Signals & Stats : Daily Signals

Study of the grotesque

Saint-Étienne, France – Take an unsettling journey through the grotesque at the new Vous avez dit bizarre? (Did you say bizarre?) exhibition co-curated by acclaimed artist Bart Hess.

This year’s Biennale Internationale Design theme is ‘Perceptions of Beauty’
Vous avez dit bizarre opts to examine beauty’s counterpart, grotesquery

Vous avez dit bizarre? exhibition at Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, France

Bart Hess at the Vous avez dit bizarre? exhibition at Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, France

Maayan Pesach at Vous avez dit bizarre? exhibition at Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, France. Photography by Ronald Smits

Maarten De Ceulaer Vous avez dit bizarre? exhibition at Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, France

Hess and art historian Alexandra Jaffré have curated works from more than 40 designers, including Si Leong Chan’s Hug Me Coat and Kollektiv Plus Zwei’s The Importance of the Obvious objects. Exploring the vice of our times, the works demonstrate over-the-top types of behaviour that have become part of our cultural consciousness. The exhibition, part of this year’s Biennale Internationale Design show, is split between two sections or moods. The first is the playful side of the grotesque, an imaginary world connected to childhood with colourful forms, and the second is a dark journey into the frightening side of grotesque that feeds on the more tormented fears of adults.

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