For Art-O-Rama 2023 in Marseille, SOMEDAY gallery from NYC presents the works of Aline Bouvy, Tom Forkin and Yi To.
PRESS RELEASE


SOMEDAY GALLERY X ART-O-RAMA 2023
31 AUGUST – 03 SEPTEMBER 2023
La Tour 3rd floor, La Cartonnerie, 1es Plateaux, Friche la Belle de Mai, 41, rue jobin, 13004 Marseille
Together, the works of Bouvy, Forkin, and To scrutinize societal norms, historical reflection, and human introspection. Each artist subverts legibility through their own unique methodologies, challenging the viewer to adopt multiple roles: interpreter, appraiser, critic, and voyeur. The rejection of societal norms, illusory nostalgia, and the obsession with linear time converge in a multifaceted dialogue on perception and distortion.
Aline Bouvy
Aline Bouvy’s multidisciplinary practice offers an ongoing critique of societal norms and health codes that constrain our bodies and suppress desire. Through her sculpture and installation, she confronts conventional standards that subliminally mold human behavior, challenging what society deems morally “dirty” or aesthetically “ugly.” In her ongoing “Urine Mate” series, Bouvy employs the marquetry technique on linoleum, utilizing a muted palette of black and grey, enriched by the textural complexity of speckled moiré. Subverting linoleum’s typical use as a floor covering, Bouvy opens up various interpretive paths concerning intimacy, patriarchy, and unbridled personhood. Low relief, plaster-cast stray dogs, symbolizing urban rebellion, reflect Bouvy’s innovative use of material and defiance of rigid categorization, in preference for the insolence and irreverence of city animals.
Tom Forkin
Tom Forkin works with a diverse array of media, manipulating the typical properties of his chosen materials to produce isolated vignettes. His sculptures often evoke the environmentally-harsh and socially-hostile Western cities that flourished through the 19th century. Locomotive models constructed from now-antiquated bar carts appear beside watercolors of kerosene streetlamps, toying with humanity’s penchant for nostalgia. His sculptures suggest narrative without providing any clear, linear resolve—each vignette defined by its withholding. In a new series of painted plaster reliefs, Forkin obsessively reimagines the familiar interior of van Gogh’s “Le Café de la nuit” (1888). Forkin removes the five figures from the original painting, focusing solely on the formal components—light and shadow, wood beams, and liquor bottles; the vertiginous distortion of perspective. The familiarity of the interior functions as a false reveal, misdirecting the viewer toward more subtle manipulations. Through this purposely parochial lens, Forkin demonstrates how slight shifts in color and texture can cause drastic changes in legibility and meaning.
YI To
Yi To works across painting and sculpture to produce divergent compositions. Forms shape- shift from paint and canvas to concrete and metal—both dense and vaporous; elucidating and cryptic. The use of marble dust and a restrained, earthy palette engenders worlds of archeology—carbon fossils and terrestrial bio-signatures; potsherds from antiquity; desert geoglyphs and limestone reliefs—while the recurrence of biomedical, technological, and celestial symbols stretches To’s fragmented narratives into both past and future. Sedimentary layers give way to a taut gossamer surface, raw and exposed like a body turned inside out to reveal a dramaturgy of cellular activity. The deliberate play of scale and perspective, likened to cut-and-fold theorems, offers a window into new dimensions and a complex understanding of history—both personal and collective.




About Art-O-Rama
An unmissable event and a gateway for galleries into the European fairs, Art-O-Rama curates a unique and discerning selection, showcasing emerging local and international scenes. With over 60 galleries and publishers taking the spotlight in its 17th edition in Marseille and online through the Salon Immatériel, it celebrates a new section dedicated to editions and contemporary design. A tailor-made program of screenings and conversations is offered for free access throughout the duration of the Salon.
Amidst a vibrant energy, Art-O-Rama annually provides a glimpse of an unparalleled cultural heritage along a journey, immersing visitors in prominent artistic locations across the extended southeastern region, from Monaco to Montpellier, passing through Arles, Hyères, Nice, and of course, Marseille.
Art-O-Rama is produced by Fræme, an association based at La Friche la Belle de Mai.
Media Contact:
communication [at] alicezucca.art