SPRING SALON

Caroline Achaintre  Gerasimos Floratos  Lucia Pizzani  Christine Roland  Guadaloup Vilar  Tom Volkaert  

AURORA

Paola Petrobelli  Richard Woods  

Work from Home

Rebecca Ackroyd  Heidi Bucher  Emily Moore  Kaari Upson  

Behind Closed Doors

Richard Woods  

Open and Enclosed

Barnaby Hosking  

Eva Fabregas

Eva Fabregas  

FUNKA

Brice Guilbert  Takuro Kuwata  

Dog Smile

Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili  

Il silenzio non m'inganna

Alessandro Piangiamore  

Fantasia

Caroline Achaintre  Christine Roland  Jonathan Trayte  

Ah Sun-flower ! Weary of Time

Jean-Marie Appriou  

Flora and Fauna

Angelique de Folin  Harumi Klossowska de Rola  

Lydia Gifford

Lydia Gifford  

Hypnagogia

Maria Thurn und Taxis  

Le Ravissement des Couleurs

Pierre Lesieur  

Visual Vertigo

Anton Alvarez  

Havana

Leandro Feal  

Laesae Majestatis

Egle Jauncems  

The Weather in Russia is Fine

Kjetil Berge  

Tropicana

Anton Alvarez  Jonathan Trayte  

Of Things Long Forgotten

Radhika Khimji  Anne Roger-Lacan  

The Beast Within

Maria Thurn und Taxis  

Nomansland

Antony Easton  

Seven Days of Luck

Michel Pérez Pollo  

Eclectic Dreamers

Ching-yuk Jade Ng  Madeleine Roger-Lacan  Faye Wei Wei  

Transition

Angelique de Folin  

Kookoo

James Franco  

9 Times the Modern Man and Moon

Alasdair McLuckie  

Spring Awakenings - Frühlingserwachen

Dean Adams  

Strange I've Seen That Face Before.....

Caroline Achaintre  Anne Roger-Lacan  

Fat Squirrel

James Franco  

In Praise of Shadows

Barnaby Hosking  

Wrapper's Delight

Anton Alvarez  

Weight and Measure

Martin Creed  Jose Dávila  Richard Long  Pedro Cabrita Reis  Fredrik Vaerslev  

The Cosmic Artisan

Elena Bajo  Dieter Hammer  Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh  Gregory Polony  Artie Vierkant  

Spazio Luce

Alberto Di Fabio  

Magnificent Obsession

Matthias Brunner  

Abstract Thoughts

James White  

Kookoo

James Franco

5 February - 26 February 2016, Saanen, Switzerland
Chalet Mittelgaessli, Saanen b. Gstaad, Switzerland

Siegfried Contemporary is pleased to announce its first exhibition in Switzerland featuring new paintings by the American artist and actor James Franco.

The exhibition entitled “KooKoo” is comprised of 13 new paintings of birds. As Franco points out, "Birds are mystical creatures that inhabit our world and just as easily fly away. They're like fairies on the periphery of civilized life." Here birds of all sorts and sizes cover the exhibition space, from floor to ceiling, creating a kind of ‘cuckoo’ (mad) atmosphere. This new body of work is a continuation of the ‘Fat animal’ and bird paintings that were shown at Siegfried Contemporary in London in November 2014.

“KooKoo” is inspired by its charming setting: a small chalet in the mountains that bears a strong resemblance to a cuckoo clock. As intended, the bird paintings complement the quaint architecture of Swiss chalets. The title of the exhibition can also be seen as a comment on Franco's multi-faceted film personas as well as his own real life character which is often provocative and deranged while at the same time enchanting and witty.

Franco’s paintings have a naive quality, stressing the importance of childhood and coming of age as a formative period in our lives. His paintings are humorous, they are his way of responding to the everyday life experiences he encounters as an acclaimed actor.

JAMES FRANCO has participated in the arts since he was very young. He dedicated himself to figure drawing classes as a teenager and pursued painting as well. While his acting career took off, he continued to study and participate in the art world. During this time, James’ paintings were shown at LACY GALLERY and GLU GALLERY in Los Angeles. He combined his acting experience and his love of art in Carter’s Erased James Franco, which was shown internationally, but most notably at the TATE MODERN in London and MoMA in New York.

James’ show Dangerous Book Four Boys appeared in solo exhibitions at THE CLOCKTOWER GALLERY in New York City and PERES PROJECTS GALLERY in Berlin. In 2011, James and Gus Van Sant came together to do a show entitled Unfinished at the GAGOSIAN GALLERY in Los Angeles. The show was focused around and inspired by River Phoenix and Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho. In the Summer of 2011, James opened two separate shows in New York at MoMA PS1 and THE ASIAN SONG SOCIETY. In September 2011, James was offered the great honor of having exhibition space at THE VENICE BIENNALE for his project, Rebel. James participated in PERFORMA 2011 collaborating on the piece Three Performances in Search of Tennessee with Laurel Nakadate. In February 2012, James also showed Memories of Idaho at LINCOLN CENTER.

In February 2013, James had a solo show, titled Gay Town, at PERES PROJECTS GALLERY in Berlin. His next solo show, Psycho Nacirema, curated by Douglas Gordon, opened at PACE GALLERY in London on June 5th, 2013. He exhibited his series of photographs, New Film Stills, at PACE GALLERY in New York in Spring 2014 and at GALERIE CINEMA as a part of Paris’ Mois de la Photo 2014. Additionally, he had a show a SIEGFRIED CONTEMPORARY in London in Fall 2014. In 2015, James participated in a group show titled Cerebral Vortex at MAMA Gallery in Los Angeles as well as two shows, A California Childhood and Bromance, with his brother Tom Franco.

James holds an MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts in DIRECTING at NEW YORK UNIVERSITY. He received his MFA in DIGTIAL MEDIA from the RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN in the Spring of 2012.

Franco is internationally well known as an actor and played in countless films, such as: 127 hours, “Spiderman 1,2 and 3”, “Milk”, “Pineapple Express” to name a few.

project/011/franco01.jpg

James Franco


INSTALLATION

project/011/franco02.jpg

James Franco


INSTALLATION

project/011/franco03.jpg

James Franco

Bird #13
2015
acrylic on canvas
76.2 x 101.6 cm
(30 x 40 in)

project/011/franco04.jpg

James Franco


project/011/jamesfranco05.jpg

James Franco


2015
acrylic on canvas

project/011/jamesfranco06.jpg

James Franco


Installation View

project/011/kookoo06.jpg


9 Times the Modern Man and Moon

Alasdair McLuckie