COQUILLAGE
COLLECTIF D’ART ET DE CUISINE
Dinner Party Series, 2021 - ongoing
What does real social practice look like? After a master’s dissertation on food, art and social practice, these dinners came about with the desire to create experiences in the vein of the FLUXUS artists, in particular like that of Alison Knowles (Make a Salad, 1962) and the duo Cooking Sections (Climavore, 2021) They also came into fruition from a desire to curate and organize but having neither the resources nor connections to penetrate the dense and closed Paris art world of which I was new to in 2020.
ALIMENTARI, 2024
The flyer inspired after an Italian deli bag from Lucca, Tuscany, this “Alimentari” dinner was a collaboration with ceramicist and painter Dellas. Dellas and Coquillage chose each dish carefully to match with the five course meal. The flyer image was from a 70s French cooking magazine. The furniture, wine glasses, and silverware were all sourced from LeBonCoin (the French equivalent of Craigslist). Inspired by Gordan Matta Clark’s restaurant FOOD, which blurred the line between food and art, this dinner was almost an endurance performance in organizing with little resources and an empty store front, carte blanche.
DEGUSTATION DE VIN, 2021
Exactly what it sounds like. This was a gathering with wine by Sans etiquette and small plates by Coquillage.
LA MONTAGNE, 2021
A late winter meal inspired by Alpine cuisine. A Swiss cow bell rang in dinner. Three fondue pots, Chartreuse ice cream and cocktail, with a poetry reading by Suzanne Pergal.
DINER DU SOLSTICE, 2021
The first dinner by Coquillage in which we celebrated the winter solstice with an intimate dinner with friends.
MIND BODY, 2019
Curator with Nikki Roach
Self-Care and the Physical and Mental Health Needs Not Adequately Addressed by the Biomedical Industry. An exhibition on self-care as social practice.
WORK AESTHETIC
Guest Curator for the Wire-Car Auto Workers Association Detroit installation
September 15 - October 13, 2018
An exhibition featuring Matt Corbin, Melanie Manos, David Rubello, the Wire-car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (with Chido Johnson), and Elizabeth Youngblood.
Curated by the Essay'd projects and friends.
Opening Reception Saturday, September 15, 2-4pm
Artist Talk & Wire-car Display Saturday, October 13, 2-4pm
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Postcard image: David Rubello, Color Cubes, 1973
CHIMERA
Curator with Nikki Roach
Bana Kabalan
Chimera, Winter 2018
Curated by Nikki Roach and Olivia Gilmore
”My work intertwines elements of mythology from my Arabic heritage, and biological anatomy from my research practice. In genetics, chimeras are organisms that contain multiple sets of DNA from the fusion of fertilized eggs, or zygotes. In Eastern mythology, chimeras are creatures constructed from a mosaic of different anatomical forms.
In my work, I create powerful female beasts to reflect the way much of the mythology from my heritage has been centered on fear of the hidden, the unknown, the obscured. Hybrid creatures are found in Arabic culture, and are exhibited in my work through the story of Um Duwais.
Um Duwais, a female jinn, is a divine woman with donkey legs who is veiled in the shadows with her dark, long hair. She lures men into her cave with her beauty, by possessing those who have done wrong to others, and murders them. I’m interested in nuances of the occult and ways of signifying power through this archetype.
Materials in my work juxtapose mosaics typical of traditional Arabic art and taxidermied animals. My intent is to honor the lives of naturally deceased animals, while drawing attention to the materials our culture discards. The hybridization of organic and inorganic merges horizons into the chimera.”
FOAM SECURITY
A commissioned installation for the May 2014 Something Different party at Rox Gallery in New York's LES.
Foam walls and security cameras transformed the gallery basement. Visitors were invited to rest and find solace from the party outside.
THE PRESENT TENSE OF SPACE
Curator with Robert Hickerson
Friday July 28th, 2014
A video projection exhibition.