John Cornu

Taking up a theme much favoured by the romantics, John Cornu is interesting by contemporary forms of ruin and blindness and sets out to reformulate its signs according to the codes of an art that is both minimal and conceptual. On the face of it, these two genres are diametrically opposed in every way, one favouring an exaggerated sentimentalism, the omnipresence of the subjective and the elegy of desolation, with the other refusing the excesses of expressionism and laying claim to a certain neutrality.
And yet it is precisely in a continual flux between these antagonistic forces that John Cornu’s work lies. In place of a conception of time as something linear, leading inexorably towards decline, the artist opts for a cyclical approach that reminds us how often history repeats itself in a world suffering from chronic blindness. Despite this, his pieces are not limited to the helpless observation of an obsolete world: the artist opens up the field of what is possible by overcoming, through the poetics of the ruin, the apocalyptic conception of which it carries merely the appearance.

© Christian Alandete, October 2009
Translation : James Curwen

John Cornu, Macula, 2020 Wood, paint, wax — Variable dimensions Vue de l’exposition « Le retour de la lumière », Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes, 2020 — Courtesy the artist
John Cornu, Tomber sept fois, 2020 Site specific work, Prieuré de Pont-Loup. Stones and stone fences — 14 elements — 180 × 60 × 30 cm chq. Courtesy the artist
John Cornu, Urbicande, 2020 Tubes, steel modules, paint — Variables dimensions © John Cornu — EAC — Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux — Collection Albers Honegger. Photo. Estelle Espinette
John Cornu, Urbicande, 2020 Tubes, steel modules, paint — Variables dimensions © John Cornu — EAC — Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux — Collection Albers Honegger. Photo. Estelle Espinette
John Cornu, O let me weep, 2019 Steel and candles — Variables dimensions Courtesy the artist — Galerie Gilla Lörcher, Berlin
John Cornu, La Mort dans l’âme, 2018 Butcher blocks, paint, wax — Variable dimensions Courtesy the artist
John Cornu, Sonatine (Mélodie mortelle), 2019 Used fluorescents tubes, microphones and amplifiers Courtesy of the artist  — Photo Origins Studio — Mains d’œuvres, Saint-Ouen
John Cornu, Choses tues, 2014 Marbles and bronze Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Gilla Lörcher, Berlin
John Cornu, Assis sur l’obstacle, 2011 Wood, ink, wax. Exhibition view, Modules — Fondation Pierre Bergé — Yves Saint Laurent, Palais de Tokyo, Paris Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, La Fonction oblique, 2011 Installation in situ. Push-Pull Shores, paint. Installation view, Blockhaus Hub-studio, Nantes Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Plan libre, 2007 Architectural graft in situ (columns), villa Savoye, Poissy Courtesy CMN, Paris
John Cornu, Choses tues, 2019 Marbles and bronze — Variable dimensions Courtesy of the artist  — Photo Origins Studio — Mains d’œuvres, Saint-Ouen
John Cornu, La Mort dans l’âme, 2012 Butcher blocks, paint, wax. Project room, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris. Collection CNAP, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris
John Cornu, La Part maudite (Richard Kern), 2012 Black and white posters — 50 × 70 cm Courtesy of the artist  — Photo Origins Studio — Mains d’œuvres, Saint-Ouen
John Cornu, Les Mains sales, 2012 Galvanized push-pull shores, black tar. Exhibition view « This is THE END », Le Parvis Centre d’art, Ibos Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Brume, 2014 Horse traps, paint. Exhibition view « Monument », SCVA — Sainsbury Center for Visual Arts, Norwich, England Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Bad Ritual, 2016 Wine and paint on canvas — 162 × 114 cm each Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Sonatine (Mélodie mortelle), 2008 Installation in situ. Used and altered fluorescent tubes, microphones, amplifiers, cables. Exhibition view « Viser la tête », Le Parvis Centre d’art, Ibos. Collection Frac Midi-Pyrénées Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Butoir, 2017 Permanent work, Le Rack, 40mcube HubHug, Rennes. Wood and chains — Variable dimensions Courtesy of the artist and 40mcube HubHug
John Cornu, Macula, 2008 Wood, paint, wax. Exhibition view « Qu’on en finisse », Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris
Vue de l’exposition « Filiations », EAC — Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux
Exhibition view « Filiations », EAC — Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux Courtesy of Daniel Buren and John Cornu
John Cornu, Sans titre, 2009 Wood, paint, wax. Exhibition view « Laisse venir », BF15, Lyon Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Phénix, 2009 White neon (former overhauled work) — 1,50 m approx. Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Sans titre, 2009 Wood, paint, wax. Collection CNAP, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Melencolia, 2013 Concrete Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Sans titre (Millbank), 2014 Metal and black lacquer Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Comme un gant, 2015 Blue limestone of Hainaut, Permanent commission, Thuin, Belgique Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Comme elle vient, 2016 Concrete, copper (moulding of bullets holes), oxydation. Exhibition view « No shooting in this area », Le Bel Ordinaire, Pau — 21 × 34 cm each Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Viser la tête, 2012 Flash-ball shots on plasterboard. Exhibition view « Viser la tête », Le Parvis Centre d’art, Ibos Courtesy the artist
John Cornu, XXX, 2015 Installation in situ. Asphalt. Exhibition view « New Order », Les Trinitaires, Metz Courtesy of the artist Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, La Gueule ouverte (décalogue), 2017 Mixed medias on wood — 120 × 98 cm each Courtesy of the artist
John Cornu, Urbicande, 2012 Tubes, steel elements, paint Avec / With Niele Toroni, Empreintes de pinceau n°50 répétées à intervalles de 30 cm, 1975 © NT Filiations, EAC — Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux — Collection Albers Honegger © the artists
John Cornu, Ronde, 2019 Steel chairs structures, chains — Structure : 150 cm (diameter) × 75,5 cm (height) Courtesy the artist — Photo Origins Studio — Mains d’œuvres, Saint-Ouen

John Cornu

Contemporary

Architecture, installation, performance, photography, sculpture, sound - music

French artist born in 1976 in Seclin, France. 

Localisation
Paris et Rennes, France
Website
www.johncornu.com
Themes
Architecture, conceptuel, contextuel, in situ, minimalisme, romantisme, son