Virginie Barré

Virginie Barré was born in 1970, she lives and works in Douarnenez (FR)

Active since the mid-1990s, Virginie Barré stands out for her mastery of mise-en-scène. The young artist has created installations that resemble “freeze-frames,” where life-sized dummies suggest improbable scenarios: break-ins, murders (Pulp, 1998; Help Agence Jestin Robert, 2000), and bizarre costumed gatherings (Les Gras, 2004) appear to have taken place just moments before, or may still be unfolding. Viewers are made witnesses to these mysterious, suspended dramas where death and dread brush up against the grotesque. Her dummies, whose theatrical postures take precedence over any pursuit of hyperrealism, are often the targets of biting irony (Fat Spiderman, 2002; Fat Bat, 2005).

Long seen in the wake of appropriationism, V. Barré’s universe is shaped by her cinephilia — among her major influences are the French New Wave, Brian De Palma, Michelangelo Antonioni, Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese, as well as Japanese animation by Hayao Miyazaki — and by her deep affinity for comics. She began creating comic strips herself in the early 2000s, sometimes bringing together characters drawn from both real life and fiction. Cinematic techniques are clearly present in her black-and-white graphic works, with their crisp lines: off-screen space, reverse shots, and ellipses abound. This is the case in a series based on the encounter between contemporary buildings and protagonists, crossing geographic and cultural distances (Warriors Apsaroke & maison de maître du Bauhaus, Walter Gropius, 1925–1926, 2006). She also transposes into her drawings excerpts from storyboards or behind-the-scenes photographs, revealing, for instance, intimate moments shared between an actress and her child.

The woman — as artist, actress, and mother — along with the child and their imagination, are recurring figures in her work.

Text by Marie Chênel

Virginie Barré’s work in on display during the exhibitions Fictionary, 2000 and Les Rêveurs 2, 2001.