Sans titre (vous allez tous mourir)

2001

White neon

11 x 323 cm (4 5/16 x 127 3/16 in.)

Claude Lévêque's sculpture in white neon lights, Sans titre (Vous allez tous mourir) (Untitled (You Are All Going to Die)), which is in the Pinault Collection, immediately grabs the viewer’s attention. The harsh truth of this grim fact, a source of anguish, contrasts with the soft, fragile writing. The words were written by the artist's mother, Gilberte Lévêque, with whom he wanted to collaborate. The artist invites us into his private space.

Since the 1990s, Lévêque has made refined installations whose artistic language is close to minimalism. Giving perception and experience pride of place, he makes light his main material. Unlike Martial Raysse or Dan Flavin, his neon lights draw on contemporary mythology and his personal history. He creates a series of provocative words recalling the disillusionment at the heart of the punk movement that pervades his work.

The Pinault Collection presented Sans titre (Vous allez tous mourir) at the "Qui a peur des artistes?" (“Who’s Afraid of Artists?”) show in 2009 at the Palais des Arts in Dinard.
Exhibitions