Oli London is a young Englishman fascinated by South Korea, and in particular by Jimin, a singer in the K-pop group BTS, whose international popularity is generating something close to a cult phenomenon. For several years, Oli London has been engaged in a process of transforming his body and identity in order to become one with his Korean idol. This means not only aesthetic surgery on the face but also the determination to become a K-pop star. Today, he is adulated by some and hated by others, who accuse him of appropriation and cultural fetishism.
The film stages the development of his identity via a Korean tale from the 13th century, the legend of a young sculptor who was commanded by the gods to produce a series of masks unseen by any man on pain of death – a prohibition that, fatally, was transgressed. This tale accompanies a tradition of shamanic mask dances which are still performed today in the village of Hahoe.
By embodying two characters form the tale, Oli London metaphorically tells his own story, but also that of the contemporary plasticity of digital identities and idolatry.
Ugo Arsac, Sylvie Beauquentin, Arthur Brouard, Cindy Coutant, Pierre Delplanque, Kelly Depuydt, Inès Dovergne, Alice Goudon, Nicolas Gourault, Camille Honorez, Ah Young Kim, Kyung Wan Kim, So Yeon Leem, Oli London, Roxane Loyot, Mónica Martinez Poras, Yosra Mojtahedi, Manu Park, Mariam Radwan, Emilie Rosati, Ho-Chul Ryu, Olivier Sola, Ewa & Marek Tomaszewski, Victor Zébo
Yan Tomaszewski is a Franco-Polish artist who works at the intersection of sculpture, installation and cinema. His films have been shown at FID Marseille, at DocLisboa at the Rencontres Internationales Paris Berlin. He has had solo exhibitions at the Archaeological Musem in Krakow, the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace in Le Bourget, and the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp. He has taken part in numerous group shows, notably at the Fondation Hippocrène, at the Centre Pompidou and at Manifesta 9. In 2019 he was nominated for the Prix Sciences Po pour l’art contemporain.
CursusExpositions individuelles (selection)
2019 Germs, Musée Archéologique, Cracovie (PL)
2018 Tchouri, Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, Paris-Le Bourget
2016 The Boogeyman, Catapult, Antwerp
2015 Message from Charlotte, Centre for Contemporary Art Kronika, Bytom
2015 The Boogeyman, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp
2014 Szczuka's chest, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
2013 Museum of reproduction, Asymetria Gallery, Warsaw
2012 Embellissements, Primo Piano, Paris
Expositions de groupe (selection)
2019
Artience, Daejeon Culture & Arts Foundation, Daejeon (KR)
Panorama 21 – Les Revenants, Le Fresnoy Studio National des Arts Contemporains, Tourcoing (FR)
2018
Light, non-light, Chapter II, Seoul
Knaf, Municipal Gallery Arsenal, Poznan
Public Pool #5 -- Voisinages, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
imMobilized, Fondation Hippocrène, Paris
2016
Private Choice, Paris
Nowa Moderna, Quai Malaquais, Paris
2015
The second death of George Mallory, Karlin Studios, Prague
Worth remembering! A Tribute to Jerzy Lewczynski, Asymetria Gallery, Warsaw
Nouveau Festival, Centre Pompidou, Paris
2014
- GEN 2:7-18*, Karlin Studios, Prague
2013
L'Atelier des Testeurs, Chalet Society, Paris
Un espace, La Marbrerie, Montreuil
2012
The Deep of the Modern, Manifesta 9, Genk
E, I know it begins with E, North End Studios, Detroit
Mulhouse 012, biennale d'art contemporain, Mulhouse
Tranches de carrés sur tranches de cercles, Saline Royale d'Arc et Senans,
2011
56ème Salon de Montrouge, Montrouge
Pratiques de proximité, Maison des Arts de Malakoff, Malakoff
2010
Projection, La Fabrique des pinceaux, Cluj
Videoholica, Varna
Traverse vidéo, Les Abattoirs, Toulouse
2009
Failure/Success, Tactile Bosch Studios, Cardiff
2008
The Transphotographique's collection, Art Stations Foundation, Poznan
2007
There is no success like failure and failure, Photo Month, Cracow
Projection
2020 The Good Breast and the Bad Breast, MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine (FR)
2019
The Good Breast and the Bad Breast, Doclisboa International Film Festival, compétition, section Green Years, Lisbonne, Portugal (PT) The Good Breast and the Bad Breast, FID Festival international de cinéma, Écrans Parallèles, Marseille (FR)
Performances
2018 Une avant-garde polonaise, Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR)
2015
Nouveau Festival, Centre Pompidou, Paris (PL)
Scripture, Centre for Contemporary Art Kronika, Bytom
2014 Szczuka’s chest, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz (PL)
Formation
2018-2020 Le Fresnoy - Studio national des arts contemporains, Tourcoing
2008-2011 Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
2005-2011 Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon
2007 Royal College of Art, London
Prix et bourses
2019 nominé au prix Sciences Po pour l’Art Contemporain
2018 nominé au prix KNAF, Leszek Knaflewski Award for Young Artists
2016 Lauréat du programme Hors les Murs de l'Institut Français -- catégorie arts visuels
2014 bourse du Fond Visegrad
Residencies
2019 DAEJEON (KR) : 2 mois, Daejeon Culture & Arts Foundation
2016
los angeles : 3 mois, programme Hors les Murs, Institut Français
2015
cracovie: 1 mois, programme Place called space, Imago Mundi Foundation
anvers: 4 mois, programme De Sokkel, Air Antwerpen et Middelheim Museum
2014
prague: 3 mois, programme de résidences du Fond Visegrad, Centre for Contemporary Art Futura
Workshops (selection)
2018
C'est mon patrimoine, MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine 2016
Les Portes du temps, MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine
Le vif renard brun saute par-dessus le chien paresseux, dans le cadre de l'exposition Les Incessants, Villa du Parc, Annemasse
L'atelier du faussaire, Les fabriques d'Art Contemporain, MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine
2012 Manifesta 9 Coffee Break, Genk
Press (selection)
Production : Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains
