24 August 2017

Based on Jean François de Troy’s «Declaration of Love»,  Anatomie proposes a reinterpretation of the "Tableau de Mode" whose main theme are gallant activities of young knights and high-ranking woman, reflecting a social obligation to society in  the 17th and 18th century France. Gallantry constituted as an social-ethical model that fused all degrees of love, from tenderness to lust. 

In a Baroque tone the spectator is invited to take a seat on a bench, evoking the image of gardens where such meetings took place, to have his personal moment of gallantry. Each of the bouquets framing the bench represents one part of the archetypal discursive, sexual relationship as they engage in an erotic dialogue with one another, surrounding the spectator. 

It is only then that the spectator might discover the blurred “identity codes” of the bouquets, revealing a more complex and varied interpretation of gender and sexual crossovers, as present in our contemporary society.

The fertile parts, removed from certain flowers, are offered to the viewer, testament to this diversity.

The «Declaration of Love» is on display at Schloss Sanssouci in Potsdam, Brandenburg.