Robert Montgomery
TEXT ART | PAINTING | LIGHT ART | PUBLIC ART
Robert Montgomery est né en Écosse, où il a étudié la peinture à l’Édimbourg College of Art et a développé une profonde passion pour la poésie. C’est là qu’il a commencé un parcours d’expérimentation avec les mots et les visuels, explorant les différentes manières dont ils peuvent être associés. Après son déménagement à Londres au début des années 2000, il a commencé à créer des « poèmes visuels » – des installations avec du texte – sur des panneaux publicitaires. Ce faisant, Montgomery a rendu l’art et la poésie accessibles à tous, tout en subvertissant simultanément les symboles traditionnels du capitalisme dans la sphère publique.
En 2008, un deuil personnel l’a conduit vers une direction plus émotionnelle et intime, donnant naissance à sa première œuvre lumineuse, The People You Love. Cette expression de la tristesse, de l’amour en période de perte, a trouvé un large écho auprès du public, qui a intégré cette œuvre dans leurs propres processus de deuil et de guérison. Portée par la possibilité de l’universel, l’œuvre de Montgomery démocratise la réflexion sacrée de la poésie sur le physique et le spirituel. Bien qu’utilisant toujours la même police de caractère reconnaissable, la matérialité et la forme de ses installations s’adaptent à l’emplacement auquel elles sont dédiées. Des lumières aux lettres brûlées, des pièces en gravure sur bois aux peintures, Montgomery donne un corps diversifié à sa poésie. Souvent, la prose se rapporte à l’environnement et peut être lue comme un commentaire sur le lieu et l’espace ; souvent en lien avec l’histoire locale, comme son œuvre lumineuse de 2023 à Somerstown, Londres. Le travail de Montgomery aborde également d’autres conversations omniprésentes telles que le changement climatique, ce qui l’a amené à repenser son processus et ses outils. En 2008, il a développé une alternative écologique aux néons, constituée de la première plaque de PVC recyclé. En 2021, Montgomery a collaboré avec Little Sun (cofondé par l’artiste Olafur Eliasson) sur Grace of the Sun – un poème lumineux alimenté par l’énergie solaire, appelant à l’engagement en faveur des énergies renouvelables lors de la conférence climat de l’ONU (COP26) à Glasgow, en Écosse.
Poussé par la mélancolie, mais animé par les effets de son action, l’œuvre de Montgomery répond à des urgences socio-politiques tout en proposant un moment de calme pour la réflexion. Oscillant entre lyrisme et politique, Montgomery offre une manifestation tangible de la poésie.
Expositions sélectionnées
2023
‘When We Are Gone The Trees Will Riot’, Solo exhibition, UBP Monaco, Monaco, France.
‘Tumultes’, Danysz Gallery, Paris, France.
2022
‘La Suite de l’Histoire’, Musée du Louvre, Jardin des Tuilieries, Paris, France.
‘Le Futur Expliqué aux Extraterrestres’, Centre Culturel Jean Cocteau, Lilas, France.
‘Robert Montgomery: The Future Is An Invisible Playground’, Madison Gallery, San Diego, US.
‘Power! Light!’, Kunstmuseum Wolsburg, Germany.
‘Urbain.es’, La Condition Publique, Roubaix, France.
2021
‘Salvage Paradise’, solo exhibition, Danysz Gallery, Paris, France.
‘Grace of the Sun’, Robert Montgomery X Little Sun at COP26 large scale solar powered light poem installation, MTA Art Agency, Glasgow, UK.
‘The Green Path’, The Museum of Perama, Athens, Greece.
‘The Stars Pulled Down for Real’, solo exhibition, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma, US.
‘Recovery Poem’, commissioned by Emergency Exit Arts and Arts Council England, Brighton, UK.
2020
‘Year of the Propoganda Corrupted Plebiscites’, Mannerheim Gallery, Paris, France.
‘O Sole Mio’, Parasol Foundation for Contemporary Art, London, UK.
‘Body,Gaze,Power’, Staatlichen Kunsthalle Baden-Baden and Stadtmuseum Baden-Baden, Germany.
‘Sharing Perama’, Public work, The British Council, Swiss Embassy, Analix Forever and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, Perama, Athens, Greece.
‘Klagfarben Text: Visual Poetry for the 21st Century’, British Council at the Lyrik Kabinett, Munich, Germany.
2019
‘Libres’, Centre d’art Contemporian, Yverdon-les-Bains, Swizterland.
‘Shiny Colourful Amusements for the Walls of the Bourgeoisie’, solo exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK.
‘Robert Montgomery: Stoke Works’, text fragments around the city of Stoke-on-Trent, curated by B-Arts, UK.
‘The Beginning of Hope: Robert Montgomery’, Galerie Analix-Forever, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Robert Montgomery: The City in Their Echo’, solo exhibition, Aspen Art Museum, exhibition, Aspen, US.
2018
‘Paper Peace’, Emergency Exit Arts and Arts Council England national touring project.
‘Estuary Poem for Wyndham Lewis’, Solo exhibition, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London.
‘In Our Dreams We See Forever’, commission for the Royal Society for Blind Children, travelling the UK.
‘E-Luminate Cambridge’, Kings College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
‘Bombay Beach Biennale’, Bombay Beach, California, US.
‘New Generation’, Madison Gallery, San Diego, US.
‘La Prison Exposee’, Champ-Dollon À Penthes, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘A Journey to Freedom’, Tasmanian National Museum and Art Gallery, Tasmania, Australia.
2017
‘Hammersmith Poem and Love Letters to Kazimir Malevich’, Solo exhibition, Cob Gallery, London, UK.
‘Frieze Billboards’, Solo project, Shoreditch, London, UK.
‘Parasolstice: Robert Montgomery’, solo project, Parasol Unit Art Foundation, London, UK.
‘The UK Holocaust Memorial Shortlist’, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK.
2016
‘Year of the Propaganda Corrupted Plebiscites’, solo exhibition, Mannerheim Gallery, Paris, France.
‘Year of the Corrupted Eclipse’, Printspace, solo exhibition, London, UK.
‘Cardiff Contemporary’, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
‘Yinchuan Biennale’, Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, China.
‘La Littorale- Biennale d’art Contemporain d’Anglet’, Anglet, Sud-Ouest France.
‘Nuart Festival’, Stavanger, Norway.
‘A New Language: Root 1066 Festival’, Hastings, UK.
‘The Crystal Ship’, Oostende, Belgium.
‘Poetry For Change’, Kulturno Informativni Centar, Zagreb, Croatia.
‘To Fast to Live Too Young to Die’, Solo project, Climate Coalition at Osterley Park, London, UK.
‘Still Future’, Dick Institute, Kilmarnock, Scotland, UK.
‘Icona Prize’, Museo Mart, Verona.
2015
‘Robert Montgomery’, solo exhibition, Cer Modern Museum, Ankara, Turkey.
‘Robert Montgomery’, solo exhibition, Istanbul’74, Istanbul, Turkey.
‘Chapter 6 in Which We Sit Like Docile Cattle While You Use The Aesthetics Of Punk Rock To Sell Credit Cards Back To Us’, solo exhibition, Galerie Nuke and Istanbul‘74′, Paris, France.
‘ART COP 21’, Paris, France.
‘Bodies Burning at the Edges’, Columbia University, New York, US.
‘People You Love’, The Southbank Centre, London, UK.
‘The Stars Pulled Down For Real’, public project for All Rise Seattle, US.
‘Robert Montgomery’, solo exhibition, Istanbul’74, Istanbul, Turkey.
‘Sunday in the Park with Ed’, Display Gallery, London, UK.
‘I was dancing when I was 8’, solo exhibition, Galerie Analix Forever, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Searock Songlines’, solo exhibition, Saalfelden Leogang, Austria.
2014
‘3 Poems About Buildings and Trees’, Nuit Blanche, Brussels.
LA Billboard poems, curated by Do Art Foundation and Art Share, Los Angeles, US.
‘Louvre Fire Poem’, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France.
[Solo project], IST Festival, Istanbul.
‘Piles of Dirt and Glass You Walk Upon’, Galerie Colette, Solo exhibition, Paris, France.
‘Fields of Vision’, Grand Depart Tour de France, Yorkshire Festival, UK.
Ian Hamilton Finlay, Robert Montgomery, Lawrence Wiener. Anna Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin.
2013
‘Affordable Care’, Manya Wynwood, Miami, US.
‘Robert Montgomery’, solo exhibition, C24 Gallery, New York, US.
‘Quand l’art Prend la Ville’, Defacto, La Défense, Paris, France.
Edinburgh Fire Poem. Commission for the Edinburgh Art Festival, The Mound, Scotland, UK.
‘In Dreams’, Cob Gallery, London, UK.
‘Sculpture al Fresco III’, Great Fosters, Surrey, UK.
‘City is Wilder’, installation at Kater Holzig, Anna Jil Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
‘Echoes of Voices in the High Towers’, Galerie Nuke, Paris, France.
Tokyo Billboards, Harajuko. Each X Other Projects.
2012
‘The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Fort Kochi, Kerala, India.
‘Closer’, Spinello Projects, Miami, US.
‘Le Printemps de Septembre a Toulouse’, curated by Paul Ardenne. Toulouse, France.
‘Robert Montgomery: Echoes of Voices in the High Towers’, Neue Berliner Räume, Stattbad Wedding, and billboard sites, Berlin.
‘From The Age of The Poets. Cy Twombly, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Robert Montgomery etc’, Aanat & Zoo, Berlin, Germany.
‘Preposterous’, La Scatola, London, UK.
‘Sublime: Kursiv. James Lee Byars, Christian Boltanski, Douglas Gordon and Robert Montgomery’, Anna Jill Lupertz Gallery at Epicentro Art, Berlin, Germany.
‘Noir Clair’, Galerie Vanessa Quang, Paris, France.
‘Wealth’, Mass, London, UK.
‘Oneliners’, KOP, Breda, Netherlands.
‘Robert Montgomery: Echoes of Voices in the High Towers’, Neue Berliner Räume, Berlin, Germany.
‘Whenever An Angel’, solo exhibition,, Galerie Analix-Forever, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘It Turned Out This Way cos You Dreamed it This Way’, Solo exhibition, KK Outlet and billboard sites, London, UK.
‘A Gathering’, Athens Festival, Athens, Greece.
‘Art St Barth’, Valentine de Badereau Gallery, St Barths, US.
2011
‘Fire of Each Other’, solo exhibition, Galerie Nuke, Paris, France.
‘And Like This You Keep Them Alive/On Love’, Neue Berliner Räume, Berlin, Germany.
‘All Palaces Are Temporary Palaces’, Courtyard of the Palais de Tokyo Paris, Paris, France.
‘The Streets Belong to No One’, Truck on the streets of the Galata neighbourhood. Casa dell Arte project collateral to the 12th Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey.
‘All Palaces Are Temporary Palaces’, Lyon Docks, Docks Art Fair Program, Lyon, France.
‘Orientale*’, The Venice Biennale, Chiesa delle Zitelle, Venice, Italy.
‘Royal Wedding Poem (gesso panel version)’, Scope Foundation project with Galerie Analix-Forever, Scope Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
‘Royal Wedding Poems’, Billboard series, London, UK.
‘Génération Polluée: Davide Bertocchi, Cyprien Gaillard, Camille Henrot, Marc Horowitz, Robert Montgomery, Douglas White’, Galerie Nuke, Paris, France.
2010
‘Trees’, Galerie Analix-Forever, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Heart of Glass’, 20 Hoxton Square Projects, London, UK.
‘The People You Love Become Ghosts Inside of You’, Scope Foundation project with Galerie Analix-Forever, Scope Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
‘I Won’t Give Up’, Coningsby Gallery, London, UK.
‘Cars and Bikes’, Galerie Analix-Forever, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Don’t Jump’, Galerie Bigger Better Space, Vienna, Austria.
‘The People You Love Become Ghosts Inside of You’, The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, UK.
2009
‘Emotional Emergency’, solo exhibition, Analix Forever Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Words in the City at Night’, Billboard Series, London, UK.
‘Utopia/Distopia’, The Grand Palais, Art Paris, Paris, France.
‘Learning by Doing: 25 Years of Artist’s in Residence at the MFAH’, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, US.
2008
‘Derniers Jours: May 68/May 08’, solo exhibition, Galerie Nuke, Paris, France.
‘I Won’t Give Up’, collaboration with Fabio Paleari, Guido Costa Projects, Turin, Italy.
2007
‘Strategic Art Getts’, The Embassy, Edinburgh, UK.
Dazed & Confused versus Andy Warhol, The Baltic, Newcastle, Gateshead, UK.
2006
‘The Circle of Dead Grass Where the Circus Used to Be: Sean Flynn, David Fryer, Robert Montgomery’, Trolley Gallery, London, UK.
‘Words in the City at Night’, The Margaret Thatcher Project, New York, US.
2005
‘God is Bored of Us’, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, London, UK.
‘Words in the City at Night’, London, UK.
Collections
Public
The Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
The LVMH Collection.
Museum of Fine Art, Houston, US.
The Albright Knox Museum, New York, US.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China.
The City of Saalfelden Leogang Collection, Salzburg, Austria.
The Artshare Collection, Los Angeles, US.
The Black Gold Museum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Edinburgh Art Festival Collection, Edinburgh, UK.
Kochi Biennale Collection, Kochi, India.
Casa dell Arte Collection, Bodrum, Turkey.
The Dick Institute Collection, Scotland, UK.
The Groucho Club Collection, UK.
Private
Gianni and Michael Alen-Buckley Collection, London, UK.
Markus Luepertz Collection, Berlin, Germany.
Jacques Esseberg Collection, Paris and St Tropez, France.
Manja Gideon Collection, Geneva, Switzerland.
Wassner Collection, New York, US.
Benoit Pierre Emery Collection, Paris, France.
Collection of Patrick Van Ommeslaeghe, Antwerp, Belgium.
Charlie and Elizabeth Cetin Collection, London, UK.
Bridget and Logan Plant Collection, Somerset, UK.
Florence Welch Collection, London, UK.
Michael Stipe Collection, New York, US.