Matthieu Saladin: Distress & dividends

Matthieu Saladin extends this way of playing with the institutional context of art to all of the parameters of the exhibition, infiltrating its tiniest nooks and crannies—including the gallery’s opening times (Flash Crash) and the prices of the works on sale (Les dépenses). He even moves his work out into public space: in response to Regard troublé, the performance Un·e passant·e [A Passer-by] is carried out every day by a male or female actor who walks in front of the gallery windows in tears. Saladin also transforms the public space that forms the backdrop to the show by strategically positioning Débat, a screen showing the televised discussion between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen in the runup to the 2022 presidential elections, in the gallery windows: a way of reminding us that public space is a “political domain”. The entire exhibition functions using these attention-grabbing games made up of echoes between and beyond the artworks on show. Most significantly, he also concentrates on the history and consequences of economic crises which he scrupulously observes, appropriating data, values and statistics.

Émeline Jaret – 07.2023 / extract