George Widener at Lafayette Anticipations
Between predictions, oracles, anticipation systems, upheavals, and capitulations, Coming Soon blends contemporary and historical works.
Inspired by the statement of artist Barbara Kruger, “the future belongs to those who can see it,” the exhibition explores what our conception of the future reveals about our present; how hopes, pessimism, desires, and anxieties manifest in it; and how different ways of being are narrated.
On the occasion of this exhibition, which brings together 32 artists, the gallery has loaned a work by George Widener, exhibited alongside Neil Beloufa, Leonora Carrington, Mimosa Echard, Philippe Parreno, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.
Exhibition view Coming Soon. While waiting for tomorrow, Lafayette Anticipations, Fondation Galeries Lafayette, Paris (28 February – 12 May 2023).
George Widener, Time Machine, 2011. Collection Emmanuelle and Guy Delcourt.
Ink and marker on paper, 162,3 x 58 cm.
© Aurélien Mole, Lafayette Anticipations
A former US Air Force technician, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in his thirties. In his case, it manifests as an eidetic memory that allows him to bring a wealth of numerical data relating to his favourite subjects to the surface of his works. Time, magic squares, the Titanic and imaginary megacities are among the recurring themes of his drawings. His work is held in collections including those of the Smithsonian (Washington) and the Centre Pompidou (France), and has been exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in the cult exhibition Le Bord des mondes, in An Alternative Guide to the Universe at the Hayward Gallery in London, and at Lafayette Anticipations in Paris.
He is also profiled in the documentary La Folie art brut, broadcast on Arte.