Rolf Julius
Kevin Rouillard
Co-curated with Thomas Bernard
Xippas, Paris
February 2022
Rolf Julius & Kevin Rouillard à Xippas, Paris
Exhibition ROLF JULIUS | KEVIN ROUILLARD takes the form of a surprising dialogue between two artists who have
never
crossed paths in real life, but who meet here, at Xippas Paris, to transform the gallery into a musical score for two
voices.
One is an important historical figure in sound art, known for his delicate and
often modest interventions: questions, suggestions, whispers in space. The other – a young, upcoming artist who, on
the contrary, assertively appropriates the context of the exhibition, making his sculptures unfold on the gallery
walls like barricades or testudo formations – like war machines.
Although the two visions are rooted in very different contexts and conceptual realities, they present some
rhythms in common, rhythms that connect the two worlds like bridges, bringing them closer in time and in space.
All images courtesy Xippas Paris
Rolf Julius was born in Germany in 1939 and studied fine art in Bremen. In the mid 1970s he began using sound alongside his visual practice. Later he moved to Berlin and became an important figure in that city's budding sound art scene. In 1980 Julius' pioneering work "Dike Line" was presented at the "Fϋr Augen Und Ohren" exhibition alongside work by John Cage. He has created some of the most meaningful and moving works in the grey area between music and art, between sound and silence, slowly emerging as one of the most important and influential sound artists of our time. Whether using photographs, ink drawings, audio compositions, or subtle and sometimes almost hidden outdoor installations, Rolf Julius' works serve as catalyst, increasing our awareness of the great beauty of the world that surrounds us.
Born in 1989, Kevin Rouillard has graduated with honors from ENSBA in Paris in 2014. He participated to the 60th Salon de Montrouge and to the prize of Villa Emerige (Empiristes) in 2015. The same year, he also won the Foundation François de Hatvany prize. In 2016 his work was included in the exhibition Distopark, at Confort Moderne in Poitiers, at Les Abattoirs, FRAC Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, at l’Assaut de la menuiserie, Saint-Etienne and at The Chimney, New-York, alongside with a group show with Centre d’Art Parc Saint Léger. More recently, following the SAM Art Projects prize received in 2018, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris is hosting its personal exhibition Le Grand Mur in 2020.
