Le Gun and The Black Squid, La Catastrophe Exhibition 4 November 2011

Le Gun and The Black Squid, La Catastrophe

Hello the internet
LE GUN are doing a show in paris it starts
next friday and is on till 23 rd december
if in paris please come by. below is
lots of words to explain whats the shows
about
bye for now
xx



SUZANNE TARASIEVE PARIS / LOFT19


 
SUZANNE TARASIEVE PARIS / LOFT19
Passage de lʼAtlas – 5, Villa Marcel Lods 75019

Le Gun and The Black Squid, La Catastrophe
Exhibition 4 November 2011 – 23 December 2011

Tuesday to Saturday, 11am–7pm and by appointment
Opening Friday 4 November, 6–9pm

Le Gun and The Black Squid, La Catastrophe

Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve has the pleasure to announce the exhibition of LE GUN.
Le Gun are the artists Neal Fox, Robert Rubbish, Stephanie Von Reiswitz, Chris Bianchi.LE GUN was founded in 2003 by a group of MA graduates from the Communication Art and
Design course at the Royal College of Art, London. Also, LE GUN is an independent narrative
illustration publication and provides a common ground for both emerging and established artists,
illustrators, writers and poets.

The Black Squid (Le Calmar Noir) were a group of surrealist artists based in Paris who broke off from
the core group of the surrealists in 1924 in disagreement with André Breton's manifesto and their
continued use of colour. François Lardon, Thomas Le Turk, Olga Tiktokova, Diego Mangina, and
Éduard Lezard were talented artists but little known outside their small bohemian circle and have since
faded into the margins of art history.

The group believed that dreams were always in black and white, and that the exclusive use of black
and white in art would make the everyday into a dreamscape. They claimed they had simultaneously
dreamed of a giant black squid who imparted their manifesto. Apart from exploring the squid as a
dream symbol for latent sexual desires, they revered black ink as a liquid of creation.

Not long after the split, on September 25th 1925, the five artists held a black and white banquet, the
exact motivations behind which remain unclear. They consumed a sumptuous meal and varied drinks,
and strange sounds were reported to have emanated from the room. All five artists left the banquet
intact and went their separate ways, but catastrophically all five found their demise in various ways the
very same night.

The debris of the mysterious final dinner was documented in minute detail. No poison was found, or
evidence of a suicide pact, and hypothesizing about what actually happened that night was for a while
a popular pastime in fashionable salons. Soon however the whole event faded into oblivion.

The original document detailing the exact layout of the room & the objects within it still exists.

As a group of artists working in black and white, LE GUN feel a strong connection to the Black Squid
group and were particularly intrigued by this age old mystery. As well as reproducing large scale
portraits of the Black Squid's elusive members, based on the group's original 'exquisite corpse'
drawings, LE GUN has attempted to recreate the final supper before the catastrophe, which will be
shown alongside the Black Squid's last known surviving painting.

Besides having collective exhibitions, performances and the self-titled Magazine, Le Gun have
produced large-scale communally executed drawings in London, opened a curiosity shop, cooperated
with Paul Smith for a clothing line, produced a music clip for Pete Doherty's Babyshambles and
recently did an impromptu window display/exhibition, talk,etc at Arrtco Collection in Beijing, China.t