Loris Greaud wows the world once again with his new exhibition at the 26,000-square-foot Dallas Contemporary. The Unplayed Notes Museum is the French artists most mysterious show to date, culminating with a spectacular dichotomy of creation versus destruction at the opening. Patrons of the Contemporary were greeted with a droning, deep bass that could be felt vibrating throughout the entire body. A few steps into a massive, dark room and they encountered a floor-to-ceiling, black and white video filmed in infrared of various sexual acts with layered, disorienting effects. The hypnotizing visual stimulation and the all-encompassing bass transported the viewer into another dimension of being, almost as if in a dream.
The oversized angels on the opposite side of the room included shattered paster heads around a globe, and were even more impressive after noticing 6,000 dead, preserved butterflies of different species. Another installation in a smaller space included altered molds of Versailles sculptures, alternating lighting, lacquer wall art, and a starry ceiling. The largest installation included a tree from Vietnam that was turned upside down, its roots later formed into a tree, surrounded by tens of delicate molds of doe-like yet foreign, etherial creatures. The last room featured a grid of silver plaster hands on top of slick marble pedestals, illuminated by a single strip of white light.
Each installation holds a certain personality and feeling, yet the exhibition is uniform in how it displaces the viewers into Loris’s mind. More so than an exhibition, it’s an experience, and one that took 5 years to complete, all leading up to this moment. Halfway through the opening, an angel statue is pushed over by a hired actor and all hell broke loose. Large security guards clad in all black started escorting the patrons out of the gallery amid bright lights and loud alarms. The facade of society dropped within minutes in the destruction and chaos, being pushed by people on all sides and catching glimpses of sculptures being violently destroyed was something out of a strange dream. The crowd was out of control, and in themselves became a part of the exhibition. The aftermath of the destruction included 40% of the exhibition destroyed, with the destruction becoming a part of the exhibition.
The art of “Destruction” has never been done in Dallas or at the Contemporary on this scale, and Greaud stated this mirrors the violence and destruction in our modern society. Overall, this was one of the most progressive and experimental exhibitions shown in Dallas. Following a positive local and international reception, it put both the Dallas Contemporary and Loris Greaud on the map as never before…and that’s where they will stay.
Photography courtesy of Kenny Pham
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