Review: Sonia Gomez at Palais de Tokyo

Sometimes enthusiasm is replaced by disappointment when an exhibition like “Cœur sauvage” by an important artist—in the case of Afro-Brazilian Sonia Gomez—moves from the realm of imagination to reality, specifically within a space as unique and interesting to me as the Palais de Tokyo, whose program I have followed since its inception.  And I mention this because right here lies the core of my critique. It is true that in recent years in Paris—starting with La Internationale and the galleries in Belleville—raw (brut) and alternative spaces have increasingly been utilized to showcase and exhibit contemporary art as they multiply in number, yet at the same time, this is the great trap. For while sculptures or paintings whose form, materiality, and scale permit it may generate interesting dialogues and certainly a meta-narrative, works such as those in Sonia Gomez’s small solo exhibition—whose materials (fabrics, ropes, and recycled elements that, through reuse, compose a new personal sculptural language bringing back themes of heritage and memory)—also possess a fragility that clashes with the brick walls of the Palais de Tokyo and the surrounding architectural space. They thus create a negative, disruptive contrast that confuses the general viewer, while leading the specialist into a mental deconstruction and reconstruction just to be able to experience the exhibition.-Efi Michalarou