THE INSURRECTION

THE INSURRECTION

A HERETICAL WORK OR AN AUNT SALLY*?

By EMMA

The original of this article is in French at

http://www.parisderriere.fr/2015/04/linsurrection-joel-person/

Paris Dernière has been following the adventures of this disturbing work. After making the traditional Catholics of the Manif pour Tous tremble in their shoes, The Insurrection by the Parisian artist Joël Person  was included in the catalogue of the exhibtion  Totally Naked in Turkey, an event which aroused the anger of the far-right MHP party, the third political force in the country. Our article, with many drawings and photos.

This representation of a phallic, headless woman, was exhibited in the first Nuit Blanche of Anne Hidalgo in Paris last October. I had written about it previously. The article  sent a flutter through the Maine et Loire website for the Manif pour Tous. Which entitled Paris Dernière to be proudly included in their press review alongside Le Figaro.

But The Insurrection would appear to be well-named. Here is the latest episode of its adventures.

Last month, in Istanbul, Turkey, the exhibition "Totally Naked" came to an end. The provocative gouache was not exhibited, but was included in the catalogue. In the exhibition one could see magnificent photos by Turkish, French, German, American and Japanese artists, as follow.

                                         Tetsuro Higashi

                            Erden Cantûrk. Untitled II

                                    Philippe Deutsch. Fawnya

                                    Koray Erkaya. Invacuo 02

( a reference to the violent police repression ordered by Erdogan's government against last year's demonstrations)

                                     Uwe Ommer. Lundi I

                                    Arto Pazat. Untitled I

                        Damien Guillaume. Mythes Décisifs II

All  cultural Istanbul was present at the opening

This powerful exhibition aroused the anger of the MHP party (nationalists very close to Islam). Their forces were there in their best suits to try and have it forbidden. On their placards they wrote this very refined slogan "Fuck off with your nakedness". So the police had to protect the place during the whole exhibition.

                        

Well-known in Turkey as a left-winger, supporter of the LGBT cause and journalist, Cüneyt Ayral was the curator of this event. He explains "The nude made its appearance in art at the Renaissance. We come into life naked and we leave it naked. When we look at a nude, in painting, sculpture or photography, is it not the beginning of research into our reality? This exhibition should help us to meet ourselves"

              

            

             

             Cüneyt Ayral at the Père Lachaise, his

                favourite spot in Paris

              Photo : Uwe Ommer

As for The Insurrection, for Cüneyt "it is not a transsexual work. Rather it is the reality which we must face through our nakedness, a reality which we refuse to accept. This work is the trigger of several attempts at understanding reality ; a woman's supposition that power is possessed by the male, a man's interest in breasts which translates his desire for his mother... A wide and colourful spectrum of thoughts in the search for truth."

                                    Joêl Person

These two new versions of The Insurrection, more discreet but no less evocative are being exhibited until April 18th at the Galerie X9 in the Marais. An opportunity to see more of Joël Person's beautiful indecencies.

·      translator's note:  In the French article, the expression "Tëte de Turc" was used. This made a nice pun on the word "Turc" (Turk), which unfortunately is untranslatable. A "Tête de Turc" is the fairground "Aunt Sally".

Translation from French to English : Beverly Barbey