Between kitsch fairyland and metaverse, the abundant universe of Patrick Moya enchants the castle of Courcelles, in Moselle

2023-05-31 18:36:27

Unclassifiable and versatile artist, Patrick Moya is honored in “Moyaland”, an exhibition that navigates between kitsch figurative art and digital worlds.

The talents of Patrick Moya are multiple and this is what the exhibition intended to show until July 2 at the Château de Courcelles in Montigny-les-Metz (Moselle). With its title, moyland, one could accuse the artist of an excess of egocentrism. It must be said that Patrick Moya often takes his name and his image as a pretext.

But behind this apparent narcissism hides an almost visionary approach. “I did a work around the idea that the artist should be at the center of the work, explains Patrick Moya in front of one of his creations where his name is written in 2D letters. In the 75s, I was already writing that future computers could do everything on their own and that the only way for the artist to stay at the center was to write his name and have his image”.

Enchanted and perverse

The route of the exhibition shows the capacity of the artist to apprehend very different universes. There is the figurative, “enchanted and slightly perverse” – a definition given by the journalist Florence Canarelli who devoted a book to it, The Spiritual Case (Baie des anges Editions) – where teddy bears, Pinocchios and flying elephants cross paths amidst a deluge of candy colors.

Expo Patrick Moya – Castle of Courcelles – Montigny-lès-Metz. (France 3 Lorraine)

digital twin

The other part of the exhibition is turned towards virtual worlds. The artist created his own metaverse, a parallel world in which we find his avatar and his artistic universe. The Château de Courcelles exhibition is reproduced there and will be visible even when its “physical” twin has closed its doors.

The metaverse according to Patrick Moya. (France 3 Lorraine)

Touch all

Born in Troyes in 1955, it was at the Villa Arson in Nice that Patrick Moya studied art in the 1970s. Soon supported by the main gallery of the School of Nice, from 1996 he presented large canvases and sculptures at MAMAC, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in the capital of the Côte d’Azur.

Very quickly, he was exhibited all over the world. After Italy where he has presented his work very regularly since 1987, we meet him in London, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, etc. At exhibitions of paintings and sculptures Added to this are performances or happenings, without forgetting the creation of posters or press cartoons. Faced with this profusion of creations and activities, it is difficult to believe that Moya wanted to be, as he says himself, “a minimal artist. But by going to Asia, I discovered manga and cities full of images. I told myself that I had to open up to all possibilities: TV, cinema, comic…”

Expo Patrick Moya – Castle of Courcelles – Montigny-lès-Metz. (France 3 Lorraine)

Moya’s Dolly

Moya is also at the origin of recurring characters, which have become “cult” like the sheep Dolly. Created in 1998 from the first cloned mammal in history, it has become the mascot of trendy techno evenings, the “Dolly Parties”, during which Patrick Moya regularly performs.

Stuffed animal and Pinocchio, two recurring characters in Patrick Moya’s universe. (France 3 Lorraine)

This apparent lightness rubs shoulders with deeper aspirations. Witness his work in the Saint-Jean chapel (18th century) in Clans, in the Alpes-Maritimes, now better known as the “Moya chapel”.

Patrick Moya is also honored at the House of Ceramics Terra Rossa of Salernes (Var) where the artist exhibits paintings and ceramics until July 15.

Exhibition “Moyaland” by Patrick Moya, until July 2 at the Château de Courcelles, 73 Rue de Pont-à-Mousson, 57950 Montigny-lès-Metz – Open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Free entry – Contact: 03 87 55 74 07