This multiple based on a french language pun was created in 1990 at the lithography studio URDLA in Villeurbanne, France

I made quite a few prints at the URDLA studio between 1990 and 1992 and they are all archived in their website under the name of NEDDAM

They are still on sale HERE

The text about Martine Neddam (in french) in the website of URDLA is very accurately written, by Josselyne Naef, an art critic and art collector who owns some of my works from that time.

I came to think of this work again when the Artothèque (Art Loan Library) of La Roche sur Yon (France) who owns this edition of two pieces “D’OEIL/D’YEUX” asked me high resolution pictures for their loan catalogue. I referred them to the URDLA who had sold them the prints, and I’m using here their (low quality) photos, for the time being.
Artothèque de la Roche sur Yon

March 1994, the exhibition “Nr. 36 Passage de Venus, expedition hollandaise pour Réunion” was held in the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, a museum generally known as a natural history museum. The museum is typified by a certain intimacy: to view the exhibits, curtains must be pushed aside and later closed again. The intimacy is reflected in the details of the captions, which capture the spirit of the museum staff who have examined, described, and categorised the exhibits.

The exhibition Nr. 36 Passage de Venus, imitates and exaggerates this love of detail and the intimate character of the museum. The hierarchy, however, is reversed: the material is not sought in the museum’s prize exhibits such as the electrostatic generator and the drawings of the old masters but rather in the very smallest of objects: in the captions and the cards. The museum has been transformed into a décor.

The reader is further perplexed by the texts which are too poetic, too intimate and sometimes too shocking to be ‘real’ museum cards, thereby questioning the objectivity and reliability of the authentic cards. In highlighting the linguistic aspect, a thread is woven through the museum. Where today museum cards strive towards a certain objectivity, entirely obscuring the identity of the author, this exhibition underlines the strictly personal and emotional character of a message.

“Marche sur moi” (Walk on me) is an installation designed for the cupola of the Municipal Museum in Arnhem. The installation is a floor of words and wall-mounted text plates, that enter into a dialogue with each other and with the receiver of the message.

The texts are anything but neutral, verging on the aggressive. In this sense, the floor and wall acquire almost personal characteristics. As spectator, you cannot avoid them, a feature which is reinforced because the texts are laid into the floor: the spectator enters into an almost physical involvement with the words.

Walk over me, step over me, stamp on me, crush me, dirty me, sully me, again, and again and again.
And the walls say: “Me too, me too …”

• Idea & realisation: Martine Neddam
• Exhibition: February 29th to April 12th 1992
• Sponsered and fabricated by: FORBO Krommenie
• Collection: Arnhem Gemeente Museum

The Institut d’Art Contemporain de Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes is presenting my work “Arrache-moi”  at TNP Villeurbanne within the programme “Collection à l’étude” from 2 december to 12 february  2017

Dowload here the press release (in french) : collection-a-letude

This work was acquired in 1991 and is now part of  the permanent collection of Museum Helmond, Netherlands.

A simple piece of orange fabric (hanging softly) with cut out letters in it. The edges are trimmed with a black edge. At first glance, there seems to be something wrong with this banner. A french swear word for idiot, asshole, stupid, that’s the meaning of the word “connard”. Neddam uses the direct language of insult for this work. The viewer is addressed in an abusing and personal tone. Isn’t that confusing for a reader? Who’s abusing who? Am I being abused? Am I personally insulted? Ultimately the meaning of this swear word depends on the reader’s interpretation. In many of her works, Neddam investigates words and plays with their meaning. By using French words outside the French borders, an extra dimension is added to her language game.
Besides the swear words, Neddam has made a series of banners with orders in French.