June 12, 2019

Eden Fine Art Gallery | "Vide Ton Sac" by Fred Allard

by Valerie Stepanova

On a warm summer evening, SoHo’s Eden Fine Art Gallery invited its guests to come in and experience Fred Allard’s New York exhibition first-hand. Titled Vide Ton Sac (Empty Your Bag), the showcase pays homage to Chanel’s iconic pieces and to its late artistic director Karl Lagerfeld — just a few blocks away from the Chanel boutique.

While browsing the collection, gallery guests enjoyed Veuve Cliquot bubbly with a side of Chanel-themed desserts and temporary tattoos. The Vide Ton Sac series is a metaphor for disclosing something very personal — emptying your bag, revealing its essence and divulging its contents.

Each handbag in this collection is enclosed in a translucent material with bright and vivid colors and filled with various recognizable objects, both luxury and mass market. Chanel’s Coco Noir perfume bottles are presented in Allard’s work on par with Chupa Chups lollipops. “Une collaboration imaginaire,” the French artist smiled.

In his pieces, the artist likes to juxtapose or combine street and luxury to form a unique object. Consistent with this tenet, 2,000 empty Diet Coke cans have welcomed guests into the gallery space. Works presented at the gallery mix two very distinct brands — Chanel and Coca-Cola — to create a mix of styles where luxury and mass consumption intersect.

“It’s very interesting, to mix two symbols: one is Coca-Cola, it's very popular, and Chanel is very luxury,” the artist said. “I love this mélange des genres.”

What’s more, gallery guests can tailor this mixture according to their won artistic vision and personal preferences. One can peruse the custom bar (located on the gallery’s second floor) to construct their own art object that is a handbag. Choose your size, color, filling, chain and handle — assume you’re an artist and let your imagination do the rest.

In two weeks, Allard is presenting the collection in its entirety in the luxurious Hotel Lutetia in Paris. Meanwhile, stop by Eden Fine Art Gallery on Broome street to enjoy contemporary sculpture and make use of this opportunity to create your own objet de l’art.