PILLOW BOOK: Ira Waldron
Vincent Sator is pleased to present the exhibition Pillow Book by artist Ira Waldron at the gallery from December 1st to 23rd, 2017.
The "Pillow Book" project consists of twenty-eight embroidered pillows, each representing a chapter of a book. The artist borrowed the title from the 10th-century memoirs of Sei Shōnagon, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress of Japan, known in English as The Pillow Book. Inspired by this literary work, Peter Greenaway directed an eponymous film. For years, Ira Waldron kept Sei Shōnagon's book by her side—at her bedside or during her travels—without ever actually reading it.
The pillows serve as neutral surfaces, evoking softness and sensuality. As the artist points out, "You cannot sleep on a canvas or a sheet of paper. The pillow cradles our heads at the very moment we leave our bodies to become pure dream. As soon as we lie down, our thoughts begin to race in every direction."
Letters and words are an integral part of the whole. The project's Russian name, "Zapiski iz Podgolovya", blends the title of Sei Shōnagon's work with that of a literary classic by Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground (translated in French as Les carnets du sous-sol). While the pun does not translate directly, it literally means "notes from under the head."
Images and texts are inseparable.
To create this deeply intimate journal, Ira Waldron appropriates iconic, easily recognizable artworks, using them as citations much like she does with Freud, Sartre, or others. These works become semiotic shortcuts to confront opposing viewpoints: machismo in Ceci n'est pas une pipe or the Christian faith in This is my Soup.
Exploring anxiety, attempting to structure and control chaos, and using techniques of appropriation and diversion, "Pillow Book" is a chamber composition with a surrealist spirit, addressing intimacy and psychology with humor and even cynicism.
Born in St. Petersburg, Ira Waldron lives and works in Paris. Her work is regularly exhibited in France (CAC Meymac, Musée de la Poste, Musée de Châteauroux, Galerie Rabouan Moussion, FIAC…) and abroad (Marat Guelman Gallery, Galerie Iragui, National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Moscow, National Centre for Contemporary Arts in St. Petersburg, Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, ERA Foundation, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo, Thessaloniki Biennale, Moscow Biennale, Prague Biennale…). Her artworks are included in public collections such as the Tretyakov Gallery and the National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Moscow, the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki.
In May 2018, the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki (Greece) will present a solo exhibition of Ira Waldron's work, which will feature the "Pillow Book" project.
