PARIS.- Villa Vassilieff presents the first exhibition dedicated to the Belgian artist Sophie Podolski in Paris, following its presentation at WIELS, Brussels earlier this year. Born in 1953 in Brussels, Sophie Podolski was, during her lifetime, mostly known as a poet, gathering the interest of the Parisian literary avant-garde. Her work is emblematic of a time marked by sexual liberation, anti-psych atry and a disenchanted youth. In just a few years (between 1968 and 1974, the date of her suicide at the age of 21), she produced a remarkable graphic work, as well as a book: Le pays où tout est permis (The Country Where Everything Is Permitted) in 1972. This young autodidact wrote in an expressive and provocative, unrestrained style about life, popular culture and the conformism of society.

While writing and drawing are almost inextricable for Podolski, during her lifetime she was mostly considered a poet. The exhibition focuses on her visual work and her very personal iconography to shed light on it through the presentation of works on paper, made in India ink, pastel and colored pencil, next to the pages of the original manuscript of her singular book. The exhibition also features the film Dans la Maison (du Montfaucon Research Center) directed by Joëlle de La Casinière, a friend of Sophie Podolski who has kept her works until today.

Sophie Podolski’s brief period of activity is characterized by radical social and cultural upheavals, which culminated in various European countries, including France and Belgium in May 1968, and suddenly changed the way the youth looked at society. The title of her book implicitly refers to the emancipatory struggle of a generation in search of self-determination. With her subjective and expressive language, Podolski is the voice of a counterculture that is once again fascinated by experimentation, imagination and the exploration of consciousness.

The personal life and practice of Sophie Podolski are closely linked to France where the publication of Le pays où tout est permis in 1972 earned her a critical recognition from literary and artistic circles. Her work was particularly supported by the writer Philippe Sollers and the historian of the Dada movement Marc Dachy, who presented her contributions respectively in the avant-garde French magazines Tel Quel and Luna-Park .

Sophie Podoloski was also a regular resident of the Montfaucon Research Center, a collective led by Joëlle de La Casinière and Michel Bonnemaison, based at 25, rue de l’Aurore. The history of this cosmopolitan artistic and intellectual community is reflected in Villa Vassilieff’s past and its programming.

Sophie Podolski: The Country Where Everything Is Permitted, was presented at WIELS, Brussels from January 20th to April 1st, 2018. The exhibition is produced by WIELS, Brussels, in partnership with Bétonsalon - Center for Art and Research and Villa Vassilieff / Pernod Ricard Fellowship, Paris.