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ATOPOS cvc at Fondation Cartier  ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: The Leiotrichous tribe (Video) |
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| NOMADIC NIGHTS ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: The Leiotrichous tribe ATOPOS CVC and Charlie Le Mindu Fondation Cartier pour l’ art contemporain 27.01.2011 Paris |
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The Cultural Organization ATOPOS Contemporary Visual Culture (CVC), having accepted ‘Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’s’ invitation, presents the project ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: THE LEIOTRICHOUS TRIBE, as part of the Nomadic Nights program in conjunction to the MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME exhibition in Paris, on January 27 at 8:30pm.
ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: THE LEIOTRICHOUS TRIBE is an ATOPOS CVC performance in collaboration with the French designer and haute coiffeur Charlie Le Mindu, specially conceived for the ‘Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’.
In ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: THE LEIOTRICHOUS TRIBE (Lei`ot´ri`chous (~kŭs) a. 1. (Anthropol.) Having smooth, or nearly smooth, hair), 15 members of the tribe are invited to visit and interpret the MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME exhibition through their own unique and radical manner. Impressive and fantastical wigs by Charlie Le Mindu, extraordinary and colorful costumes by Vava Dudu, paper dresses by Travis Hutchinson from the ATOPOS CVC collection, as well as creations by Issey Miyake (supplied specially for this event), experimental music and sounds by La Chatte, all contribute to the creation of a strange and attractive world.
Photos © Olivier Ouadah
ATOPIC BODIES is a long term project by ATOPOS CVC, exploring the uncanny, eccentric and unclassified character of the human body in contemporary visual culture. Through collaborations between designers and artists from different backgrounds, new and radical Characters are being created by mixing visual and fashion codes. ATOPIC BODIES treats the body as an eternal atopos and appearance as a sociocultural construction. The Anthropologist Ted Polhemus notes that “we are our bodies and yet our bodies’ abstract constructions of our culture are always and inevitably atopos to ourselves”. He argues that there is “no such thing as natural beauty; what is deemed to be attractive and desirable in one culture or era may be deemed hideous and repulsive in another”.
Charlie Le Mindu’s creations are constantly shifting between the natural and the artificial. His wigs and accessories are sculptures made out of hair that can be worn to create a completely new personality or character. He always uses the highest quality natural, human hair (supplied by Hairdreams). Le Mindu’s creatures reference nature and also imaginary and mythical worlds; they are familiar and strange, attractive and scary, beautiful in their monstrous bodies.
Charlie Le Mindu is a French-born hairstylist and headpiece designer based in London. After studying at the French Hair Academy, he went on to establish himself as ‘Resident Hairdresser’ at Berlin nightclubs after performing a series of ‘Live Cuts’. Le Mindu now operates a salon from his East London home, and his regular clientele include Lady Gaga, Carri Mundane, Peaches and Jodie Harsh. A regular contributor to Dazed and Confused, i-D, Vogue Italy, Vogue Hommes Japan, Super Super, etc., Le Mindu has shown his collections as part of London Fashion Week, Victoria & Albert Museum, ART-ATHINA 2010 in his first collaboration with ATOPOS CVC and at Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio. He has recently designed Rapunzel’s castle in Disneyland, Paris.
Charlie Le Mindu is one of the participating artists in ATOPOS CVC forthcoming publication entitled ‘NOT A TOY; Radical Character Design in Fashion and Costume’ that will be launched at May 2011 by Pictoplasma Publishing, Berlin.
Photos © Ioanna Theodorakou
The first collaboration between ATOPOS CVC and Charlie Le Mindu was in May 2010 with ATOPIC BODIES [ONE] and the creation of Mr & Mrs. Myth, characters specially conceived for ART-ATHINA 2010 fair. Those characters where the main theme of a short film produced in collaboration with Vassilis Karidis and Nicholas Georgiou that participated in Diane Pernet’s Film Festival ASVOFF 3, in September 2010. ATOPOS CVC has also supported Charlie Le Mindu’s work at ON|OFF during the London Fashion Week 2010.
The Nomadic Nights is a concept established since 1994, and is a nocturnal rendezvous devoted to the performing arts. The originality of this concept lies in the fact that these evenings take place in the ‘Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’ exhibition space itself: envisaged as a veritable testing ground, they invite artists to create links between the visual arts and other contemporary forms of creative expression. Over 500 projects have been programmed as part of the Nomadic Nights, some of which occurred off-site, particularly as part of the contemporary art festival Le Printemps de Septembre in Toulouse. The reputation of these evenings has traveled far and wide and the idea has taken root and is flourishing in other cultural institutions, both in France and abroad.
CREDITS
Concept and Artistic Direction of ATOPIC BODIES:
Vassilis Zidianakis & Stamos Fafalios
Collaborate Artist for ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: Charlie Le Mindu ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: THE LEIOTRICHOUS TRIBE organised by: ATOPOS CVC, Athens & Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
Responsible for the Nomadic Nights Program, Fondation Cartier: Isabelle Gaudefroy
Coordination of ATOPIC BODIES [THREE]: ATOPOS CVC Team – Aristoula Karra, Dimitra Kollerou, Leonidas Poulopoulos and Angelos Tsourapas
Assistants of the Nomadic Nights Program: Camille Chenet and Daphne Panacakis
Hair Creations & Styling: Charlie Le Mindu
Assistants to Charlie Le Mindu: Richie Kuncyusz and Amber Rose
Live Music: La Chatte and Vava Dudu
Music selection: Giuseppe Gallo
Costumes: Vava Dudu, Issey Miyake by Dai Fujiwara and Travis Hutchinson from the ATOPOS CVC collection
Make-up: ITM School Paris
Photographer: Joanna Theodorakou