From 1 June to 15 August 2016, the Centre Pompidou is inviting Melik Ohanian, winner of the 2015 Prix Marcel Duchamp, for an exhibition within its collections. The event is being staged with the ADIAF (association for the international dissemination of French art) as part of the Prix Marcel Duchamp, awarded each year to an artist working in the French scene.

Melik Ohanian proposes a cosmic scenario halfway between poetry and science. He sets up an environment in which different dimensions are expressed, from the infinitely small to the infinitely large: two extremes where objects in the world around us fade into the background for the period of the exhibition. The central work in this environment, Modelling Poetry, is inspired by a scientific conjecture announced by NASA, forecasting the collision of the Milky Way with the Andromeda Galaxy in four billion years’ time.

French artist Melik Ohanian was born in 1969, and lives in Paris and New York. All his work explores the means, supports and allegorical power of images, reverting constantly to several subjects: desert areas, the working class world, the end of revolutionary utopias and social, historical and scientific facts. His work has appeared in numerous museums, international exhibitions and biennials, including at the Republic of Armenia pavilion (winner of the Golden Lion for the best national pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennial, Italy, in 2015); the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, USA (2013); Mumbai Art Room, India (2012); the Musée National Picasso, Vallauris, France (2012); the 10th Sharjah Biennial , United Arab Emirates (2011); Matucana 100, Santiago, Chile (2008); Le Plateau/FRAC Ile-de-France, Paris, France (2008), and the CCA Kitakyushu, Japan (2007), etc..

The 2015 Prix Marcel Duchamp is the last where only the winning artist is awarded an exhibition. As from 12 October 2016, the Centre Pompidou will be inviting the four nominees to participate in a group exhibition in Galerie 4.

more