“Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones” at Galerie Perrotin in Paris is American artist Mel Ziegler’s first solo exhibition in France. It includes a selection of new and recent works by Ziegler as well as works from his influential collaboration with his late partner Kate Ericson.Ziegler collaborated with Ericson from the late 1970s until her premature death in 1995 from brain cancer. The “social practice” duo became known for their distinctly American, community-based projects that synthesized conceptual, Land art, and interventionist strategies.Ziegler’s solo practice emerged out of the strategies and concerns of his collaborations with Ericson, and over time has loosened “formally and methodologically to allow for a new degree of humor, serendipity, and a certain craftiness to enter his work,” according to Galerie Perrotin.The works in “Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones” reveal the maturity of Ziegler’s solo practice. Although he continues to be influenced by his collaborations with Ericson, he has the confidence to create works that play with as well as against the duo’s earlier iconic participatory projects.In “Rock Hard Individualism” (2010), for instance, Ziegler has arranged a collection of found stones into the shape of a map of the United States. But on closer inspection each of the stones appears to have a face with its own expression and personality.On a nearby wall is another major playful work, “Untitled” (2009-2013), which consists of some two-dozen brightly colored toy guns handmade from cardboard, duct tape, foil, and paper by the children of the artist who was unwilling to purchase toy guns for them on moral grounds.Another highlight of the exhibition is two new iterations of “Stuffed” (antique gun cabinet and grandfather clock), a site specific project from Ziegler’s 2001 solo show at the Wiener Secession for which the artist took about 50 museum vitrines, relocated them around Vienna, and stuffed them with straw.The works on show from Ziegler and Ericson’s collaborative practice include “America Starts Here” (1988), Untitled (National Archive stones and Paris rain water) (1992), “Give and Take” (1986), and “Vinegar of the 48 Weeds” (1992).“Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones” is at Galerie Perrotin in Paris until May 30, 2015Follow @ARTINFOFrance
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