CHARLIE LE MINDU CHARLIEWOOD
Creation
MARCH 17 – APRIL 9, 2016
“I don’t consider myself an artist. Philippe Decouflé came up with a word I like: ‘coiffuriste’.” Charlie Le Mindu
One year after the exhibition Le Bord des Mondes, designer and “coiffuriste” Charlie Le Mindu (b. 1986, lives in Paris) returns to the Palais de Tokyo with Charliewood, an unusual creation featuring his whimsical imagination.
In 2015, in keeping with its commitment to “surveying the gap” between the territories of artistic expression and seeking creation outside the art world, the Palais de Tokyo invited Charlie Le Mindu to present several of his “hair sculptures”, as the creator put it, as part of the exhibition Le Bord des Mondes.
The creator is back today with Charliewood, a new kind of revue at the con ns of fashion, live performance and installation.
Charlie Le Mindu’s multi-disciplinary creation combines music, dance, video and performance to explore the vertiginous metamorphosis of the human body. Evolving within elements inspired by the world of cabaret, the show extends beyond the stage.
An irreverent creator, Charlie Le Mindu creates strange “hair sculptures” with body proportions. His productions, which combine hairpieces, costumes, make-up, body paint, sculptures and sets, are inspired by subjects as diverse as ancient mythology, fantastic bestiaries, medieval headdresses and the mysteries of the deep sea. From a ceremonial element, the hairstyle becomes a re-creation of the self, revealing the possibilities of transformation and extension of the human body.
“Using his favorite themes – the body, ambiguity – Charlie Le Mindu distills transgression into the codes and constraints of the stylistic exercise that is the magazine, the better to disobey them. The fragmented, hybrid body deconstructs itself to become nothing more than mouth, nose, ear, moustache; hair becomes skin.” Vittoria Matarrese, co-curator.
“In an explosive eclecticism, Charlie Le Mindu mixes references to Dolly Parton and punk. Charliewood is named after Dollywood, the amusement park created by the singer in Tennessee, while A Male Gaze , his previous show, referred to the concept theorized by critic Laura Mulvey, for whom visual culture is part of the dominant patriarchal system.” Julien Fronsacq, co-curator
Fashion designer, wig-maker, artist or “coiffuriste” – according to the term coined for him by choreographer Philippe Decouflé – Charlie Le Mindu has made a name for himself by combining the disciplines of hairdressing, couture and sculpture. In 2009, he launched his first collection of wigs and revived “Haute Coiffure” – a rare complement to Haute Couture, conceptualized in 1945 – to present it on the catwalk, as part of seasonal fashion shows, or at concerts in the form of exuberant costumes.
Charlie Le Mindu, who considers hair to be an ornament comparable to clothing, cut his teeth in places such as Berlin’s famous Berghain club.
He has collaborated with designers from all walks of life, in the fields of music, with personalities such as pop icon Lady Gaga and singer Peaches, art and live performance.
His creations have been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (“Power of Making” , 2011) and presented at the Fondation Cartier, Paris (“Moebius- Transe-Forme” , 2011 ; “Les Soirées Nomades” , 2015). He has collaborated on several occasions with choreographer Philippe Decou é, and was the principal guest at Robert Wilson’s performative charity evening at the Watermill Center (New York) in 2011.
Collaborators:
Winter garden: Arum titan collaboration Stéphane Margolis 1st assistant costumes: Charlotte Abale Gnahore Costume team: Roberto Martinez, Petronille Salomé, Lou Delville
1st assistant hair: Lucile Piccolini
Music: Orion Bouvier
Video: Olivier Simola
Set design: Aurélia Michelin
THE CHARLIEWOOD PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY
Charliewood brings together a new eponymous show by Charlie Le Mindu, as well as his previous shows Paris Hait Gris (2014/2015) and A Male Gaze (2015/2016).
Performance dates :
Thursday, March 17, Friday, March 18, Saturday, March 19, Friday, March 25, Saturday, March 26, Thursday, March 31, 2016, two-part evening:
– 8:30pm, Part 1: Paris Hait Gris (2014/2015), and
A Male Gaze (2015/2016)
– 21h45, Part 2: Charliewood (2016)
PRACTICAL INFORMATION AND RATES: www.palaisdetokyo.com
On Friday April 8 and Saturday April 9, 2016, during the Do Disturb festival, one-off performances of Charliewood (2016).
To coincide with the show, an ephemeral bar will be open in Charliewood on performance nights, offering cocktails directly inspired by Charlie Le Mindu’s creations. The bar is proposed and managed by Yoyo.
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