Exhibition Review: “Pierre Huyghe” at the Fondation Beyeler

The epic feeling that runs through the work of Pierre Huyghe (b. 1962) invites one to make great statements about his dignity. It is clear that he is one of the most important artists of his generation, and possibly the most popular. I didn’t know anyone who wasn’t happy with his “Liminal” exhibition at Punta della Dogana two years ago in Venice. Perhaps this was because it could not be enjoyed by anyone, in any state of mind. I stumbled upon its darkness after a boozy poolside lunch at the Hotel Cipriani. My eyes took a while to adjust, but upon entering I was struck by the flawless sci-fi gold mask that appeared to be hanging on the wall. I shot towards it to check it out and just felt a light touch on my chest. There was actually a person dressed in all black wearing this mask, and I was very close to him. From the mask came a harsh admonition in another language that sounded like an angry droid star Wars.

This was An expression (2024) and included in “Pierre Huyghe” in the artist’s exhibition that recently opened at the Fondation Beyeler. His first solo exhibition at a Swiss museum, comes as a follow-up to “Liminal,” with new additions such as an artificial breathing organ called. Apnea setting the rhythm of the entire building, a grunting robot worm and an AI-made gate, all set among the veterans of Venice. Curated by Mouna Mekouar, senior curator at the Beyeler, and Anne Stenne, curator of the Venice exhibition, with one non-Huyghe: Max Ernst’s A witch (1941), on loan from the Princeton University Art Museum.

Magic seems to be a necessary element in his surrealist work. I An expression the mask is golden amber, the helmets worn on the face house sensors, speakers and LED lights, but its experience is mysterious and fleeting. They are influenced by “subtle signs—some invisible to man,” according to Beyeler. The Venice catalog said the mask would eventually form a “society,” a “disembodied entity,” speaking “an unprecedented kind of language.” A more didactic artist would say that this piece is about how social media is the new tower of Babel, but to be around it is to consider ourselves as more advanced entities than we are.

Evolution is a problem in The Mask of Man (2014), which I recently revisited at the New Museum. This time the macaque is wearing a schoolgirl uniform and a Noh-style mask as it explores an abandoned restaurant in some kind of post-apocalypse. When I first came across this in Venice I found myself wondering how he managed to get realistic monkey arms from his child actor. The mysterious feeling is so strong, the portrayal of a Japanese horror film is so strong, that my mind could not accept the simple solution, which was that I was watching a monkey and not a human.

For some of the more mystical experiences out there Cambrian explosion 19 (2013), where volcanic rock floats in an aquarium. They not only feel alive and dead, but ancient and futuristic at the same time. At a time when writers like to praise the importance of the cultural object of our time, Huyghe creates art that means that our present time is perhaps too stupid to share with them, unless by using a few layers of things, technology and humor. I’ll drink to that.

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