The first solo exhibition in France by the German artist Thorsten Brinkmann (1971), Farce Satrape presents some of the illustrious figures of knights, padres, donnas and other hybrid creatures imagined by the artist. In this gallery of “portraits of a serialsammler” (serial collector) made within the walls of his studio, the artist stages and embodies fictitious characters with the appearance of high and proud dignitaries. The use of a juxtaposed palette of ochre, emerald green, vermilion and lapis lazuli, the use of fabrics and the haughty bearing of the subject remind us of the Renaissance portraits of kings, queens and princesses. One would almost have the feeling of being stared at, were it not for the single fringed lampshade as a face.

Thorsten Brinkmann’s work is primarily the result of an assiduous collection of lonely, worn-out, dysfunctional objects, discarded by our consumer society. This is followed by a work of assembly, where he lets the objects and their stories come to him,
he sculpts his character, until the moment when, everything having fallen into place, he presses the shutter release from a distance. With a sideways step, Thorsten Brinkmann humorously interprets the relationship of modern man to the object and its consumption, re-enacting over and over again in front of the mirror of the camera the acts of a theatre of the absurd that suits our time.

Let us borrow the motto of a prominent member of the Collège de ‘Pataphysique promoted to the rank of Satrape, Boris Vian, “I like to think about things I think others will not think about”.

Free admission, by reservation
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