Jan Svenungsson

Institut des Hautes Etudes en Arts Plastiques, Paris 1988-1989



In 1988 JS was one of the 20 artists/students in the first session of the Institut des Hautes Etudes en Arts Plastiques, instigated by Pontus Hulten in Paris. The main activity of the Institut was all theoretical, with daily seminars often centered on the work of a prominent guest.

The artists/students were also provided with collective studio space to do their work. In the case of JS this studio happened to be on the plaza outside of Centre Beaubourg. The former restaurant situated under one of the slopes leading down to the plaza was shared with Absalon, Claire-Jeanne Jezequel, Yan-Pei Ming and Didier Marcel, and was a place of intense activity during autumn 1988. At the end of the period the group (minus Didier Marcel) made installations and opened the space to the public. JS showed in one narrow room 9 paintings in black and white of a series of years and in the main room opposite Ming a colour photograph depicting a postcard yellowed by time and representing the sun over Neva in St Petersburg 1913. This yellowish photo was inserted into a hole in the wall between the former kitchen and bar. All around the walls were yellow from grease and dirt.