Roy Forget : Vagues

     From one presidential election to another, 2012 has brought a wave of questions: what does  it mean to be a citizen, what are the duties of members of democratic societies, how do liberty and justice fit into the equation of our social contracts?  My exhibition, Vagues (waves), which opens next month here in Paris at the Duplex Bar, 25 rue Michel le Comte, in the 3rd arrondissement, puts into play King Louis-Philippe, who in 1830 proclaimed himself "King of the French."  He is at the seaside, the edge of civilization, if you will, in 1848.  Dethroned by the very people he claimed to rule in favor for, he is awaiting passage to the other shore.  

     The succession of history, wave after wave of rulers, revolutions, revolts, seems to repeat itself.  During the 18 years that Louis-Philippe ruled France (a nation that had gone through a near half-century of tumult, from a revolution, to its murderous Terror, followed by a short-lived republic, succeeded by Napoleon's Empire, and, after Waterloo, the restoration of a Bourbon monarchy, all in the span of 42 years), he fashioned a society that gave the rich bourgeoisie access to increasing amounts of wealth in both manufacturing and finances.  At the same time, the self-proclaimed "roi des Français" allowed his less well-to-do subjects (Mitt Romney's "47%" of 19th century France), the workers, both in the fields and in the factories, to fall into a never-ending spiral of poverty and misery--the stark 19th century brand of it.  

     Strangely, all this sounds familiar, as if the chants of change that have washed onto our collective conscience, from the HOPE of 2008 to the chants of Occupy of 2011, to our current sense of revulsion and frustration mixed with impotence, were just the echos of 1848 and beyond.

Above: Louis-Philippe, roi des Français, 2012, oil on Linen, 97 x 146 cm

Roy Forget : Vagues

Duplex Bar

25, rue Michel le Comte

Paris 3e (Métro : Rambuteau)

du 2 au 28 octobre 2012

Ouvert tous les jours de 20h à 2h

Vernissage, le mardi 2 octobre 2012 de 19h à 20h30