MAMCO x JRP|Editions

Since its opening in 1994, the MAMCO Geneva (Musée d’art moderne et contemporain), has developed a unique form of museography. Mainly working with art from the 1960s onward, MAMCO bases its action on several principles: a conception of the museum as a “global exhibition” which brings together, in the continuity of a visit, temporary exhibitions and renewed presentations of its permanent collections; a variation in the types of spaces and displays, so as to evoke the history of  the museum as a “collection of artists’ spaces” (ECART Group, Sarkis, Claude Rutault, and a Cabinet of Concrete poetry) and finally, regular displays of the Genevan and Swiss scenes.

Devoted to the art of our era, it places art and artists at its heart and is addressed to all publics. Established in a disused factory purchased by the City of Geneva, MAMCO is the largest museum devoted to contemporary art in Switzerland.

The industrial building in which it is situated also contains the Centre d’Art Contemporain, as well as other spaces that develop their own exhibition programs. MAMCO handles a collection of over 3,500 works, and develops, thanks to its scholarly activities, a specialized center of documentation and archives which is accessible on appointment, as well as various educational practices (aimed at both adults and children).

Greg Parma Smith is known for his precise painterly realism, which incorporates elements of academic figuration, representational painting, neo-pop, and appropriation art.

“Landscape Growth Panel” is an image of the life process through very simple iconography: the radiant sun and a growing flower. There isn’t a traditional horizon line to situate the “landscape”. Instead I think of it as a collapsed and schematic space where the sky, the ground and the material of the image itself all fuse together in another space. The bas-relief effect is a non-digital imitation of digital rendering tools, whose geometric illusionism in turn derives from decorative techniques that are thousands of years old.

While the sun and the flower are incredibly basic images, I hope the artwork evokes human reverence for our Earth’s generosity.

In this new production, Sylvie Fleury substitutes denim for painter’s canvas and uses a motif that reminds the incessant recycling of fashion, where a 1970s accessory is revived as an object of desire after decades of eclipse. Halfway between the world of clothing and the memory of Pop Art, this new edition is also a wink in the shape of feminist customization.

In his work, John M. Armleder uses references that recall art history as well as popular culture. For years, he has recycled decorative elements evoking the Christmas celebration and organized an “X-mas Party” within the framework of his record label, founded with his son and Sylvie Fleury, Villa Magica Records.

On the occasion of the 2017 and 2018 “X-mas Party,” JRP|Editions realized with MAMCO a Christmas edition per year : “No Stain, No Gain” in 2018 and “Magicalf” in 2017.