Sylvie Fleury

b. 1961

Sylvie Fleury, ÎÔ, 2019, Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Germany. Photo: Miro Kuzmanovic.

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, 1961; Lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland

Exhibiting art is almost like customizing a space—wearing clothes, applying makeup, getting a tattoo. That's why I have never felt that fashion is the main focus in my work. The first time I exhibited art I was not saying ‘Yes to All’, but something ultimately similar: ‘C’est la Vie’ —Sylvie Fleury, 2017

Artwork

Exhibitions

11.02–12.22.2017
Eye Shadows
Freeman Alley

Sylvie Fleury

03.04–04.27.2013
It Might As Well Rain Until September
Salon 94 Bowery

Sylvie Fleury

Biography

Portrait of Sylvie Fleury by Diego Sanchez

Since the late 1980s, Fleury has made works that engage fields of interest not traditionally found within the realm of art museums and galleries, including fashion, luxury cars, spaceships, and contemporary mysticism. Through her films, sculptures, paintings, and performances, she explores the relationships between art making and the mechanics of consumerism, fetishism, and commodification, as well as the dichotomies of the masculine and feminine; the disposable and the canonized.

Since her early Shopping Bags installation (1991-96) of readymade sculptures, where she displaced luxury brand bags out of their original context, her interest in appropriating objects has always been a striking feature of her artistic practice. “I’ve always wanted to transform reality, to transform everyday objects. That’s perhaps why I am interested in fashion. Fashion trends reflect our time, but also produce codes that I’ve always wanted to appropriate and play with.”

Sylvie Fleury was born in 1961 in Geneva, where she lives and works. Solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States. Recent solo exhibitions include the Kunstraum Dornbirn, Austria (2019); Istituto Svizzero, Rome (2019); Villa Stuck, Munich (2016); Eternity Now, as part of the permanent collection at the Bass Museum, Miami (2017 and 2015); Centro de arte contemporaneo de Malága (2011); and MAMCO Genève (2008). Her work has also been presented in group shows internationally, including at the Daimler Contemporary, Berlin (2019); Leopold Museum, Vienna (2018); Kunsthaus Zürich (2018); Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2016); SCHAUWERK Sindelfingen (2014); Kunstverein Hannover (2011); and Kunstverein Frankfurt (2011). In 2018 she was awarded Switzerland’s Prix Meret Oppenheim and in 2015 received the Société des Arts de Genève Prize.

CV

Press

11.17.2017
This Subversive Artist’s New Exhibition Takes Cues From the Makeup Counter
Laura Regensdorf

Vogue

11.02.2017
Do I Have a Tom Ford Lipstick Fetish? On Artist Sylvie Fleury’s "Eye Shadows"
Alex Beggs

Garage Magazine

11.01.2017
The Makeup Artist
John Ortved

Vogue

01.01.2016
Pioneers: Sylvie Fleury
Fredi Fischli & Niels Olsen

Kaleidoscope

03.14.2013
Don't Miss: Sylvie Fleury at Salon 94 Bowery
Michael Slenske

W Magazine

04.01.2009
Sylvie Fleury
Felicity Lunn

Frieze

01.01.2009
Sylvie Fleury
Bernard Marcelis

ArtPress

01.01.2002
Sylvie Fleury, 2002
Peter Halley

Index Magazine

01.01.2000
The Nonchalance of Continuous Tense-ness
Jutta Koether

Parkett

01.01.2000
From Lacan's Drive to Rodeo Drive
Adrian Dannatt

Parkett

01.01.2000
Customize
Beatrix Ruf

Parkett