Julien Prévieux

Julien Prévieux’s work reconsiders the movements and gestures of contemporary everyday life. Prévieux critically addresses politics, economics, technology, and the culture of the workplace by incorporating and reinterpreting the physical behaviors or language specific to each—often with an exacting sense of wit and humor. This exhibition brings together two videos, What Shall We Do Next? (Sequence #2) (2014) and Patterns of Life (2015), that uniquely examine the use of movement in the history of technology and innovation.

For both works, Prévieux engaged professional dancers and choreographers to create distinct narratives. In What Shall We Do Next? (Sequence #2), six monochromatically costumed dancers articulate the evolving gestural language we use to interact with machines and technological devices. In Patterns of Life, Prévieux composes an abbreviated history of movement as a tool for advancing technology and capitalism. These dynamic compositions highlight how innovations are derived from casual, seemingly natural, often overlooked actions: a swipe, a twirl, a wave, a walk, or a pinch.

Julien Prévieux (b. 1974) lives and works in Paris. His work has been exhibited in France (Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, FRAC Basse-Normandie, 2012; Galerie Jousse Entreprise, Paris; Galerie Edouard Manet, Genneviliers), the Netherlands (Witte de With, Rotterdam), Austria (Kunsthalle Krems), Taiwan (Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts), Los Angeles (Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery), and at the 10th Istanbul Biennale, Turkey. He was one of the nominees for the 2014 Prix Marcel Duchamp.