Art Metropole

01 Jan. 2014

Anne-Lise Coste You are not alone

Poster edition for Art Basel 2014

Silk Screen print.
22 in x 14 in (56 × 35cm).
Art Metropole, Toronto, Canada, 2014.
Edition of 45 signed and numbered prints + 5 AP.

$125

“Words, slogans, quotations and statements play a crucial role in the work of Anne-Lise Coste (Marseille, 1973). Working mostly with airbrush on paper and canvas, Coste combines poetry with protest and comments on political as well as personal issues with a rebellious honesty.

The You are not alone poster is a reproduction of Coste’s original painting You are not alone (2013, airbrush and gesso on canvas), the title of which derives from a religious flyer that advertises spiritual comfort. This idea of not being alone strongly appeals to Coste. However, instead of turning to God, she turns to Art. The seemingly casual manner in which the phrase is rendered, reminiscent of street graffiti, contradicts the religious and existential message evoked by the words. Coste decontextualizes this marking that one might encounter fleetingly on flyers or on urban surfaces and gives it permanence by materializing it on canvas. Whereas one might not pay much attention to the message in a different context, in Coste’s work the viewer’s attention is captured by the form of direct address, coupled with strong visual language: You are not alone. “

— Ksenia M. Soboleva

Anne-Lise Coste lives and works in New York.

www.annelisecoste.com

Image

Documentation photograph of original painting by Anne-Lise Coste.

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