Artist Troy Henriksen acts as curator for the very first time. With Chappe Gallery owner Alexandre Gilbert, Henriksen tells us how he came up with "I PRAY DAILY FOR AMY", his collective hommage rendered to the unpredictacle Amy Winehouse, and how "We" is better than "I".
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En ce moment sur la galerie
Troy Henriksen, how does it feel to be a curator ?
Troy Henriksen : I don’t know about this title. I mean I’m not really into titles, I don’t know what we call each and one another. I know I’m a person with an idea, does that make me a curator? This is how it goes: I had an idea one day and I wanted to paint Amy Winehouse because she’s absolutely beautiful, she’s the real deal, she can sing, and she can write. And I started to do a portrait. I did a painting, and it was a lot of fun but it wasn’t enough, because she’s more than what I could represent. So I had to ask others to help. So I became a “we”. And “we” is much more fun than “I”. So “we” all painted in “homage” to Amy Winehouse, who “we” all love.
So how did you choose who was going to constitute the “we” of “you” ?
TH: I chose those close to me, those who I knew about. Most of them are locals from Montmartre. We have Irvin Chase from Boston, we should have Way Trash (?) from the United States, but her painting’s lost in the mail right now. But basically everybody else here is from Paris and from the area. They’re just people I’ve met over the years, some who Alex knows, like Dominique Fury, and we’re happy to present a couple of artists for their first exhibition, like Cindy Lo who’s around 18 years old. It’s been a lot of fun. We pretty much all know each other in a way. The opening was incredible! We had 300 people throughout the night, wine, good lighting, nice weather, great people. We had live music, anybody could go up and do a song by Amy Winehouse. I did my song “I don’t wanna go to rehab”. People spoke English, French, we had a real good time.
AG: The exhibit is also reminiscent of a clone army of Amy. There’s something not natural about the way she keeps escaping and disappearing, all the time. She’s untouchable, so we had to get all the pieces together. I understood it like this, and when Troy asked me whether it made more sense to have 2 or 4 artists, rooted in the ground of contemporary art, or a dozen of artists, I felt it was better to have a whole family. We also launched the show the day of Rock en Seine, where she was supposed to perform, because it was just obvious she wouldn’t make it. At this point, she has an 80% rate of show cancellations. We had a Pete Doherty exhibit that brought us at least 5000 people, who couldn’t make it to his show. Same thing is happening with this exhibit.
Is this your way of showing all the different sides of a complex human being ?
TH: Yes. I don’t know if she’s that complex, but it’s also a way of creating an icon. And it’s fun to pick someone who is alive, present, and contemporary, instead of, let’s see… Marilyn Monroe. What’s fun about this is Amy is alive right now, and she’s got great music. And it’s also a way of saying we’re not in an art ghetto. We can join connect with mainstream pop culture while making art, and be a part of that rather than something disassociated with life.
AG: There’s also something special about Troy. I guess it’s harder for him to speak about himself, but he’s kind of a figure here in Montmartre. He’s showing another side of himself as well, being the curator. And he’s been in the « new » Montmartre since the beginning, the Dali muséum is rather recent, many galléries have closed, all the artist lofts, the frame workshops are gone. What’s left is rather rough, urban, street oriented, and that works well with Troy. We’re also a graffiti gallery, and Troy managed to mix the street vibe, the contemporary art vibe and pop in general.
Troy, what are your plans after this curatorial debut ?
To work on the next one! It’s about “we” !
Troy Henriksen : I don’t know about this title. I mean I’m not really into titles, I don’t know what we call each and one another. I know I’m a person with an idea, does that make me a curator? This is how it goes: I had an idea one day and I wanted to paint Amy Winehouse because she’s absolutely beautiful, she’s the real deal, she can sing, and she can write. And I started to do a portrait. I did a painting, and it was a lot of fun but it wasn’t enough, because she’s more than what I could represent. So I had to ask others to help. So I became a “we”. And “we” is much more fun than “I”. So “we” all painted in “homage” to Amy Winehouse, who “we” all love.
So how did you choose who was going to constitute the “we” of “you” ?
TH: I chose those close to me, those who I knew about. Most of them are locals from Montmartre. We have Irvin Chase from Boston, we should have Way Trash (?) from the United States, but her painting’s lost in the mail right now. But basically everybody else here is from Paris and from the area. They’re just people I’ve met over the years, some who Alex knows, like Dominique Fury, and we’re happy to present a couple of artists for their first exhibition, like Cindy Lo who’s around 18 years old. It’s been a lot of fun. We pretty much all know each other in a way. The opening was incredible! We had 300 people throughout the night, wine, good lighting, nice weather, great people. We had live music, anybody could go up and do a song by Amy Winehouse. I did my song “I don’t wanna go to rehab”. People spoke English, French, we had a real good time.
AG: The exhibit is also reminiscent of a clone army of Amy. There’s something not natural about the way she keeps escaping and disappearing, all the time. She’s untouchable, so we had to get all the pieces together. I understood it like this, and when Troy asked me whether it made more sense to have 2 or 4 artists, rooted in the ground of contemporary art, or a dozen of artists, I felt it was better to have a whole family. We also launched the show the day of Rock en Seine, where she was supposed to perform, because it was just obvious she wouldn’t make it. At this point, she has an 80% rate of show cancellations. We had a Pete Doherty exhibit that brought us at least 5000 people, who couldn’t make it to his show. Same thing is happening with this exhibit.
Is this your way of showing all the different sides of a complex human being ?
TH: Yes. I don’t know if she’s that complex, but it’s also a way of creating an icon. And it’s fun to pick someone who is alive, present, and contemporary, instead of, let’s see… Marilyn Monroe. What’s fun about this is Amy is alive right now, and she’s got great music. And it’s also a way of saying we’re not in an art ghetto. We can join connect with mainstream pop culture while making art, and be a part of that rather than something disassociated with life.
AG: There’s also something special about Troy. I guess it’s harder for him to speak about himself, but he’s kind of a figure here in Montmartre. He’s showing another side of himself as well, being the curator. And he’s been in the « new » Montmartre since the beginning, the Dali muséum is rather recent, many galléries have closed, all the artist lofts, the frame workshops are gone. What’s left is rather rough, urban, street oriented, and that works well with Troy. We’re also a graffiti gallery, and Troy managed to mix the street vibe, the contemporary art vibe and pop in general.
Troy, what are your plans after this curatorial debut ?
To work on the next one! It’s about “we” !
[Troy Henriksen re-interpreted Amy Winehouse's song Rehab during the opening]
[Photo : Delphine Perlstein]
September 5, 2008