Annette Messager — Le Nounours crucifié, 1998

A plush monkey is stretched across a wooden crucifix, its body split open to reveal its stuffing. In Christian iconography, the crucified body assumes the place of others, making sacrifice the condition of redemption. Annette Messager transfers this logic to one of childhood’s most familiar companions. Throughout her practice, she has assembled collections of soft toys, textiles and everyday objects, feeling drawn to the memories and emotions with which they are imbued. Since the 1970s, these materials have formed an extensive personal vocabulary through which she explores identity, the body and systems of belief. For all its injury, the flayed monkey remains a soft toy, albeit one entangled in the economy of redemption.

À la croisée de l’écriture, de la peinture, du dessin, de la photographie et de la sculpture, Annette Messager développe une pratique de l’assemblage qui associe objets du quotidien, souvenirs intimes, observations et récits personnels ou collectifs. Utilisant la mémoire comme vecteur de sens, l’artiste explore des thèmes tels que le désir, l’enfance et la mort à travers un langage visuel marqué par l’humour, le romantisme et l’absurde.