In German, the word “Extrazimmer” refers to a “spare room”, with no specific predefined use, similar to what British author Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) referred to as “a room of one’s own”” a space of experimentation and reflection. In short, a space open to possibilities. And it is indeed this notion that lies at the heart of Joël Riff’s project for La Verrière: a broadened focus that lends itself to encounters and events that could not happen elsewhere.

The exhibition “Extrazimmer” presents the work of Caroline Achaintre, who draws on craft techniques to create forms influenced by a wide range of sources, from non-Western art to urban culture and from German Expressionism to postmodern design. At La Verrière, she presents a series of recent tapestries – most of which were created specifically for this exhibition – centred on a monumental work that has been shown publicly only once before. This central tapestry enters into a rich dialogue with other works by Achaintre made using the same technique, namely hand-tufting wool. Its oversized format (350 x 440 cm) and its prominent motifs endow it with a subtly unsettling presence that is underscored by its title, Gobbler, in a contrast with the downy softness of the wool. The colours and forms of the other tapestries hung alongside it portray what Joël Riff describes as “hybrid creatures blending the carnival spirit, anthropomorphism and science fiction.”