Le Triomphe de la Renommée (2013) by Marie-Caroline Hominal, curated by Patrick Steffen
Le Triomphe de la Renommée is one of a collection of six poems by Italian poet Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), titled I Trionfi, describing the phases of life by opposing virtues in duels: “Fame” wins over “Death” but is defeated by “Time” and “Eternity.” In a small room within a domestic environment, evoking the intimate space of a backstage of a Theatre, the artist Marie-Caroline Hominal welcomes one guest at a time, playing with the codes of theatrical artifice to deliver an intense and intimate one-to-one encounter.
Marie-Caroline Hominal, aka MCH, aka Silver, aka Berries, aka Fly Girl, is a dancer, choreographer, and performer currently based in Geneva. Her practice includes video, songwriting, music, choreography, and performance. She received her dance education at the Schweizerische Ballettberufschule in Zurich and at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London, where she joined the National Youth Dance Company. She has collaborated with François Chaignaud, with whom she created Duchesses (2009), Clive Jenkins, Cristian Vogel, and visual artists Kim Boninsegni, David Hominal, and Delphine Coindet. Recently, she has developed a series of one-to-one performances such as Hôtel Oloffson (2013) and Le Triomphe de la Renommée (2013), as well as full length performances such as Ballet (2014) and Patricia Poses by the Pop Machine (2011). As a dancer she has worked with the Tanztheater Basel, Irène Tassembedo, Blanca Li, Gisèle Vienne, Gilles Jobin, La Ribot, and Marco Berrettini. She was a guest performer for Human Writes (2005) by William Forsythe and B.O.B. (2004) by Dick Wong. Since 2008, she has been showing her work, among other cities, in Basel, Belgrade, Berlin, Bayreuth, Bilbao, Bogotá, Bruxelles, Chicago, Dresden, Geneva, Los Angeles, New York City, Roma, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santiago de Chile, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Zagreb, and Zurich.
Patrick Steffen is a writer and curator based in Los Angeles. His past projects include Laughing Hole by La Ribot at LACMA (2013), Duchesses by Francois Chaignaud and Marie-Caroline Hominal at Night Gallery (2013) and Jerk by Gisele Vienne and Dennis Cooper at MOCA Grand Avenue (2013).
Organized by Chalet Society with the support of FLAX Foundation (French Los Angeles Exchange), Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and Ville et Etat de Geneve.