According to the artist, “art is the result of a collective process.” Artists are not the only ones involved; critics, curators, dealers, and collectors also take part in the creation of values and different meanings (aesthetic, political…).

Since the late 1970s, Lawler has been working on the mechanisms of the presentation and commercialization of art. Her photographs or installations refer to the institutional framework and draw attention to the context that can completely change the status of the work: hanging, framing, lighting, and especially the architectural space of certain museums, which is increasingly overwhelming.

The artist may also suggest another reading of the work by adding texts (on the mat board, on the walls) that allow the viewer to form new semantic associations. The names of curators, art advisors, collectors, institutions, and patrons may be associated, showing that sometimes the role of the artwork becomes secondary compared to the exhibition context.

Louise Lawler asks: what are the criteria for evaluating art? She reveals to what extent the work of art appears as a significant exchange (an element of a collection, created by the curator, the collectors, or as an object of speculation…).

By photographing, Lawler questions the way of looking at the work, and its quality relies on a subtle, discreet gaze, sometimes close to documentary work.

Her work has been developing for more than 20 years, and her brilliance lies in having revealed very early to the public this society of the art world, which presents itself as a grand spectacle with its interchangeable celebrities, following the laws of speculation.

This is Louise Lawler’s 3rd solo exhibition at Galerie Meert Rihoux.