Sylvie Fleury

One of today’s most recognisable ‘art-brands’, Sylvie Fleury’s work fluently bridges art, fashion, and design. Spanning across a wide range of media – from painting, to sculpture, assemblage, photography and silk screen prints – to showcase some of her most renowned pieces, Fleury’s work flirts shamelessly with subversion, implicating macho-conquest and pop production as a distinctly female domain. Fleury’s subjects blur the everyday and the fantastical – from couture shopping, muscle cars, to nature’s psychotropic bounties – elevating kitsch to opulently luxurious spectacle (and vice versa).

Running throughout the exhibition are three of Fleury’s favourite subjects: gorgeous shoes, fast cars, and 1960s style-icon painting. A series of photographic stills from Fleury’s 2005 video Strange Fire pictures a pair of star-spangly stilettos reducing a sea of glass Christmas tree ornaments to precious-pretty rubble; the carnage of when beauty meets attitude is redoubled in her black marble Chanel Yeti Boots – accompanied by a requisite bronze cast Balenciaga handbag – the epitome of classicism v. well-heeled barbarity. Ash Plumes to the Iron Soul stages a pair of wellies perched atop a smoke filled crate flanked by fronds of feathers in primary hues, elevating statuesque portraiture, with all its parlour room repose, to new smouldering innuendo levels.

Taking their cues from the worlds of fashion and advertising, her abstract and text-based canvases are as much about the exclusive macho codes of painting as the fixating allure of surface.

Her lush Untitled splatter compositions, reminiscent of Pollock’s drizzles, explode in a barrage of Maybelline colours: set against black backgrounds, bursts of concealer beige and eye shadow blue decimate the boundaries between seduction and violence; while in other works, Daniel Buren and Lucio Fontana are each given makeovers: their pop abstractions appropriated and hilariously feminised (or more appropriately, vagazzled). With text paintings from her Miniskirts Are Back series – their fashionista manifesto typeset in horror movie script, emblazoned in cosmetic gloss sheen – Warhol-esque screen prints of Sweet and Low packages, and cuddly fake fur minimalist effigies, Fleury restages pop’s frivolous pose; un-ironically, uncannily levelling the symbolic brand values of beauty, the synthetic, and abjection.

Four large canvases from her Flame series – which have become something of Fleury’s personal logo – set hotrod details ablaze in her signature pink. Following on this automotive theme, her steel panel Crash Tests replicate the format of colour field paintings; dented and warped, their candy hued gloss surfaces reframe modernist elegance as an impetus of seduction and collateral damage. Fleury’s man-eater trump, however, isn’t in hot and fast mechanics, but her oversized fairytale mushrooms: wonderfully trippy, weirdly futuristic, and utterly, erotically, scandalous, their holographic sheen belies a deceptive allure of surface, the very source of Fleury’s own-brand aphrodisiac.

Biography

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021
  • Sylvie Fleury: Night in White Satin, Galerie Mezzanin, Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Sylvie Fleury: If you want to ride, don’t ride the white horse, Galerie Lange & Pult, Auvernier, Neuchatel, Switzerland
  • Sylvie Fleury: Performance Promise, Karma International, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
2020
  • Sylvie Fleury: Shame, Mehdi Chouakri, Mommsenstrasse, Berlin, Germany
  • Sylvie Fleury: She-devils on wheels, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Marais), 3e, Paris, France
2019
  • Sylvie Fleury: Early Work, Andrea Caratsch Gallery, St. Moritz, St. Moritz, Switzerland
  • Sylvie Fleury: Joy, Karma International, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Sylvie Fleury: 8, Musée des Beaux-arts, Le Locle, Le Locle, Switzerland
  • Sylvie Fleury: Hypnotic Poison, Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Mayfair, London, UK
2018
  • Sylvie Fleury: Palettes of shadows, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Marais), 3e, Paris, France
  • Sylvie Fleury: LA Bouganvillia, Karma International, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
2017
  • Sylvie Fleury: Eye Shadows, Salon 94 (94th St), Upper East Side, New York, USA
2016
  • Sylvie Fleury: My Life on the Road, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany
  • Sylvie Fleury: Your Dress Is More Beautiful, Karma International, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
2015
  • Sylvie Fleury, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Miami, Florida, USA
2014
  • Sylvie Fleury: Camino Del Sol, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Pantin), Paris, France
  • Sylvie Fleury, Galería Horrach Moya, Catalunya 4, Palma De Mallorca, Spain
2012
  • Sylvie Fleury: Do Not Think of The Color Blue For Thirty Seconds, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Berlin, Germany
2010
  • Sylvie Fleury, Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland
  • Sylvie Fleury: Bronze Sculptures, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (Villa Kast), Salzburg, Austria
  • Sylvie Fleury, Kubus Petuelpark, Munich, Germany
2009
  • Sylvie Fleury, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
2008
  • Sylvie Fleury, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (Villa Kast), Salzburg, Austria
  • Sylvie Fleury, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Marais), 3e, Paris, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
  • Charity Licht Ins Dunkel, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (Villa Kast), Salzburg, Austria
  • Parkett: A Time Capsule, Musée des Beaux-arts, Le Locle, Le Locle, Switzerland
  • Old Masters, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart, Germany
  • Friendship. Nature. Culture, Daimler Contemporary, Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany
  • ‘U’upa a Hina, Dirimart Dolapdere, Istanbul, Turkey
  • Oil: Beauty And Horror In The Petrol Age, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
  • Midnight Fruits, Lily Robert, 4e, Paris, France
  • Swiss Sculpture since 1945, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
  • Zurich Surprise, Galerie Lange & Pult, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Art of Sport, Copenhagen Contemporary (CC), Indre by, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • RESET. Museum. Collection. Future., Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Ich hab im Traum die Schweiz gesehn, Galerie Tanit, Munich, Munich, Germany
2020
  • Group Exhibition, Karma International, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • No Dandy, No Fun, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  • No Dandy, No Fun, VI, VII, Oslo, Norway
  • Seeing Touch, Hauser & Wirth, St. Moritz, St. Moritz, Switzerland
  • All of the Above, 2011 – 2020, KANAL – Centre Pompidou, Brussels, Belgium
  • None of the Above, 2004 – 2020, KANAL – Centre Pompidou, Brussels, Belgium
  • Pictures in Motion. From the Endowment Heinz E. Toggenburger, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Beim Stadthaus, Winterthur, Switzerland
  • Panorama, Galerie Lange & Pult, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Portraits & Some Standing Figures, Galerie Sébastien Bertrand, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Metallica, Centre d’édition contemporaine – Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Sylvie Fleury, Ted Stamm & Vincent Szarek: Definition, McClain Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA
  • The Crowning Show, Galerie Lange & Pult, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Spring, Almine Rech, Shanghai, Huangpu, Shanghai, China
  • Image Power. Institutional Critique Today, Frans Hals Museum, Hal, Haarlem, Netherlands
  • Duna Bianca: A Proposal By Alfredo Aceto, Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • All Of Them Witches, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Material Matters, Mehdi Chouakri, Mommsenstrasse, Berlin, Germany
2019
  • Charity, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (Villa Kast), Salzburg, Austria
  • Inside – Out. Constructions Of The Self, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
  • Still Life: An Ongoing Story, Galerie Sébastien Bertrand, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Swiss Made. Invitation, Chapter I, Ribordy Thetaz, Geneva, Switzerland
  • A Bauhaus Project, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Berlin, Germany
  • Shifts in Time, Over the Influence, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Approaches to Abstraction, Almine Rech, Shanghai, Huangpu, Shanghai, China
  • Techo de cristal, Galería Horrach Moya, Sadrassana, Palma De Mallorca, Spain
  • Kunst Über Kunst, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Berlin, Germany
  • all natural. 100% Collections, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Mönchsberg, Salzburg, Austria
  • ALENTOUR, Fondation CAB Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
  • Another Music In a Different Kitchen: Studio Recordings & Records by Artists, Karma Gallery (172 E 2nd Str), New York, USA
  • Fly me to the Moon. The Moon landing: 50 years on, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Friends, etc. La Collection Pierre Keller, Musée Jenisch, Vevey, Switzerland
2018
  • Double Crème, Galerie Lange & Pult, Auvernier, Neuchatel, Switzerland
  • Permanent Collection, Es Baluard, Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Palma De Mallorca, Spain
  • Swiss Institute Architecture and Design Series: 3rd Edition. Readymades Belong To Everyone, Swiss Institute, New York, USA
  • Swiss Institute Annual Architecture and Design Series: Third Ediction, Readymades Belong to Everyone, Swiss Institute, New York, USA
  • Fashion Drive. Extreme clothing in the Visual Arts, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Light in/as Image, Daimler Contemporary, Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany
  • Sexy & Cool: Minimal goes emotional, Kunsthalle Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany
  • Group Exhibition, Centre d’édition contemporaine – Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Art & Entertainment , MAMCO Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Inside the collection – Approaching thirty years of the Centro Pecci (1988-2018), Centro Pecci, Prato, Italy
  • Giant Size, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Berlin, Germany
2017
  • Light Sculptures, Galerie Lange & Pult, Auvernier, Neuchatel, Switzerland
  • Revolution in red-yellow-blue, Marta Herford, Herford, Germany
  • Installation Art. Walk-in and expansive works from the Museion Collection, Museion, Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bolzano, Italy
  • Sylvie Fleury, Olivier Mosset and Blair Thurman, Galerie Lange & Pult, Auvernier, Neuchatel, Switzerland
  • SUR/FACE: Mirrors, MAKK, Museum of Applied Arts Cologne, Cologne, Germany
  • Swiss Pop, MAMCO Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Blow – up, Il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
  • The Present Order – Part Two, Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig (GfZK), Leipzig, Germany
  • Karin Sander: ZEIGEN. An audio tour through the collection of the GfZK Leipzig, Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig (GfZK), Leipzig, Germany
  • MARCH MADNESS, Fort Gansevoort, New York, New York, USA
  • READYMADE, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich (Maag Areal), Switzerland
  • Modern Sculpture, Galería Casado Santapau, Madrid, Spain
2016
  • In Retrospect: Good & Plenty, Too, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Berlin, Germany
  • In Retrospect: Good & Plenty, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Berlin, Germany
  • GVA ← → JFK, MAMCO Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Shrines to Speed: Art And The Automobile: From The Minimal To The Postmodern, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, Upper East Side, New York, USA
  • Ministère Ta Mère, GDM…, 3e, Paris, France
  • Collectionneurs, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
  • All Over, Galerie des Galeries, Paris, France
  • Frenemies: Art Versus Commodity, University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, California, USA
2015
  • Artists’ Voices, Centre d’édition contemporaine – Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Charity for the Refugees, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (Villa Kast), Salzburg, Austria
  • Setting Things in Motion, Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria
  • Space Age, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Pantin), Paris, France
  • All Killer No Filler, Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, East Hampton, New York, USA
  • GOLD, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, Purchase, New York, USA
  • Let There Be Light … From the Impressionists to Thomas Edison, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
  • Manuel Bonik – Undine Goldberg: 01 No5 Revisited, Laura Mars Gallery, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
  • Undine Goldberg: Modejahre, Laura Mars Gallery, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
  • Of The Few Things We Do, The Only One We Really Do Is To Imagine What We Will Do., Meyer Riegger, Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
2014
  • Pop Sculpture – Pop Culture, Leila Heller Gallery, 57th Street, 57th Street, New York, USA
  • GOLD, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Miami, Florida, USA
  • Plate-Forme, Almine Rech, Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
  • Collection on Display, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland
  • HOME (very) SWEET HOME, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Pantin), Paris, France
  • Group Show #27, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Paddington, Sydney, Australia
  • Group Exhibition: 20/200, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Paddington, Sydney, Australia
  • Sculpture Show, Patricia Low Contemporary, St. Moritz, St. Moritz, Switzerland
2013
  • Island, The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, Colorado, USA
  • Flowers & Mushrooms, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Mönchsberg, Salzburg, Austria
  • Novecento Mai Visto, Daimler Contemporary, Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany
2012
  • Sourced, Steven Vail Fine Arts, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
  • Parque Industrial, Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Collaborations & Interventions, CCA Andratx, Andratx, Spain
  • Gold, Lower Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
  • Group Exhibition, Le Studiolo Galerie de France, Paris, France
  • Group Exhibition, Patricia Low Contemporary, St. Moritz, St. Moritz, Switzerland
2011
  • Switzerland: Unbounding and Crossing Over as Art, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
  • Under the Big Top: A Thematic Group Exhibition, SOFA Gallery, Austin, Texas, USA
  • Zwei Sammler – Thomas Olbricht and Harald Falckenberg, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  • Car Fetish. I drive, therefore I am., Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland
  • On the Metaphor of Growth, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Theatre of the World, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
  • Blink! Light, Sound & The Moving Image, Denver Art Museum, Sun Valley, Denver, Colorado, USA
  • The Missing Peace, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas, USA
  • The Wall, Mehdi Chouakri, Fasanenplatz, Berlin, Germany
2010
  • Popular: Brands, Symbols, Icons, Galerie Thomas / Thomas Modern, Munich, Germany
  • Geometry in the Twentieth Century: The Daimler Collection, Fundación Malba, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Summertime Love, Galerie Michel Rein, Paris, 3e, Paris, France
  • Radical Postures, Galerie les Filles du Calvaire, Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
  • Biennale for International Light Art 2010, Biennale fur International Lichtkunst, Germany
  • Nuit Blanche, Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland
  • Andy Warhol: Cars, with Works by Warhol, Fluery, Longo and Szarek, Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria
2009
  • Donation Thaddaeus Ropac, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Mönchsberg, Salzburg, Austria
  • Sylvie Fleury & Raymond Pettibon: Special commision for Art Basel Miami Beach, World Class Boxing, Miami, Florida, USA
  • We are Sun Kissed and Snow Blind, Galerie Patrick Seguin, Paris, 11e, Paris, France
  • Pop My Cherry, Patricia Low Contemporary, Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Magritte and Light, Almine Rech, Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
2008
  • PARKHAUS, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

Subscribe to Our Newsletter


© PLC Gstaad GmbH. All rights reserved.