What The Walls Believe

What The Walls Believe

The Luminary presents, What The Walls Believe, a new solo exhibition with artist-in-residence Nicolas Grenier, which translates theoretical and philosophical problems into visual structures.

Opening Reception:
October 15th from 7 - 10pm

Somewhere in between powerpoint presentation, 3D animation and audiobook…

What The Walls Believe is an architectural installation that brings a selection of miniature paintings together with a new version of the video Vertically Integrated Socialism, originally presented at the Bruges Triennial of Art and Architecture, Belgium, in 2015. Somewhere in between powerpoint presentation, 3D animation and audiobook, the 44 minute video tells the story of a person climbing the social ladder in a fictional housing concept—a single building that includes the entire social pyramid.

While Grenier's paintings often include text and diagrams with explicit references to political and social issues, the ones featured in this exhibition are mostly stripped of didactic content. They are self-contained micro-worlds that echo and complement the closed architectural, economic and social structure depicted in Vertically Integrated Socialism. The installation at The Luminary extends the visual and conceptual language of those works into a built environment, scaled for the viewer, that blends into the gallery space.

The Luminary's exhibitions are supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council.