Since the Bronze Age, metal – in its many forms – has accompanied the development of human civilisations. This is thanks both to the various properties of the ores from which metal is derived, be they physical, mechanical, or magnetic, and to the wealth of techniques that have emerged to transform these traits. In this respect, metal is characterised by a deep ambivalence, one which Le Forum curator Reiko Setsuda looks to explore in the exhibition, alongside the launch of the book Savoir & Faire: Metal, published by Iwanami Shoten.

Simply titled “Metal”, the collective exhibition at Le Forum engages with this material in a multifaceted way, through the eyes of three artists who engage with it across the fields of music, cinema, painting and sculpture. In this way, they delve into the ambivalence of this material that spans from medieval alchemy to modern rationality. Its ambiguity also lies in the relationship of metal to darkness and light, and in the many different sounds it can produce, dimensions which give it a symbolic resonance that is broader still. 

Visual artist Élodie Lesourd, who was born in France in 1978, analyses the semiotics of metal music. Her exploration of the links between visual art and music focuses in particular on extreme genres such as black metal. Film director Maiko Endo meanwhile creates inner worlds through video works and installations drawing on materials used in traditional Japanese rituals such as vermilion and mercury. Finally, artist and metal caster Chu Enoki, who was born in Japan in 1944 and whose work has greatly influenced the national art scene, exhibits sculptures made from recycled scrap metal, many of which represent futuristic cities.

With the launch of the third edition of the Skills Academy Japan, dedicated to metal, these three artistic approaches invite the public to experience this material in all its ambivalence.