Rose is a rose is a rose — Florilège jusqu’à en faire le tour — MAC VAL Musée d'art contemporain du Val-de-Marne — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: December 1, 2022 → May 14, 2023

This exhibition brings together a selection of 23 prints commissioned by the Department for the Roseraie du Val-de-Marne.

With works by Martine Aballéa, Valerio Adami, Dove Allouche, Raphaël Barontini, Carole Benzaken, Jean-Pierre Bertrand, Mark Brusse, Ali Cherri, Delphine Coindet, Mario D’souza, Nicolas Floc’h, José Gamarra, Cat Loray, Lahouari Mohammed Bakir, Roman Moriceau, Eva Nielsen, Pavlos, Sarkis, Anne Slacik, Valérie Sonnier, Patrick Tosani, Jean-Luc Verna, Claude Viallat

A display turned the museum’s reception into a bonbonnière, another name that could have served as a title for the presentation of part of the collection of prints commissioned each year by the Department of Val-de-Marne in order to promote one of its most remarkable gardens, the Roseraie (rose garden) in L’Haÿ-les-Roses, and to affirm a proactive approach to commissioning artists.

Vue de l ’exposition « Rose is a rose is a rose », sélection d’estampes commandées par le Conseil départemental du Val-de-Marne pour La roseraie du Val-de-Marne Collection MAC VAL — Photo © Aurélien Mole, 2023

Rather than simply following the chronology of these commissions, the hanging of this first in a series of shows promoting the Department’s print collection has chosen to place itself under the aegis of the American poet, playwright and writer Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), and in particular her words: ‘she would carve on the tree Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose until it went all the way around.’ This gesture of carving into a tree is reminiscent of certain protocols of contemporary artists who leave messages in the bark of trees, like graffiti. What could be closer to the engraver’s tool than the prickle of a rose to cut, to scratch or simply to draw? They are no longer prickles but splinters or pins to hold back what is least well preserved: fragrances or seasons.

Sarkis, Roseraie en Roses de Bengale, 2009 Estampe originale, sérigraphie en 2 couleurs sur papier aquarelle satiné, 110 x 155 cm Collection MAC VAL — Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne Photo © Jacques Faujour © Adagp, Paris 2009

Somewhat in the manner of Gertrude Stein and her book The World is Round, the 23 prints chosen evoke this universe, which is sometimes quite happy to be slightly faded or outdated. This presentation alternates images linked to roses and their lexical and semantic field with others that are more playful, as if they were skipping or playing hopscotch before our eyes. ‘Rose is a rose is a rose’ therefore follows the logic of the tale and the nursery rhyme. Nor does it forget the very shape of the Roseraie which, in the hands of the artists, becomes almost cabalistic, a visual assonance of the cadastral and the astral.