BERTILLE BAK

2020

Oct 2

Transports à dos d’hommes, 2012
single-channel video
15:00
co-production: Bertille Bak/Paris-Musées;
Courtesy of the Artist and XIPPAS

135 Victoria Street

“I don’t want to succumb to pessimism, all the more so because these difficult situations don’t represent everything about the lives of these people. I don’t want to pinpoint only the problems, each life is made up of many different scenarios. I prefer to use an approach that is more expansive, lighter.” – Bertille Bak

French artist Bertille Bak is known for her commitment to the collaborative process. She gathered footage for Transports à dos d’hommes while living in a Roma camp on the outskirts of Paris. Bak and members of this Roma community created a playful folktale that hints at the many challenges her subjects face: ongoing demolition of their camps by French authorities, homelessness, the possibility of expulsion from France, poverty and unemployment.

Bertille Bak was born in Arras, France in 1983. She is the winner of the Mario Merz Prize, 3rd edition, Turin, Italy (2019). In 2019-2020, Bak was artist in residence at the Pinault Foundation in Lens, France. Numerous institutions have presented solo exhibitions of her work including Le Cyclop de Jean Tinguely, Milly-la-Forêt, France (2019); Le Grand Café, St-Nazaire, France (2014); Museum of Modern Art, Paris, France (2012); and Museum of Contemporary Art of Val de Marne Mac/Val, Ivry, France (2011). Bak has participated in various festivals and group exhibitions such as Folklore, Centre Pompidou Metz, France; Le Cours des Choses, CAPC Bordeaux, France; You Got to Burn to Shine, Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Rome, Italy; Get up # 3, Mains d'oeuvres, Saint-Ouen, France; Double feature, Schrin Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany; NY-LUX, Mudam, Luxembourg; and A triple Tour, Pinault Foundation for contemporary art, among many others. Her works are included in prestigious public and private collections such as Centre Georges Pompidou MNAM / CCI; Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris; Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, Museum of Contemporary Art of Val de Marne Mac / Val, Ivry, France; FNAC-CNAP; FMAC, Paris, France; FRAC Aquitaine; FRAC Alsace; FRAC Rhône-Alpes; Neuflize Collection; and François Pinault Collection, Artis, France. She is represented by XIPPAS, Paris, France.

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