10 - Kopeikin Gallery and DeSoto Gallery, DENIS DARZACQ

Kopeikin Gallery and De Soto Gallery present

D e n i s D a r z a c q : H y p e r

June 10th - August 21st

Kopeikin Gallery teams up with De Soto Gallery to present Hyper, an exhibition of photographs by French photographer Denis Darzacq. The exhibition will include images from his new series - "Hyper" - as well as selections from the preceding series, "La Chute."

A reception will take place on Thursday, June 10th from 6:00 - 8:00.

Darzacq asks young street dancers from working class neighborhoods in Paris and Rouen to perform in the aisles of the "hypermarché," the massive supermarkets and global retail chains that have supplanted smaller shops in France and in many countries around the globe. Suspended in mid-air, these floating bodies bring an otherworldliness to common consumerism. Like baroque figures, the dancers rise and fall either victims or victors against the absolutism of globalized commerce. This opposition between being and having, between the person and the environment - a central theme in Darzacq's practice - questions the human cost of materialism.

Also on view are selections from La Chute ("The Fall"), the initial series of which Hyper is an extension. La Chute was inspired by the 2005 riots in the housing projects ("ban- lieues") around the outskirts of Paris where many young, disenfranchised, and mostly immigrant inhabitants were blamed for much of the unrest. Like Hyper, the photographs present dreamlike scenes of hovering bodies but in this case they are contrasted against the sparseness of the desolate landscape. La Chute is a meditation on uncertainty, possibility, and desire in the face over overwhelming adversity.

Denis Darzacq has exhibited widely in Europe and Australia. His work is held by
France's Centre Pompidou, the Fond National d'Art Contemporaine, and other major collections. He was the recipient of the Altadis Prize in 2000 and the World Press Photo Prize in 2007. Darzacq lives and works in Paris.

Kopeikin Gallery is located at 8810 Melrose Ave, west of Robertson Blvd.

There's plenty of street parking and public lots within walking distance.

Our hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 - 5:00.

Our phone number is 310-385-5894.

Our website is www.kopeikingallery.com

Our email address is info@kopeikingallery.com

De Soto Gallery

323-253-2255

shelley@desotogallery.com

www.desotogallery.com