Tony Regazzoni (born in 1982) took part in the Montrouge Salon of 2009. He is a graduate from the Dijon School of Fine Art and the Lausanne Cantonal School of Art and he has participated in numerous collective and individual exhibitions, such as his solo show in 2013: « To the Glory of the Eclipse, the Eye of the Night » at the Chapelle des Calvairiennes in Mayenne. From the 16th till the 20th of April, he will be headlining at Tootem #2 held by the « Collectif Société Sauvage aux Instants Chavirés » (the wild society with derailed moments collective), in Montreuil. This project explores the consequences for a young generation of artists who have worshipped images from popular culture.

Tony Regazzoni coyly dresses up this source of inspiration (of volcanic proportions!) with a somewhat more noble approach: having been born in the 1980’s the artist professes to be part of the cult which produced consumer entertainment society during the golden hours of postmodernity. (Michael Jackson rather than Derrida). Otherwise put, the moment when the credibility of historical narratives and belief in the future were blown to pieces along with all other categories, be they stylistic, religious, or sexual, in a grand nihilistic ball awaiting the end of the World… Thirty years later, it’s the same old story, but with a much more sober celebration. The fluorescent lights have gone out, the energy has fallen and intellectual rehashing has slowed the dance. Although the artist’s perspective is distanced from the era he evokes, you would be mistaken if you interpreted his stance as a nostalgic reflective one, or as cynical and tired: it’s more one of literal « revival », which explains his uncompromising use of laser beams, phosphorescent paint, and smoke machines for a transcendent esthetical experience - guidelines for this can be found in his film Celebration #01, Pretty Dancing (2011), in which the artist recreates a real nightclub where dancers surrender themselves in a luminous post-minimal setting. Paradoxically, the artist proclaims that nightclubs are the final remaining refuge for our primary nature, a moment of truth in the heart of a ritual found at the summit of superficiality; or indeed the perfect relocation for the Allegory of the Cave. Tony Regazzoni is much less defined by his irony than by his frankness, he sculpts polystyrene into menhirs and other stage props which would be worthy of a rural theme park (The Lost Opera #01, 2012), or a roundabout sculpture. A genuine ambition which he finally achieved with Equinox (2013), during the 20th Art Biennale of Séléstat from September to October 2013.

In this example the mutual absorption of Art and popular culture has reached its climax and is transposed by a subtly ambiguous attitude - close to that of Armand Morin (see the review ‘Le Quotidien de l’Art’ from the 28th of March 2014) - where the meditation on simulacrums is done through the mimicry of the fake. The work is full of similis and crude palisades such as the one which supported the megalithic cardboard monument in Séléstat, in a gyrating suburban epiphany of an archeological site which brought together doric columns and a pyramid which was more of a tribute to the designers of shopping centers than to Imhoptep or Sol LeWitt.

Why insist on a pure form of geometrical abstraction when the very principle has joined the register of the vernacular? While others continue to worship the square, Tony Regazzoni sets out to conquer motifs linked to an older paganism, such as the menhir, or the black moon - which are in keeping with the laws of the line and the circle. After being trained in minimalism, Regazzoni seeks to extricate himself as though it were a form of « ultimate academicism ». To that effect he displays popular culture (his titles form a pop best-of), even rustic references (he has signed masterpieces of pyrography), sometimes vaunting bad taste, or at least the taintedness of a medium (he dreams of signing his name to a fashion show). He calls loudly for Art to be accessible.

In order to shake down the last reactionaries of the Art world.