www.laurette.net / projects / 2004 / Déjà vu 7
show / project
Matthieu Laurette and Dia Art Foundation
present
DÉJÀ VU - THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL LOOK-ALIKE CONVENTION AT DIA'S FALL GALA
A special project commissioned for the November 12, 2004 Gala celebrating Dia’s 30th Anniversary
at Dia:Chelsea, 548 West 22nd Street, New York City
Starring the East Coast look-alikes top 15:
Jeannine Gavlick as Jennifer Aniston
Anne Kissel as Roseanne Barr
Bob Prussian as Sean Connery
Joseph Manuella as Robert De Niro
Marlene Suarez as Gloria Estefan
Tara McKee as Whoopi Goldberg
Maria Angelica as Angelina Jolie
Donna Maxon as Bette Midler
Joseph Hope as Eddie Murphy
Bruce Christensen as Conan O’Brien
Charlotte Fleming as Diana Ross
Jeanine Gearity as Anna Nicole Smith
Stewart Brodian as Howard Stern
Carmine Cassino as Rod Stewart
Stephen Arthur as Harvey Weinstein
Organized by Matthieu Laurette
Production Manager: Cornelia Tischmacher
> Dia:Chelsea
548 West 22nd Street, New York City
www.diaart.org
event views
Déjà vu: The 7th International Look-alike Convention at DIA’s Fall Gala, New York (Event view), November 12, 2004.
Detail: Joseph Manuella as Robert De Niro with Donald Judd's « Untitled, 1996 » in the background.
Press photographs by event photographers Sandra Hamburg and Eric Weiss Photo Inc.
Déjà vu: The 7th International Look-alike Convention at DIA’s Fall Gala, New York (Event view), November 12, 2004.
Detail: look-alikes group with Dan Flavin's sculpture in the background.
Press photographs by event photographers Sandra Hamburg and Eric Weiss Photo Inc.
Déjà vu: The 7th International Look-alike Convention at DIA’s Fall Gala, New York (Event view), November 12, 2004.
Detail: Stewart Brodian as Howard Stern, Maria Angelica as Angelina Jolie, Lou Reed.
Press photographs by event photographers Sandra Hamburg and Eric Weiss Photo Inc.
Déjà vu: The 7th International Look-alike Convention at DIA’s Fall Gala, New York (Event view), November 12, 2004.
Detail : Carmine Cassino as Rod Stewart, Lou Reed.
Press photographs by event photographers Sandra Hamburg and Eric Weiss Photo Inc.
Déjà vu: The 7th International Look-alike Convention at DIA’s Fall Gala, New York (Event view), November 12, 2004.
Detail: Laurence Weiner and Joseph Manuella as Robert de Niro.
Press photographs by event photographers Sandra Hamburg and Eric Weiss Photo Inc.
press release
DIA COMMISSIONS CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKE PROJECT
BY FRENCH ARTIST MATTHIEU LAURETTE
FOR 30TH ANNIVERSARY FALL GALA
New York, NY—Dia Art Foundation announces a special project by French-born artist Matthieu Laurette entitled Déjà vu—The Seventh International Look-Alike Convention commissioned for the November 12, 2004 Fall Gala celebrating Dia’s 30th Anniversary. Laurette invited look-alikes of celebrities in the arts and entertainment worlds to attend the gala cocktail hour and interact with Dia’s patrons and guests. Those in attendance were not aware of the project prior to the event. Slowly, as the look-alikes mingled with the crowd, guests began to see that some of the “celebrities” were imposters, causing them to question their ability to distinguish “real celebrities” from their doubles. Through his Look-Alike Conventions, Laurette explores the social dynamics of spectacle and celebrity as it permeates the protocols of the art world, highlighting society’s obsessive relationship with fame.
Among the 15 look-alikes who participated were Jennifer Aniston (Jeannine Gavlick), Roseanne Barr (Anne Kissel), Sean Connery (Bob Prussian), Robert De Niro (Joseph Manuella), Gloria Estefan (Marlene Suarez), Whoopi Goldberg (Tara McKee), Angelina Jolie (Maria Angelica), Bette Midler (Donna Maxon), Eddie Murphy (Joseph Hope), Conan O’Brien (Bruce Christensen), Diana Ross (Charlotte Fleming), Anna Nicole Smith (Jeanine Gearity), Howard Stern (Stewart Brodian), Rod Stewart (Carmine Cassino), and Harvey Weinstein (Stephen Arthur). Laurette arranged for a professional event photographer to document the cocktail hour and will commission a graphic designer to design a poster commemorating the “convention.”
Previous Déjà vu - International Look-Alike Conventions organized by Laurette, which have taken place at exhibition openings, have been held at Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2003); Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania (2003); Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Australia (2002); Artsonje Center, Seoul (2002); Castello di Rivoli, Torino (2001); and Centre Pompidou, Paris (2000).
Matthieu Laurette
Born in 1970 in Villeneuve St Georges, France, Laurette currently lives and works in Paris and New York. His multi-media and performance works frequently utilize mass media and commercial marketing opportunities in an attempt to exploit the transformation of life into an endless accumulation of spectacles.
Laurette’s international exhibitions and projects have included solo presentations at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2004); Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2003); Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh (2000); and Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris (1998). Laurette was also included in the 2002 International Biennale of Young Art in Turin and in the Venice Biennale in 2001.
Dia’s Annual Fall Gala
Dia’s Annual Fall Gala takes place every year in New York City and raises funds for all of Dia’s exhibitions and public and educational programs. For the 2004 Gala, which marked the Foundation’s 30th Anniversary and celebrated a tradition of supporting extraordinary art projects, a group of works by Dan Flavin were installed in Dia’s galleries at 548 West 22nd Street, in conjunction with the internationally-touring exhibition “Dan Flavin: A Retrospective,” organized by Dia in association with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. A presentation by David Byrne took place during the dinner. In addition to the Fall Gala, Dia holds an annual Spring Benefit that takes place at Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries.
Dia Art Foundation
Dia Art Foundation was founded in 1974. A nonprofit institution, Dia plays a vital role among visual arts organizations nationally and internationally by initiating, supporting, presenting, and preserving art projects, and by serving as a locus for interdisciplinary art and criticism. Dia presents its permanent collection at Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, in Beacon, New York; exhibitions and public programming at Dia:Chelsea, in New York City (currently closed for renovations); and long-term, site-specific projects in the western United States, in New York City, and on Long Island.
* * *
For more information and to arrange coverage, please contact Sarah Thompson, Dia Art Foundation, 212 293 5518; sthompson@diaart.org.
invitation card
no
publication
Fall Gala brochure/menu.
related articles
Dawson, Jessica. "Spitting Images: A Brush With 'Celebrity'", The Washington Post (Washington), (August 4, 2005): C01
Colard, Jean-Max. "Matthieu Laurette: Yvon Lambert. Reviews" Artforum (New York), XLIII, no. 10 (Summer Issue):335.
Beausse, Pascal. “Matthieu Laurette – Galerie Yvon Lambert. Reviews” Flash Art International (Milan), no.242 (May-June, 2005).
Lavrador, Judicaël. "La foire aux vanités." Les Inrockuptibles (Paris), no.480 (9 –15 February, 2005): 76-77.
Barachon, Charles. "Homme du mois: Matthieu Laurette." Technikart (Paris), no.90 (March 2005): 94.
Hernández Chong Cuy, Sofia. "Hey Rod, it's me." Pacemaker (Paris), no.7 (March 2005).
Funesvick, Eivind. "Make Up, Made Up." Pacemaker (Paris), no.7 (March 2005).
related links
www.diaart.org
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www.laurette.net / projects / 2004 / Déjà vu 7