"Ruppersberg, De Cointet, Stoerchle, Jan Ader" (extrait)
Flash Art International, Milan, January/February 1997, p.93
YVES AUPETITALLOT, THE new director of Le Magasin, has come up with an intriguing close to the year. First of all, he has invited Allen Ruppersberg to mount an exhibition of his work as a retrospective. The presentation brings together a large number of pieces, some of which have been specially reconstituted for this exhibition. Rigorous selection criteria coupled with the simplicity of installation (a wall of posters marks the transition into the covered outside area called la Rue) enables the viewer to gauge the historical importance and obvious currency of Ruppersberg's work which has never before enjoyed such an exhaustive airing in France.
An abundance of documentation offers particular insights into Al's Grand Hotel (1971), a hotel on Sunset Boulevard where Ruppersberg entirely laid out the rooms according to themes (The Bridal Suite, The Day Room, The Jesus Room, The Ultraviolet Room). Al's Cafe (1969), a bar run by Ruppersberg (where the curious menu included Special Angels Foret Nationale, $300, a concoction of three barks, twigs, stones, etc.), has been partially reconstituted for Le Magasin's cafeteria (photographs and documentation) complete with typical country music accompaniment. Both projects are made further interesting for the perspective they lend to certain aspects, structural choices, and priorities demonstrated by a later generation of artists.
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Eric Troncy