Ulla von Brandenburg develops a polymorphous body of work (installations, films, watercolors, mural paintings, cut-outs…) the staging of which is adjusted according to the exhibition space.

Ulla von Brandenburg (b. 1974, lives and works in Paris) develops a polymorphous body of work (installations, films, watercolors, mural paintings, cut-outs…) the staging of which is adjusted according to the exhibition space. Mastering the codes of set design, the artist always knows how to adapt her works according to the context, creating oneiric fictions, likely to awaken ghosts. Adept at deploying illusions and mysteries, the artist develops a choreographic imagery. Playing with textures and motifs, deriving inspiration from German Romanticism, reactivating the tradition of “tableaux vivants”, the artist analyzes the current world through references of “fin de siècle” Europe, while at the same taking her place in a dazzling contemporaneity.

For the reopening of the Palais de Tokyo, Ulla von Brandenburg is taking over the Agora, the central space in the new Palais de Tokyo. What used to be an exhibition area for sculptures (Musée national d’art moderne, 1947-1976), then for photographs (Centre National de la Photographie, 1983-1993) will become a meeting point and a place of exchange. It will henceforth act as a crossover between exhibitions and visitors. This crucial assembly point and focus of events will become one of the hubs of the Palais. Made specifically for this setting, Ulla von Brandenburg’s installation Death of a King highlights the architectural peculiarities of the place while at the same time underlining its role. It evolves on a platform with two levels, and readopts the structure of a skateboard ramp which the visitor is free to explore. A painting on the ground giving a trompe-l’oeil account of a colored, pleated curtain with a Harlequin motif, seemingly escaped from the Commedia dell’Arte, covers the whole surface. Thus a parable about theatre emanates from this installation and this space, located between fiction and reality, a sort of sign indicating the start of a story.