“If you possess me, you will possess all things, but your life will belong to me.” This is the inscription addressed to Raphaël de Valentin, the new owner of the magic skin in Honoré de Balzac’s eponymous novel, La Peau de Chagrin. The Hôtel Balzac is the last place the author lived with the love of his life, Madame Hanska. La Peau de Chagrin resonates uncannily with the themes underpinning this in-room exhibition by Erika Verzutti, such as the multiplicity of desires and the sometimes fatal consequences of their fulfillment. Crime scene or sex scene, tropical garden or abstract sculpture park, relations of domination or figures of freedom? How can one resist the narrative impulses of this exhibition when storytelling seeps into each of Erika Verzutti’s works for this project?”,  Julie Boukobza.Erika Verzutti’s site-specific Sculptures Last Night occupies a room at Hôtel Balzac in Paris for one week only. Part of Pourquoi Paris?, a project founded by curator Julie Boukobza, this edition is organized in collaboration with Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel. In this installation, a group of sculptures act as hotel guests, exploring the friction of materials and surfaces: bronze, carpet, concrete, linen, marble, curtains, ceramics. The film The Life of Sculptures (a 2017-2024 collaboration with Joana Luz) loops on the hotel TV, completing the scene.From Oct 20th to 26th, visitors can select a time slot from 10 am to 10 pm.
Please book your visit at this link.