Prosper Legault: La vi(ll)e est belle
17th December 2023 – 14th Janaury 2024
Ruttkowski;68
8 Rue Charlot
75003 Paris
France
Prosper Legault presents his first solo exhibition La vi(ll)e est belle with Ruttkowski;68 in Paris. Since one cannot escape from the world, then one must love it. Prosper Legault has made this his philosophy. He skilfully blends reference points of artistic avant-gardes with accidental poetry found in late-night grocery stores.
He effortlessly traverses time zones without changing neighbourhoods, speaks all the languages of the world by dissecting restaurant menus, transitioning from Robert de Niro to Robert Rauschenberg as if smoothly changing topics mid-conversation.
Prosper Legault: La vi(ll)e est belle – exhibition view PHOTO CREDITS: COURTESY OF RUTTKOWSKI;68 AND THE ARTIST
The artist’s street rhymes are paintings without pigment; they are ‘assisted sculptures’—a nod to certain ready-made concepts. Each work in the exhibition opens a door to nested, independent yet interconnected stories, reflecting the common threads of daily life. They all possess a fortuitous beauty akin to what delighted Lautréamont—a poet more of ink and paper than scrap materials.
Prosper Legault, Avant-garde, 2023wood, fabric, pvc, metal, neon lights, paint, stickers
220 x 260 x 18 cm, 86 5/8 x 102 3/8 x 7 1/8 in unique PL/S 26
PHOTO CREDITS: COURTESY OF RUTTKOWSKI;68 AND THE ARTIST
He authored the famous expression, often twisted, perfectly fitting this context: ‘Beautiful as the chance encounter, on a dissecting table, between a sewing machine and an umbrella.’ Truthfully, the artist could have been a companion to most 20th-century avant-garde movements if not for their shared commitment—to reconnect art with reality, pulling it out from museums back into the city, the crowds, to everyone.
Prosper Legault: La vi(ll)e est belle opens on the 17th of December 2023 until the 14th of Janaury 2024 at Ruttkowski;68 Paris
©2023 Prosper Legault, Ruttkowski;68, Ingrid Luquet-Gad
