Valentin Carron

This first monograph for a promising Swiss artist arrives during the year of his first New York and London solo shows. Carron's sculptures have been said to mark a renewal of appropriationist discourse. Neither authentic nor kitsch, readymade nor craft, these objects enjoy ambiguity (fake wood, bronze and concrete) and an iconography of power and authority (in traditional forms like public sculptures and commemorative monuments). Along with a group of new Swiss artists speeding through the early stages of critical recognition, including Andro Wekua, Vidya Gastaldon and Mai-Thu Perret, Carron's rise marks the emergence of a new Swiss scene.