what became her trademark, muted treated rushed soft fabrics In this space, she embedded into the fabric walls a multitude of mirrors. In an adjacent room her street works street works were exhibited.
of Avalanche magazine. In 1973, Al Hansen
, the late Fluxus
artist, interviewed her in a video tape "The Ear" which records artist painting a huge ear at the Spring Street intersection in SoHo
, while Arnold Newman
was shooting her for Verizon magazine.
Colette painted the streets during early morning hours not only to not be identified but also in also to avoid police arrest. One of her better-known street works is "The Lips". In 1974 she painted huge lips on the intersection of West 57th Street, which could be seen from above the windows of her gallery during her exhibition. During her show at the Norton Museum also in 1974, she executed a very long street work "It was here" which included the Federal highway in front of the museum. On the morning of Friday 13 December 1974, during an eclipse, Colette completed painting Aristotle text on the pavements. Dressed in a pink satin slip, she ended the work with a sleeping performance on the steps of the Museum .It did not take long for the police to arrive and interrupt. That summer, she was invited by ART TAPES FLORENCE to do two videos of street art performances: "There Is No Place Like Home" and "L'incident a la place st Unnunziata". Her love partner at the time Dakota Jackson (the furniture designer) assisted her and also performed in both street works.
Colette's Early Street Works and Window Works were recently presented the Akademie der Künste
- Berlin for the React feminism exhibition in 2008 and again in the traveling show "React feminism II" which opened October 7, 2011 in Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The show will be traveling with its last presentation in July 2013 in Berlin.
and boots. Images of her "look" and her habit of wearing and incorporating undergarments began to appear not only in art publications, but also in fashion and popular press: Art News, Women's Wear Daily, Daily News. References to Colette's look worn in art and life, are still made as having inspired a young Madonna
and later Lady Gaga
. During this time Colette begun to be referred to as a "walking performance".
In 1975 she appeared in many group shows. For the Idea Warehouse In NYC she staged a sleeping tablaeu "If it takes forever, I will wait for you" using slide projections and musak. Another show "Lives "also took place downtown in the Fine Arts Building" and was curated by Jeffrey Deitch. In these shows her work was placed with some of the same artists she had exhibited before: Dennis Oppenheim, Roger Welch, Lynda Benglis, Hannah Wilke, Vito Acconci, Bill Beckley, Laurie Anderson, Charlemagne Palestine, Phil Glass, Willoughby Sharp, Carolee Schneeman.
Later that year at Clocktower she presented "The Dream Series", an exhibition curated by Alanna Heiss
. In a large square room "Real Dream" made of rushed pink satin, embedded lighting and audios, Colette slept nude at its center everyday for the duration of the exhibition. This show was a topic of Jeffrey Deitch interview with Colette for WPS1
art radio in 2009.
For the opening of "PS 1" : as part of the "Rooms" exhibition,she posed as Marat in "David's Wraith" and transformed the attic with brown satins and tulle, embedded lighting, props dipped in resin and audios.
In 1977, Colette represented the US in the Paris Bienale, with "Let them eat Cake" reclining in a lavender and salmon color boudoir. She also constructed "Clearance Sale" in the bedroom of Nancy Gillesby Delaage Gallery in Paris. Two other rooms were occupied with Annette Messager's and Laurie Anderson
's work. A few weeks later, she was featured in the performance section of the Cologne Art Fair with other artists: Jack Smith
, Marina Abramović
, Jurgen Klauke, Laurie Anderson
and Michel Butta. She lived for six days in her piece "Ancorra Tu" which resembled her living environment in New York City with her personal belongings and art works, and the public could see her room through a light veil.
For the opening of her street art show "It reappears" at the Eugenia Cucalon gallery which also took place in 1977 she slept in a light blue satin box as "Femme Fatale" which could be seen from the streets and the windows of the gallery. Also exhibited were light boxes referring to famous artists she either admired or knew. ex; "Dennis's chair" (referring to a chair from his work 'the lecture' a gift to the artist; she draped in blue satin and embedded with light). Another work in the show was: "Sleeping on a Carl Andre": a photograph of herself (in a light box) - sleeping on one of his large minimal sculpture nude as it were a pedestal for herself.
In December 1977 the Museum of Modern Art
she performed Camille II. Adjacent to her performance were installed fragments of Camille I,( these works now are part of the permanent Brooklyn museum Collection). Another version of Camille was presented in Washington, D.C. at the Polo Gallery. Also on view was her video tape of the performance in the "Downtown NY" show held in Berlin 1976 at the Akademie der Künste, curated by Renee Block. In her performance "Memory of Ophelia and all those who died of Love and Madness" 1976, she laid in an exotic silk and satin room (with sand color, and blue fabric satins and rags), reclining nude next to another female Tabea Blumenschein.to the sound of echoes of her voice with sound of Hamlet's soliloquy "To be or not to be".
titled "The Last Stitch" part of the "Out of the House" exhibition. She performed her resurrection at PS1
now part of MOMA
a few days later as "Justine and the Victorian Punks" (the first in a series of living personas). Justine armed with Colette's vision posed as a recording star, fashion designer, inventor & conceptualizer of products - "The Beautiful Dreamer" (Colette) doll, perfume, beautiful dreamer bed, fashions, lps etc... And was the head of the Colette's estate.
In 1978 Fiorucci
invited her to do an exhibition, which included a sleeping installation performance in the windows of the West 59th Street store in NYC. Soon after, Fiorucci began using live models in the store and Colette's "Victorian Punk Look" became part of the 1980s NYC "Downtown New Wave" world. In 1979 Emilio Fiorucci commissioned her to create a line of clothes for the store. Her "Deadly Feminine Line" was showcased in the windows of the boutique and Colette staged a fashion art performance at the Mudd Club in celebration.
During that year, Banco gallery in Brescia, Italy presented "Les actions de Justine"; a mostly blue satin installation with slide projections. She posed as "the Pietà
" in it for its opening. In the second room of the gallery, her record album covers, collages embedded in satin, which recorded her life as "Justine" were exhibited.
In 1979 in a store window art exhibition curated by Peter Pakesh held in department stores over the city of Graz, Austria. In her window at K&O, Justine of the Colette is dead Co. posed as a recording star in a white satin environment in her "Victorian Look" promoting her conceptual "beautiful Dreamer Lp" (not yet released). Her music played outside on the streets. Concurrently she transformed one of the large mirror rooms of the Neue Gallery for the exhibition "Masculin Feminin" (curated by Klaus Honnef) as Justine's Disco Punk Church Club. This term has currently surfaced in the music industry to describe current music.
In an installation at Victoria Falls, a vintage boutique on Spring St. NYC, she presented her multimedia spectacle "Ripping myself Off". Clothes she designed, inspired by her image, which had filtered into the commercial world, were displayed inside the store. In its windows she posed as Joan of Arc, in a work entitled "Paranoia is heightened awareness". For its opening a fashion show was staged including the song "Ripping Myself Off" she co-wrote with Albert Crabtree.
During this period nightclubs also became a venue for reaching younger audiences and an ideal setting for her multimedia spectacles - Colette was a regular and performed and exhibited in most of them: Mudd Club
,The Underground, Studio 54
. Her close association with Rudolf the German nightclub impressiario who created Danceteria influenced her to do more nightclub spectacles. Her first installation there, was "Fuck Art Lets Dance" for the opening of the club in May 1980. This led to other young artists showcasing their art there .Colette also appeared in the day and the Night life in her" beautiful dreamer" uniforms inspired by the walls of her legendary environment as a living sculpture: an experiment in walking architecture. The fashion photographer Chris Von Hohenberg assisted her in recording her wearing these uniforms for her series of photo works. In 1981, she joined Niki Carson's La Rocka Modelling agency for unusual models, and stage amulti media performance in his club Armegedon. By 1984, art in nightclubs was the vogue. The Palladium showcased not only her work but also those of Keith Herring, Jean Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel.
In 1981 she broke record attendance in three consecutive museums shows: her retrospective - "Colette - 10 Years of Work" at the Kunstverein Munster (with a monograph published by Politi); "Other Realities" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston Texas (other artists that participated with individual openings weeks apart were Robert Wilson, Joan Jonas, Vito Acconci, and Eleonor Antin); and in the show Persona at the New Museum with the Mr.APology, Lynn Hershmann and Eleonor Antin.
Other public installation/ performances putting closure to a period before Colette's departure for Berlin, were Justine's thrift shop on West Broadway (her beautiful dreamer uniforms and gowns were offered for sale to the public with a window work of that theme), and "Art on Stage" a multimedia event held at Danceteria.
one year grant from city of Berlin. Prior to her departure she dismantled her "living environment" - a continuously evolving work of art. The late Leo Castelli
was involved in placing this inner sculpture in a well known museum. This fell through, and the environment was dismantled in 1982. The environment was dismantled and placed in storage. Its actual wall fragments (made up of rushed salmon colored satin and white silk parachute material), lightboxes, draped lamps and other furniture as well as her "beautiful dreamer" uniforms have been exhibited over the years: The living installation has never been shown in a public space in its entirety and is currently still in search of a permanent home.
In Berlin she took on a new persona, "Mata Hari
" and the Stolen Potatoes. She exhibited her new works and paintings at the Silvia Menzel gallery and Kunstler Haus Bethanien in Berlin, and the Danny Keller gallery in Munich
. In 1985 she created sets and costumes for the Berlin Opera
production of Ravel's L'heure espagnole
directed by Knutt Summers, and participated with a video room installation in the Venice Biennale
for the Italian pavilion.
In 1985 during her stay in Berlin, Three monographs were published on her work: 1."From Silk To Marble" - a series of photographs of Colette transforming herself with a white sheet into sculptures of different periods of history, thus documented the style and fashion of that period.were exhibited with an opening performance re-enacting the images live. Künstlerhaus Bethanien (with the Torkil Gudnason
) helped her document the images right before her departure to Berlin. 2."Colette new works and paintings" - 85 for her solo show at the Berlin Kunstverein (published by Kammerer & Unverzagt) and 3."Art on Stage", distributed by the Stadtische Galerie Nordon (Germany). Colette presented a multimedia installation / performance with her works on the stage of its auditorium. Its co-publisher was Daniel Newburg Gallery (New York Gallery which represented her work during that period).
, while still maintaining her Pearl St. atelier in New York City. Bavaria became new source of inspiration and a new persona "The Countess Reinchenbach". During this time she created staged photographs from her private performances in the Ludwig Castles, the "Dial C for Scandal" series, "The Secret lives of Count and Countess Reichenbach", the "Light Figures", which aimed to blend fantasy and reality, art and life (she accidentally lived on Reichenbach Strasse and her boyfriend's mother was Countess Reichenbach).
During this period, Colette's installations with her art and fashion designs were showcased in the windows of Munich's most prominent department stores: Loden Frey and Ludwig Beck (where her couture wedding dresses were available). At the beginning of her stay there May 1986 she was awarded a studio at Lothringstrasse, which she immediately turned into an environment. In Munich her works were shown at the Dany Keller Gallery and in Berlin where she often commuted to exhibit her works. There, Nathan Federowsky gallery presented "Colette and the Russians", which included Colettesized Russsian icons. Her haute couture clothes of ruched and crinkled satin and other fabrics were on view at the Boutique DurBruch. A special presentation was held there with models staged inside the store wearing Colette's one of a kind creations. In NYC, the Gallery of Wearable Art carried her evening one of a kind couture and commissioned her to do a window. During her short return to New York in 1986, before going to Munich she had a solo exhibition at Daniel Newburg gallery "Autobiographs" with an after-opening celebration held with a special installation at Area where the impersonator Z posed in a Colette bed. In a group show, Logosimmi, curated by Alan Jones, Daniel Newburg was introduced to Colette's work and gave her a solo show "Autobiographs" the same year. In 1987, in another solo show "An exhibition for dolls" was presented there. A group of upcoming artists; Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Sinclair Cemin, Wolfgang Stahle, Taro Suzuki and Frank Shroeder also were exhibited at Daniel Newburg gallery.
In 1988 works from her "Bavarian Adventure", which included, tall light sculptures, large scale altered photographs, objects and collages were exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Frauen Museum in Bonn
with a catalogue published by Dumont Verlag in Cologne
.
By 1992 Colette returned to New York and made it once again her primary residence, while continuing to travel and exhibit abroad, especially to Munich and Berlin. During that time her art was represented by the Dorsky Gallery where she exhibited new works from the Bavarian adventure and "the figures come to life". In 1990 the Rempire Gallery in SoHo presented "Through the Looking glass" and "Love in ruins /the artist and her Muse"_ The works from "The secret lives of Count and Countess Reichenbach" were featured among other works referring to other muses, friends, and well-known personages: a portrait of Frieda Kahlo and a large light box "the bath" with a young Jeff Koons- (made from a still image of her video "Justine & the Boys"). The Persona Olympia" emerged in 1990 in Munich
when she was beginning the process of returning to New York permanently. In 1991, her work was exhibited with Joseph Beuys, John Armedledder in the group show "The Invisible Body" curated by Alan Jones at the Rempire Gallery in NYC.
Once she re-established herself in New York (1992), she named her New York Downtown atelier "The House of Olympia". The work of that decade was inspired by the eighteenth century. Like all her personas, Olympia developed a philosophy based on a message as well as a "look".
The rules of the House of Olympia:
In 1993, an exhibition at LOK gallery in the Meatpacking District
titled "The Ruins and Rise of the House of Olympia" Colette presented her new works. A Colette mannequin replaced her presence.
Through the nineties Colette continued to seek various settings and stages in which to exhibit. Eighteenth century salon inspired and "colettesized" rooms environments were created in galleries - "Uptown downtown gallery" (1995), Eugenia Cucalon (1996), "me myself and i", Carol Johnssen, Munich. At the Lowen Palais part of the Starke Foudation in Berlin she was given her own "Colette Salon". There she periodically appeared and entertained in eighteen century style,presenting her latest portraits or art work of her choice.
In 1997 the "Salon de la Refusee" at the Girswirn Hotel was viewed both by an art audience as well as random passers-by. Through its windows a Colette mannequin sculpture was installed in the gallery space, along with Colette's new works and objects, such as clothing. At the same time another Colette mannequin sculpture dressed in one of her rushed gowns worn in live performance. "Nightclubbing" in the early 1980s was featured at the downtown Guggenheim Museum
. Nightclubs continued to be a place of celebration after her opening exhibitionsas well as a and showcase for her art. ex; The Palladium 1992, Life Club in 1997 after the opening of Le Salon de La Refusee, The Limelight in 1990, and in 1998 a multimedia production with art work, video installations, and a tableau appearance for the opening to songs co-written with Jacob Engel. 1990& 1998-., Club U.S.A "to celebrate chivalry and good manners".
During her House of Olympia period, the Guggenheim Museum in 1992 acquired and later exhibited a large scale box sculpture from the Justine - "Reverse Pop Series " (1978) with LPs and other personal items. In 1993, another of her life-size light boxes from the series "Major works form the estate" (1980) which was exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Art (1980) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, Texas, was acquired and exhibited at the MOCA
. In 1993 another large work from that series was placed in museum of FIU's permanent collection in Miami, Florida. 1993, Newport Harbor Museum, Los Angeles, acquired and exhibited a large wall fragment from her living environment(1982. In 1995 one of her large constructed photographs from "Real I Dream" (1975) became part of the Ludwig Museumin Cologne collection, and also exhibited in "The Nude Photograph".
In 1999 "Poses", a retrospective of her constructed and stage photo/performance works, (beginning with the early seventies till 99) was held at the KIM Foster Show in Chelsea. A monograph "The Essence of Olympia" dedicated to that persona and its creations was published by "the Institut" (a gallery in Berlin Mitte) where she had a solo exhibition, and the Carol Johnssen gallery in Munich in 1997.
atelier, which had been covered with white dust from the nearby catastrophe.
Her introduction to her new paintings as "Lumiere" was in NY at Egizio's Projects in January 2002. Later that year, more works by Lumiere were featured in the 3rd Montreal Biennale curated by Claude Gosselin - "The New Me" in 2002. Inside the Mexican Consulate gallery space (loaned to the biennale for the duration of the show), Colette reinstalled her downtown atelier now called "Maison Lumiere". Located in the center of the city and with large ground floor windows, the space was intentionally designed to give the appearance, at first glance,of a high profile fashion boutique, a home, or a showroom. For its audios the theme song "A la Maison de la lumiere " was co-written with Jacok Engel.
Other shows and highlights of that period concentrated on reaching larger audiences and Colette began using the label "C.I.A. - Colette Institute of Art" and its no 1. Moto - "Fight Terror with Glamor". An introduction with an installation performance was CIA was held at the club "the Crowbar". In "Domestic Bliss" (1994), an arresting vision that featured a long pink table with Lumiere plates, could be seen from the streets of Rosenthal's Madison Avenue Rosenthal's Show Room. The Mannequin replacing Colette, was attached to a long table with a train containing at its end a large pile of record albums size artworks from "The Story of my life" series.
"The Bedroom" in Tokyo - 2004-5 - an entire floor of HPGRP Fashion building in Ginza
, a "gesumpkunstwerk" made of light pink rushed satin with her paintings, light sculpture, furniture, clothes, accessories and CDs.
Solo gallery shows in 2006 included: new works from "Maison Lumiere" at Pablos' Birthday gallery, "Lumiere's Dinner at eight" at Carol Johnssen Gallery, and "Intriguing Faces" featuring new "Colettesized portraits" at Vivian Horan Gallery. A portrait of the filmmaker art collector Katerina Otto Bernstein in an eighteen century costume, and that of actor Gabriel Byrne dressed as a general, were in the show.
Other installations incorporating fashion and "Fragments of her life" were -" The "ApARTment" exhibition at HPGRP gallery in the Meatpacking District 2007, with installations within the installation :In a one of the corners was an installation work titled "Be bold with new beginnings" featured a Colette mannequin sculpture with long white gloves, viewed from the back looking at the window with a series of white suitcases following her. Other sections displayed racks of clothes, furniture,and art made at different times displayed on shelves or stacked against the walls. The exhibition addressed the nomadic life of the artist, particularly addressing personal concerns at the time and the uncertainties of human existence in general. "The Closet" - at Windows Gallery, Long Island City, reconstruction of the clothes of her closet resembling a thrift shop with street painting leading to it from PS1.connecting the artist history there to the current show.) These shows proceeded the unnounced vacatefrom her loft, that came soon after and were somewhat prophetic. By 2008 Colette had relocated and was awarded the studios at The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art foundation. Berlin, for "REACT FEMINISM" (2008) held at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Early street works and store window installations performances were presented, as well as a live re-enaction of a "Beautiful Dreamer" installation with performance and audios.
Her Pearl Street
atelier in New York, which was written about by Arturo Schwarz
, Peter Selz, Brendan Gill
, Jeffrey Deitch and Alan Jones
, and published in Vogue
, the New York Times, Art Forum, and The National Enquirer
(1995) was demolished in November 2007. A 16 minute film The Last Days of Pearl Street documented the destruction with Street Work "Appearances" by Colette.
In 2008–2009 Colette converted her studio at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art into a home environment, and began a series of new metaphysical portraits ; mostly of friends and colleagues :Alessandra Anderson Spivy, Roger Webster, Anthony Hayden Guest, Katerina Otto Bernstein, Donald Bachlor, Kevin Baker etc.. ; and a few celebreties of her generation; David Bowie, Jim Jarmusch, Bill Murray, Susan Sarandon, Blondie and Richard Gere. the studio was open to the public in Spring 2009. In February 2010 Colette exhibited these portraits and her "Street Paintings" at Destination Art Space in an installation : "That's All She Wrote" (a 3 minute music video documenting this transition and putting closure to the tragedy of losing her atelier). For the Windows of Boutique/art space she created a Valentine onsite installation "The Letter" with light blue rushed and torn satin, shredded soft white wig material and a Colette Mannequin sculpture holding "a return to sender" enveloppe.
In 2010 Pavel Zoubok gallery begun representing Colette's work in New York with a show called "Girl Talk". She continues to present her multimedia works internationally. Due to the current interest in Street Art and the seventies and eighties style and culture, her earlier works are being re-exhibited. Her "Sepia Color Beautiful Dreamer LP" with Peter Gordon (1979) was released on November 9, 2010 by the DFA
label. The archival video "Justine and the Boys" (1979) starring Jeff Koons
and Richard Prince
was presented as part as the "Indomitable women" show in Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
in 2010. Her lightboxes, part of her living environment (1972–83) (that Leo Castelli
helped to preserve and which was written about by Peter Selz in "Art of our times" and Arturo Schwarz
in Poliliti's monograph "Colette - 10 years of work") was shown at the James Graham & Sons Gallery in NYC in an exhibition called "Consider the Oyster" curated by Ingrid Dinter. At Black and White Projects, in a show called "Basic Instinct" curated by Sasha Oylstein, early staged photographs from the 1970s are part of her installation, which also features a larger-than-life image of herself as living doll (wrapped in satin) in her living environment 1978. "La reine soleil" an installation with artworks was showcased at Pavel Zoubok gallery booth "Basel - Pulse art fair" in Miami, December 2010.
Colette - Laboratoire Lumiere has participated in numerous exhibitions in 2011:
(1995), Enzo Capio (2000), Michel Auder
(1970s to 1980s), Anton Perich
(1970s to 1980s), Robert Polidori
(1979), Wolfgang Staehle
(1983) and Werner Rauenne (1984).
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
and the constructed photograph. She is also known for her work exploring male and female gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
s, her use of different guises and personas and for her soft fabric environments where she often appears as the central element.
She was born in Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, and grew up in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France before becoming a naturalized American citizen. She lives and works in New York City.
Early works
Her first performance/photo work took place in 1970 when she had herself photographed as "Liberty Leading the PeopleLiberty Leading the People
Liberty Leading the People is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled Charles X of France. A woman personifying Liberty leads the people forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the tricouleur flag of the French Revolution in one hand and...
" after Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
. She presented this work to the public in 1972. In an installation composed of white parachute silk, embedded lighting, lightbox
Lightbox
Lightbox may refer to:* Various backlit viewing devices:** A container with several lightbulbs and a pane of frosted glass on the top. It is used by photography professionals viewing translucent films, such as slides. This device was originally used to sort photographic plates with ease. It is also...
es, lavender painted floors inscribed with her personal code and with audio, she appeared as Liberté
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité, French for "Liberty, equality, fraternity ", is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutionalized until the Third...
. This tableau vivant
Tableau vivant
Tableau vivant is French for "living picture." The term describes a striking group of suitably costumed actors or artist's models, carefully posed and often theatrically lit. Throughout the duration of the display, the people shown do not speak or move...
could also be viewed from the windows of the gallery. Fred McDarrah documented it and published in the Village Voice January 1973.
By 1973 Colette had completed the opus of her work : With white silk rushed parachute silk and embedded lighting and no visible furniture she turned her living space into a "Minimal Baroque" sculpture and included herself as part of it. The same year, Stefonatty gallery NYC had just opened its doors and offered the artist a solo show. The painter Malcolm Morley, and the conceptual artists Les levine, Dennis Oppenheim, Vito Acconci, Bill Beckley and Roger Welch also exhibited at Stefonatty. In her first solo show there, sixteen larger-than-life, three-dimensional paintings resembling her, titled "the Sandwomen" were showcased. The office of the gallery was completely transformed into a dream like environment, in the style of her living space. In this room she posed still everyday for the duration of the exhibition as the "Sleeping Gypsy" after Henri Rousseau
Henri Rousseau
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French Post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier , a humorous description of his occupation as a toll collector...
and titled it "The Transformation of the Sleepy Gypsy without the Lion". For the Norton Museum, in Miami, Florida, 1974, Colette posed as Persephone in "Persephone's Bedroom" in a billowing parachute dress. The environment created for that theme was made up with what became her trademark, muted treated rushed soft fabrics In this space, she embedded into the fabric walls a multitude of mirrors. In an adjacent room her street works street works were exhibited.
Street art
In the early 70s she began creating large street paintings anonymously and soon became known when her identity was discovered by Willoughby SharpWilloughby Sharp
Willoughby Sharp was an internationally known artist, independent curator, independent publisher, gallerist, teacher, author, and telecom activist. In 1968, Sharp co-founded Avalanche magazine with writer/filmmaker Liza Béar...
of Avalanche magazine. In 1973, Al Hansen
Al Hansen
Alfred Earl "Al" Hansen was an American artist considered as one of the most important Fluxus figures. He was a Norwegian American....
, the late Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
artist, interviewed her in a video tape "The Ear" which records artist painting a huge ear at the Spring Street intersection in SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
, while Arnold Newman
Arnold Newman
Arnold Abner Newman was an American photographer, noted for his "environmental portraits" of artists and politicians...
was shooting her for Verizon magazine.
Colette painted the streets during early morning hours not only to not be identified but also in also to avoid police arrest. One of her better-known street works is "The Lips". In 1974 she painted huge lips on the intersection of West 57th Street, which could be seen from above the windows of her gallery during her exhibition. During her show at the Norton Museum also in 1974, she executed a very long street work "It was here" which included the Federal highway in front of the museum. On the morning of Friday 13 December 1974, during an eclipse, Colette completed painting Aristotle text on the pavements. Dressed in a pink satin slip, she ended the work with a sleeping performance on the steps of the Museum .It did not take long for the police to arrive and interrupt. That summer, she was invited by ART TAPES FLORENCE to do two videos of street art performances: "There Is No Place Like Home" and "L'incident a la place st Unnunziata". Her love partner at the time Dakota Jackson (the furniture designer) assisted her and also performed in both street works.
Colette's Early Street Works and Window Works were recently presented the Akademie der Künste
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
- Berlin for the React feminism exhibition in 2008 and again in the traveling show "React feminism II" which opened October 7, 2011 in Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The show will be traveling with its last presentation in July 2013 in Berlin.
Art and fashion: 1970s
In 1975 Colette was asked to participate in "Fashion as Fantasy" at Rizzoli's bookstore. In this fashion/art event (co-curated by Frederico Suro), a larger-than-life perforated light box of Colette was featured, while throughout the store and its windows Colette performed as "Ragdoll" with veiled breasts, a Victorian corset, bloomersBloomers (clothing)
Bloomers is a word which has been applied to several types of divided women's garments for the lower body at various times.-Fashion bloomers :...
and boots. Images of her "look" and her habit of wearing and incorporating undergarments began to appear not only in art publications, but also in fashion and popular press: Art News, Women's Wear Daily, Daily News. References to Colette's look worn in art and life, are still made as having inspired a young Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
and later Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
. During this time Colette begun to be referred to as a "walking performance".
In 1975 she appeared in many group shows. For the Idea Warehouse In NYC she staged a sleeping tablaeu "If it takes forever, I will wait for you" using slide projections and musak. Another show "Lives "also took place downtown in the Fine Arts Building" and was curated by Jeffrey Deitch. In these shows her work was placed with some of the same artists she had exhibited before: Dennis Oppenheim, Roger Welch, Lynda Benglis, Hannah Wilke, Vito Acconci, Bill Beckley, Laurie Anderson, Charlemagne Palestine, Phil Glass, Willoughby Sharp, Carolee Schneeman.
Later that year at Clocktower she presented "The Dream Series", an exhibition curated by Alanna Heiss
Alanna Heiss
Alanna Heiss is the Director of AIR, Art International Radio, an Internet-based art radio station operating out of the Clocktower Gallery in Lower Manhattan, New York. She founded and was the Director of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center from 1976–2008 and is one of the originators of the alternative...
. In a large square room "Real Dream" made of rushed pink satin, embedded lighting and audios, Colette slept nude at its center everyday for the duration of the exhibition. This show was a topic of Jeffrey Deitch interview with Colette for WPS1
WPS1
Art Radio WPS1.org was the Internet radio station of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art from April 2004 - January 1, 2009. It provided a 24-hour stream and on-demand archive of cultural programming...
art radio in 2009.
For the opening of "PS 1" : as part of the "Rooms" exhibition,she posed as Marat in "David's Wraith" and transformed the attic with brown satins and tulle, embedded lighting, props dipped in resin and audios.
In 1977, Colette represented the US in the Paris Bienale, with "Let them eat Cake" reclining in a lavender and salmon color boudoir. She also constructed "Clearance Sale" in the bedroom of Nancy Gillesby Delaage Gallery in Paris. Two other rooms were occupied with Annette Messager's and Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
's work. A few weeks later, she was featured in the performance section of the Cologne Art Fair with other artists: Jack Smith
Jack Smith
-In sport:*Jack Smith , 19th century footballer in 1892–1895*Jack Smith , English player with Wolverhampton Wanderers and others* Jack Smith , English international footballer...
, Marina Abramović
Marina Abramovic
Marina Abramović is a Belgrade-born New York-based Serbian performance artist who began her career in the early 1970s. Active for over three decades, she has recently begun to describe herself as the “grandmother of performance art.” Abramović's work explores the relationship between performer and...
, Jurgen Klauke, Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
and Michel Butta. She lived for six days in her piece "Ancorra Tu" which resembled her living environment in New York City with her personal belongings and art works, and the public could see her room through a light veil.
For the opening of her street art show "It reappears" at the Eugenia Cucalon gallery which also took place in 1977 she slept in a light blue satin box as "Femme Fatale" which could be seen from the streets and the windows of the gallery. Also exhibited were light boxes referring to famous artists she either admired or knew. ex; "Dennis's chair" (referring to a chair from his work 'the lecture' a gift to the artist; she draped in blue satin and embedded with light). Another work in the show was: "Sleeping on a Carl Andre": a photograph of herself (in a light box) - sleeping on one of his large minimal sculpture nude as it were a pedestal for herself.
In December 1977 the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
she performed Camille II. Adjacent to her performance were installed fragments of Camille I,( these works now are part of the permanent Brooklyn museum Collection). Another version of Camille was presented in Washington, D.C. at the Polo Gallery. Also on view was her video tape of the performance in the "Downtown NY" show held in Berlin 1976 at the Akademie der Künste, curated by Renee Block. In her performance "Memory of Ophelia and all those who died of Love and Madness" 1976, she laid in an exotic silk and satin room (with sand color, and blue fabric satins and rags), reclining nude next to another female Tabea Blumenschein.to the sound of echoes of her voice with sound of Hamlet's soliloquy "To be or not to be".
Justine of the Colette is Dead Co (Reverse Pop Series) 1978-82
In 1978 Colette staged a mock death in an installation/performance at the Downtown WhitneyWhitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
titled "The Last Stitch" part of the "Out of the House" exhibition. She performed her resurrection at PS1
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
MoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest institutions in the United States dedicated solely to contemporary art. It is located in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York City...
now part of MOMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
a few days later as "Justine and the Victorian Punks" (the first in a series of living personas). Justine armed with Colette's vision posed as a recording star, fashion designer, inventor & conceptualizer of products - "The Beautiful Dreamer" (Colette) doll, perfume, beautiful dreamer bed, fashions, lps etc... And was the head of the Colette's estate.
In 1978 Fiorucci
Fiorucci
Fiorucci is an Italian fashion label founded by Elio Fiorucci in 1967. The first shop exposed Milan to the styles of Swinging London and American classics such as the T-shirt and jeans. By the late 1970s and early 1980s this would be reversed, and the New York store would become famous for the...
invited her to do an exhibition, which included a sleeping installation performance in the windows of the West 59th Street store in NYC. Soon after, Fiorucci began using live models in the store and Colette's "Victorian Punk Look" became part of the 1980s NYC "Downtown New Wave" world. In 1979 Emilio Fiorucci commissioned her to create a line of clothes for the store. Her "Deadly Feminine Line" was showcased in the windows of the boutique and Colette staged a fashion art performance at the Mudd Club in celebration.
During that year, Banco gallery in Brescia, Italy presented "Les actions de Justine"; a mostly blue satin installation with slide projections. She posed as "the Pietà
Pietà
The Pietà is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ...
" in it for its opening. In the second room of the gallery, her record album covers, collages embedded in satin, which recorded her life as "Justine" were exhibited.
In 1979 in a store window art exhibition curated by Peter Pakesh held in department stores over the city of Graz, Austria. In her window at K&O, Justine of the Colette is dead Co. posed as a recording star in a white satin environment in her "Victorian Look" promoting her conceptual "beautiful Dreamer Lp" (not yet released). Her music played outside on the streets. Concurrently she transformed one of the large mirror rooms of the Neue Gallery for the exhibition "Masculin Feminin" (curated by Klaus Honnef) as Justine's Disco Punk Church Club. This term has currently surfaced in the music industry to describe current music.
In an installation at Victoria Falls, a vintage boutique on Spring St. NYC, she presented her multimedia spectacle "Ripping myself Off". Clothes she designed, inspired by her image, which had filtered into the commercial world, were displayed inside the store. In its windows she posed as Joan of Arc, in a work entitled "Paranoia is heightened awareness". For its opening a fashion show was staged including the song "Ripping Myself Off" she co-wrote with Albert Crabtree.
During this period nightclubs also became a venue for reaching younger audiences and an ideal setting for her multimedia spectacles - Colette was a regular and performed and exhibited in most of them: Mudd Club
Mudd Club
The Mudd Club was a TriBeCa nightclub that was opened in October 1978 by Steve Mass, art curator Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips, a figure in the downtown punk scene...
,The Underground, Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
. Her close association with Rudolf the German nightclub impressiario who created Danceteria influenced her to do more nightclub spectacles. Her first installation there, was "Fuck Art Lets Dance" for the opening of the club in May 1980. This led to other young artists showcasing their art there .Colette also appeared in the day and the Night life in her" beautiful dreamer" uniforms inspired by the walls of her legendary environment as a living sculpture: an experiment in walking architecture. The fashion photographer Chris Von Hohenberg assisted her in recording her wearing these uniforms for her series of photo works. In 1981, she joined Niki Carson's La Rocka Modelling agency for unusual models, and stage amulti media performance in his club Armegedon. By 1984, art in nightclubs was the vogue. The Palladium showcased not only her work but also those of Keith Herring, Jean Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel.
In 1981 she broke record attendance in three consecutive museums shows: her retrospective - "Colette - 10 Years of Work" at the Kunstverein Munster (with a monograph published by Politi); "Other Realities" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston Texas (other artists that participated with individual openings weeks apart were Robert Wilson, Joan Jonas, Vito Acconci, and Eleonor Antin); and in the show Persona at the New Museum with the Mr.APology, Lynn Hershmann and Eleonor Antin.
Other public installation/ performances putting closure to a period before Colette's departure for Berlin, were Justine's thrift shop on West Broadway (her beautiful dreamer uniforms and gowns were offered for sale to the public with a window work of that theme), and "Art on Stage" a multimedia event held at Danceteria.
Mata Hari and the Stolen Potatoes: Berlin (1984-86)
In 1984 she received the DAADDAAD
DAAD can have several meanings:* The German Academic Exchange Service * Direct Action Against Drugs, a cover name for the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
one year grant from city of Berlin. Prior to her departure she dismantled her "living environment" - a continuously evolving work of art. The late Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli was an American art dealer. He was best known to the public as an art dealer whose gallery showcased cutting edge Contemporary art for five decades...
was involved in placing this inner sculpture in a well known museum. This fell through, and the environment was dismantled in 1982. The environment was dismantled and placed in storage. Its actual wall fragments (made up of rushed salmon colored satin and white silk parachute material), lightboxes, draped lamps and other furniture as well as her "beautiful dreamer" uniforms have been exhibited over the years: The living installation has never been shown in a public space in its entirety and is currently still in search of a permanent home.
In Berlin she took on a new persona, "Mata Hari
Mata Hari
Mata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida "M'greet" Zelle , a Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed by firing squad in France under charges of espionage for Germany during World War I.-Early life:Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in Leeuwarden, Friesland,...
" and the Stolen Potatoes. She exhibited her new works and paintings at the Silvia Menzel gallery and Kunstler Haus Bethanien in Berlin, and the Danny Keller gallery in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. In 1985 she created sets and costumes for the Berlin Opera
Berlin Opera
Berlin Opera usually refers to one of the three opera houses in Berlin, Germany:*Staatsoper Unter den Linden : Opened in 1742 as Königliche Hofoper , sometimes also known as Lindenoper , renamed State Opera in 1918, destroyed during World War II...
production of Ravel's L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole is a one-act opera, described as a comédie musicale, with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on his play of the same name first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon on 28 October 1904...
directed by Knutt Summers, and participated with a video room installation in the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
for the Italian pavilion.
In 1985 during her stay in Berlin, Three monographs were published on her work: 1."From Silk To Marble" - a series of photographs of Colette transforming herself with a white sheet into sculptures of different periods of history, thus documented the style and fashion of that period.were exhibited with an opening performance re-enacting the images live. Künstlerhaus Bethanien (with the Torkil Gudnason
Torkil Gudnason
Torkil Gudnason is a New York based fashion photographer.- Biography :Gudnason started working as a fashion photographer assisting Jørn Freddie in Copenhagen, Denmark and then moved to New York in 1978...
) helped her document the images right before her departure to Berlin. 2."Colette new works and paintings" - 85 for her solo show at the Berlin Kunstverein (published by Kammerer & Unverzagt) and 3."Art on Stage", distributed by the Stadtische Galerie Nordon (Germany). Colette presented a multimedia installation / performance with her works on the stage of its auditorium. Its co-publisher was Daniel Newburg Gallery (New York Gallery which represented her work during that period).
COUNTESS REICHENBACH - 1986-91
Beginning 1986 Colette moved to MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, while still maintaining her Pearl St. atelier in New York City. Bavaria became new source of inspiration and a new persona "The Countess Reinchenbach". During this time she created staged photographs from her private performances in the Ludwig Castles, the "Dial C for Scandal" series, "The Secret lives of Count and Countess Reichenbach", the "Light Figures", which aimed to blend fantasy and reality, art and life (she accidentally lived on Reichenbach Strasse and her boyfriend's mother was Countess Reichenbach).
During this period, Colette's installations with her art and fashion designs were showcased in the windows of Munich's most prominent department stores: Loden Frey and Ludwig Beck (where her couture wedding dresses were available). At the beginning of her stay there May 1986 she was awarded a studio at Lothringstrasse, which she immediately turned into an environment. In Munich her works were shown at the Dany Keller Gallery and in Berlin where she often commuted to exhibit her works. There, Nathan Federowsky gallery presented "Colette and the Russians", which included Colettesized Russsian icons. Her haute couture clothes of ruched and crinkled satin and other fabrics were on view at the Boutique DurBruch. A special presentation was held there with models staged inside the store wearing Colette's one of a kind creations. In NYC, the Gallery of Wearable Art carried her evening one of a kind couture and commissioned her to do a window. During her short return to New York in 1986, before going to Munich she had a solo exhibition at Daniel Newburg gallery "Autobiographs" with an after-opening celebration held with a special installation at Area where the impersonator Z posed in a Colette bed. In a group show, Logosimmi, curated by Alan Jones, Daniel Newburg was introduced to Colette's work and gave her a solo show "Autobiographs" the same year. In 1987, in another solo show "An exhibition for dolls" was presented there. A group of upcoming artists; Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Sinclair Cemin, Wolfgang Stahle, Taro Suzuki and Frank Shroeder also were exhibited at Daniel Newburg gallery.
In 1988 works from her "Bavarian Adventure", which included, tall light sculptures, large scale altered photographs, objects and collages were exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Frauen Museum in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
with a catalogue published by Dumont Verlag in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
THE HOUSE OF OLYMPIA: 1990s
In 1990 in an exhibition in Munich at Carol Johnssen Gallery "Visits to the Normal World" Colette began to use the name Olympia. It was the first of seven solo shows at that gallery. In 1991 she presented her Colettesized commissioned portraits in "The Aristocrats"; among the portraits of local aristocrats were Leslie and Dedlef Von Waggonheim, Kiki and Eckbert Von Buehlen & Urbach; and an installation featuring "The Unnunciation". The subject Colette as "the Countess Reichenbach" (with her then boyfriend actor Misha Tregor ("Count Reichenbach") a regular at the Kammerspiele theater in Munich). In 1991By 1992 Colette returned to New York and made it once again her primary residence, while continuing to travel and exhibit abroad, especially to Munich and Berlin. During that time her art was represented by the Dorsky Gallery where she exhibited new works from the Bavarian adventure and "the figures come to life". In 1990 the Rempire Gallery in SoHo presented "Through the Looking glass" and "Love in ruins /the artist and her Muse"_ The works from "The secret lives of Count and Countess Reichenbach" were featured among other works referring to other muses, friends, and well-known personages: a portrait of Frieda Kahlo and a large light box "the bath" with a young Jeff Koons- (made from a still image of her video "Justine & the Boys"). The Persona Olympia" emerged in 1990 in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
when she was beginning the process of returning to New York permanently. In 1991, her work was exhibited with Joseph Beuys, John Armedledder in the group show "The Invisible Body" curated by Alan Jones at the Rempire Gallery in NYC.
Once she re-established herself in New York (1992), she named her New York Downtown atelier "The House of Olympia". The work of that decade was inspired by the eighteenth century. Like all her personas, Olympia developed a philosophy based on a message as well as a "look".
The rules of the House of Olympia:
- No money - no art
- Retrieving my history. Preservation of earlier works and fabrication of ideas conceived as far back as the seventies. e.g. the Colette Mannequin Sculpture.
- Self appropriation - recycling of images of myself from earlier works into mixed media new works.
- Colettesizing: thus transforming into my style selected masterpieces of the eighteen century such as Boucher, Fragonard, Watteau and exhibiting them amidst images of myself inspired by that period and in this way synchronizing them.
- Bringing back the return of chivalry and good manners, innocence and romance.
- Art that elevates the spirit and celebrates life.
- Matches the furniture and promotes the return of the commissioned portrait and the art patron.
In 1993, an exhibition at LOK gallery in the Meatpacking District
Meatpacking District, Manhattan
The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan which runs roughly from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street, although recently it is sometimes considered to have extended north to West 16th Street and east...
titled "The Ruins and Rise of the House of Olympia" Colette presented her new works. A Colette mannequin replaced her presence.
Through the nineties Colette continued to seek various settings and stages in which to exhibit. Eighteenth century salon inspired and "colettesized" rooms environments were created in galleries - "Uptown downtown gallery" (1995), Eugenia Cucalon (1996), "me myself and i", Carol Johnssen, Munich. At the Lowen Palais part of the Starke Foudation in Berlin she was given her own "Colette Salon". There she periodically appeared and entertained in eighteen century style,presenting her latest portraits or art work of her choice.
In 1997 the "Salon de la Refusee" at the Girswirn Hotel was viewed both by an art audience as well as random passers-by. Through its windows a Colette mannequin sculpture was installed in the gallery space, along with Colette's new works and objects, such as clothing. At the same time another Colette mannequin sculpture dressed in one of her rushed gowns worn in live performance. "Nightclubbing" in the early 1980s was featured at the downtown Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
. Nightclubs continued to be a place of celebration after her opening exhibitionsas well as a and showcase for her art. ex; The Palladium 1992, Life Club in 1997 after the opening of Le Salon de La Refusee, The Limelight in 1990, and in 1998 a multimedia production with art work, video installations, and a tableau appearance for the opening to songs co-written with Jacob Engel. 1990& 1998-., Club U.S.A "to celebrate chivalry and good manners".
During her House of Olympia period, the Guggenheim Museum in 1992 acquired and later exhibited a large scale box sculpture from the Justine - "Reverse Pop Series " (1978) with LPs and other personal items. In 1993, another of her life-size light boxes from the series "Major works form the estate" (1980) which was exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Art (1980) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, Texas, was acquired and exhibited at the MOCA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
. In 1993 another large work from that series was placed in museum of FIU's permanent collection in Miami, Florida. 1993, Newport Harbor Museum, Los Angeles, acquired and exhibited a large wall fragment from her living environment(1982. In 1995 one of her large constructed photographs from "Real I Dream" (1975) became part of the Ludwig Museumin Cologne collection, and also exhibited in "The Nude Photograph".
In 1999 "Poses", a retrospective of her constructed and stage photo/performance works, (beginning with the early seventies till 99) was held at the KIM Foster Show in Chelsea. A monograph "The Essence of Olympia" dedicated to that persona and its creations was published by "the Institut" (a gallery in Berlin Mitte) where she had a solo exhibition, and the Carol Johnssen gallery in Munich in 1997.
Maison Lumiere-2001/renamed Laboratoire Lumiere 2010
Colette begun using the name "Lumiere" publicly following the September 11 attacks after she was allowed to reenter her Lower ManhattanLower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
atelier, which had been covered with white dust from the nearby catastrophe.
Her introduction to her new paintings as "Lumiere" was in NY at Egizio's Projects in January 2002. Later that year, more works by Lumiere were featured in the 3rd Montreal Biennale curated by Claude Gosselin - "The New Me" in 2002. Inside the Mexican Consulate gallery space (loaned to the biennale for the duration of the show), Colette reinstalled her downtown atelier now called "Maison Lumiere". Located in the center of the city and with large ground floor windows, the space was intentionally designed to give the appearance, at first glance,of a high profile fashion boutique, a home, or a showroom. For its audios the theme song "A la Maison de la lumiere " was co-written with Jacok Engel.
Other shows and highlights of that period concentrated on reaching larger audiences and Colette began using the label "C.I.A. - Colette Institute of Art" and its no 1. Moto - "Fight Terror with Glamor". An introduction with an installation performance was CIA was held at the club "the Crowbar". In "Domestic Bliss" (1994), an arresting vision that featured a long pink table with Lumiere plates, could be seen from the streets of Rosenthal's Madison Avenue Rosenthal's Show Room. The Mannequin replacing Colette, was attached to a long table with a train containing at its end a large pile of record albums size artworks from "The Story of my life" series.
"The Bedroom" in Tokyo - 2004-5 - an entire floor of HPGRP Fashion building in Ginza
Ginza
is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
, a "gesumpkunstwerk" made of light pink rushed satin with her paintings, light sculpture, furniture, clothes, accessories and CDs.
Solo gallery shows in 2006 included: new works from "Maison Lumiere" at Pablos' Birthday gallery, "Lumiere's Dinner at eight" at Carol Johnssen Gallery, and "Intriguing Faces" featuring new "Colettesized portraits" at Vivian Horan Gallery. A portrait of the filmmaker art collector Katerina Otto Bernstein in an eighteen century costume, and that of actor Gabriel Byrne dressed as a general, were in the show.
Other installations incorporating fashion and "Fragments of her life" were -" The "ApARTment" exhibition at HPGRP gallery in the Meatpacking District 2007, with installations within the installation :In a one of the corners was an installation work titled "Be bold with new beginnings" featured a Colette mannequin sculpture with long white gloves, viewed from the back looking at the window with a series of white suitcases following her. Other sections displayed racks of clothes, furniture,and art made at different times displayed on shelves or stacked against the walls. The exhibition addressed the nomadic life of the artist, particularly addressing personal concerns at the time and the uncertainties of human existence in general. "The Closet" - at Windows Gallery, Long Island City, reconstruction of the clothes of her closet resembling a thrift shop with street painting leading to it from PS1.connecting the artist history there to the current show.) These shows proceeded the unnounced vacatefrom her loft, that came soon after and were somewhat prophetic. By 2008 Colette had relocated and was awarded the studios at The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art foundation. Berlin, for "REACT FEMINISM" (2008) held at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Early street works and store window installations performances were presented, as well as a live re-enaction of a "Beautiful Dreamer" installation with performance and audios.
Her Pearl Street
Pearl Street (Manhattan)
Pearl Street is a street in the Lower section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running northeast from Battery Park to the Brooklyn Bridge, then turning west and terminating at Centre Street...
atelier in New York, which was written about by Arturo Schwarz
Arturo Schwarz
Arturo Umberto Samuele Schwarz son of a German father and an Italian mother, is an Italian scholar, art historian, poet, writer, lecturer, art consultant and curator of international art exhibitions...
, Peter Selz, Brendan Gill
Brendan Gill
Brendan Gill wrote for The New Yorker for more than 60 years. He also contributed film criticism for Film Comment and wrote a popular book about his time at the New Yorker magazine.-Biography:...
, Jeffrey Deitch and Alan Jones
Alan Jones
Alan Jones may refer to:* Alan Jones , Ulster architect* Alan Jones , cinematographer active 1984–1996, see Love Is All There Is* Alan Jones , Welsh cricketer...
, and published in Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, the New York Times, Art Forum, and The National Enquirer
The National Enquirer
The National Enquirer is an American supermarket tabloid now published by American Media Inc . Founded in 1926, the tabloid has gone through a variety of changes over the years....
(1995) was demolished in November 2007. A 16 minute film The Last Days of Pearl Street documented the destruction with Street Work "Appearances" by Colette.
In 2008–2009 Colette converted her studio at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art into a home environment, and began a series of new metaphysical portraits ; mostly of friends and colleagues :Alessandra Anderson Spivy, Roger Webster, Anthony Hayden Guest, Katerina Otto Bernstein, Donald Bachlor, Kevin Baker etc.. ; and a few celebreties of her generation; David Bowie, Jim Jarmusch, Bill Murray, Susan Sarandon, Blondie and Richard Gere. the studio was open to the public in Spring 2009. In February 2010 Colette exhibited these portraits and her "Street Paintings" at Destination Art Space in an installation : "That's All She Wrote" (a 3 minute music video documenting this transition and putting closure to the tragedy of losing her atelier). For the Windows of Boutique/art space she created a Valentine onsite installation "The Letter" with light blue rushed and torn satin, shredded soft white wig material and a Colette Mannequin sculpture holding "a return to sender" enveloppe.
In 2010 Pavel Zoubok gallery begun representing Colette's work in New York with a show called "Girl Talk". She continues to present her multimedia works internationally. Due to the current interest in Street Art and the seventies and eighties style and culture, her earlier works are being re-exhibited. Her "Sepia Color Beautiful Dreamer LP" with Peter Gordon (1979) was released on November 9, 2010 by the DFA
DFA Records
DFA Records is an independent record label and production team, launched in September 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. The label has an exclusive distribution deal with major record label EMI....
label. The archival video "Justine and the Boys" (1979) starring Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons
Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror finish surfaces....
and Richard Prince
Richard Prince
Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer. Prince began appropriating photographs in 1975...
was presented as part as the "Indomitable women" show in Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art is situated in the Plaça dels Àngels, in El Raval, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Spain. The museum opened to the public on November 28, 1995. Its current director is Bartomeu Marí . Previous directors were Daniel Giralt-Miracle , Miguel Molins , Manuel J...
in 2010. Her lightboxes, part of her living environment (1972–83) (that Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli was an American art dealer. He was best known to the public as an art dealer whose gallery showcased cutting edge Contemporary art for five decades...
helped to preserve and which was written about by Peter Selz in "Art of our times" and Arturo Schwarz
Arturo Schwarz
Arturo Umberto Samuele Schwarz son of a German father and an Italian mother, is an Italian scholar, art historian, poet, writer, lecturer, art consultant and curator of international art exhibitions...
in Poliliti's monograph "Colette - 10 years of work") was shown at the James Graham & Sons Gallery in NYC in an exhibition called "Consider the Oyster" curated by Ingrid Dinter. At Black and White Projects, in a show called "Basic Instinct" curated by Sasha Oylstein, early staged photographs from the 1970s are part of her installation, which also features a larger-than-life image of herself as living doll (wrapped in satin) in her living environment 1978. "La reine soleil" an installation with artworks was showcased at Pavel Zoubok gallery booth "Basel - Pulse art fair" in Miami, December 2010.
Colette - Laboratoire Lumiere has participated in numerous exhibitions in 2011:
- NYC Salon, curated by Michelle Tillou. Dorian Grey Art Gallery. East Village, NYC. Dec 11 - Jan 2011. Postcards from "The Story of My Life" series..
- White sale - curated by Beth Rudin Dewoody. Loretta Howard gallery. January 13 - Feb 2011
- "The Arrival of Mademoiselle Lumiere". An "apparition" at the Gala Preview and other artworks presented at the Armory Art Show on Park Ave, NYC. Pavel Zoubok Gallery TEN: Redefining Collage. Booth A21
- BASIC INSTINCT, curated by Sasha Okshteyn, Black and White Project, Williamsburg. Dec 17 - Jan 23 2011. Flaunders Gallery, North Carolina - Feb - March - 201
- Photo month : Kraków - Poland.(exhibited a large scale blow up of "the deadly feminine line" 1979 windows of fiorucci as a work of art )Curated by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin. May 13 - June 12.
- Politically Colette - Solo Show curated by Alan Jones - at Paolo Barozzi - Venice, Italy - Opening : June 5.
- Sweet&Savory - at Pavel Zoubok Galley, NYC - June 1–24.
- Summer Salt - curated by Ingrid Dinter - "The Proposition Gallery" NYC - July 6 - Aug 7th.
- NIGHT SCENTED STOCK curated by Todd Levin September 14 - October 22, 2011 - Marianne Boesky Gallery 118 East 64th Street
- re.act.feminism #2–7 October 2011 – 15 January 2012 Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
- "Remix" - Oct 14 through November - Bucknell University, Pennsylvania - curated by Pavel Zoubok and Rachel Lawe
- "Bohemian Nights" - short films by artists-November 9 - Gershwin Hotel, presented by Nicki Carson, curated by Ingrid Dinter.
Movies and video documents
Colette the artist has been documented in films and videos on her life and art by Paul Tschinkel (1993), Charlie AhearnCharlie Ahearn (director)
Charlie Ahearn was born in 1951 in Binghamton, New York, and is a film director and creative cultural artist currently living in New York City. Although predominantly involved in film and video production, he is also known for his work as an author, freelance writer, and radio host...
(1995), Enzo Capio (2000), Michel Auder
Michel Auder
Michel Auder was born in Soissons France in 1945. He began making films at the age of 18. He was influenced of the French New Wave and experimental cinema, most notably Jean-Luc Godard and Andy Warhol. In 1969, Auder met and eventually married Viva, one of Warhol’s principal talents. A year later,...
(1970s to 1980s), Anton Perich
Anton Perich
Anton Perich is an American Filmmaker, photographer and video artist, born in Dubrovnik in 1945. He lives and works in New York since 1970.-Biography:...
(1970s to 1980s), Robert Polidori
Robert Polidori
Robert Polidori is a photographer known for his architectural studies and frequent contributions to magazines and books.-Biography:...
(1979), Wolfgang Staehle
Wolfgang Staehle
Wolfgang Staehle is an early pioneer of net.art in the United States, known for his video streaming of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.-Education:...
(1983) and Werner Rauenne (1984).
Monographs
- Colette - 10 years of work politi- Roceed - 1981
- Colette - From silk to marble- Kunstler Haus Bethanien - 1984
- Colette - New paintings and work — Kammerer & Unverzagt- 1985
- Colette - Art on Stage - Nordorn Museum Germany- 1985
- Colette - The Bavarian Adventure — Dumont- 1988
- Colette - Colette love in ruins/ The artist and her muse - Rempire Gallery- 1992
- Colette - The essence of olympia-institut - Berlin- 1997
- Colette - The new me- Maison de la lumiere - Carol Johnssen- 2002
- Colette - Kunstler kritisches lexicon der gegenwartskunst- Weltkunst verlages-2004
Selected museum collections
- 1986 - Ludwig Museum, Cologne
- 1993 - MOCA, Los Angeles
- 1993 - FIU-MIAMI, Florida
- 1992 - Guggenheim, New York
- 1992 - Ludwig Museum, Cologne
- 1993 - Newport Harbor Museum, Los Angeles
- 1997 - Berlin Museum of Art
- 2008 - Wolfsburg museum - Germany