# Pierre Bismuth

Pierre Bismuth (6 June 1963) is a French artist and filmmaker based in Brussels. His practice can be placed in the tradition of conceptual art and appropriation art. His work uses a variety of media and materials, including painting, sculpture, collage, video, architecture, performance, music, and film. He is best known for being among the authors of the story for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay alongside Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman. Bismuth made his directorial debut with the 2016 feature film Where is Rocky II?.

## Early life

Pierre Bismuth was originally a visual communication student at les Arts Décoratifs. He met François Miehe there, one of his teachers, with whom he subsequently collaborated on several projects. In the 1980s Pierre Bismuth moved to Berlin where he attended Georg Baselitz's class of the Hochschule der Kunst. When he returned to France, he settled in Paris where he shared a studio with Xavier Veilhan and Pierre Huyghe. At the beginning of the 1990s, he settled in Brussels where he gave the opening show of Jan Mot's new gallery on the rue Dansaert. In 2000, he moved to London, prompted by the Lisson Gallery, where he has had several exhibitions since then.
In 2005, after having settled in Brussels again, he was awarded, along with director Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), which many critics consider one of the best films of the 2000s.
Since then, his work has continued to be shown all over Europe and America.

## Work

Through efficient and often humorous gestures, Bismuth interrupts pre-established codes of reading the images and objects that pervade daily life, from headline stories in newspapers to magazine clippings from gentlemen's magazines, to even the color of the walls. In his series From Red to Nothing and From Green to Something Else, Bismuth reproduces a painted wall in each exhibition, subtly altering the color by the addition of a small amount of white or colored paint to the original color. Another series Something less, Something More (2002–2006) consists of thin partitions out of which Bismuth removes circles until as little material as possible remained, while the circles removed from the partitions accumulate on the floor.
In Replaced by the Same (2003), Bismuth plays on the idea of substituting one thing by its double: for each photograph in this series, elements taken from duplicates are glued on exactly the same place as they were on the originals.
Bismuth often plays with the film industry imagery, as in his Jungle Book Project where he uses the different translations of the famous Disney film to create a new Babel like environnement. He is also known for following the movement of actors and actresses hands during a full movie and reproducing these as drawings. Moreover, the re-use of the famous words "The End" or "Coming Soon" featured in movies or trailers is also a recurrent work. "Coming Soon" is featured as a permanent public luminous art work in Geneva.

### Collaborations

A striking aspect of Bismuth's artistic practice consists in his collaborations with other artists from the most various fields. He notably collaborated with Michel Gondry, Jerome Bel, Jonathan Monk, Dessislava Dimova, Diego Perone, Barbara Visser, Angus Fairhurst, Cory Arcangel, Cyprien Gaillard [fr], Mathias Faldbakken or Joe Strummer.

## Exhibitions (selection)

* 2011
In Advance of Unpredictable Usage Conditions, D&A-Lab, Brussels
Cory Arcangel vs. Pierre Bismuth, Team Gallery, New York (with Cory Arcangel)
An Ocean of Lemonade – or the Trouble with Living in Times of Fulfilled Utopias, Smart Project Space, Amsterdam
* 2010
Le versant de l’Analyse, Jan Mot, Brussels
La galerie est heureuse de vous inviter à la nouvelle exposition de Pierre Bismuth, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris
Le psy, l'artiste et le cuisinier, Nuit Blanche, Musée d'art et d'histoire du judaïsme, Paris
Flip Side of the Same, Art Unlimited Basel, Team Gallery, New York
Pierre Bismuth, Fremantle Art Center, Perth
* 2009
Objects That Should Have Changed Your Life, Base Progetti per l'Arte, Florence
Pierre Bismuth, Following the Right Hand Of..., Team Gallery, New York
Neon, Mirror and Gold, Galleria Sonia Rosso, Turin
* 2008
Ruled by Extravagant Expectations, Galerie Christine König, Wien
The All Seeing Eye (The Hardcore Techno Version), British Film Institute, London
The Beauty and the Beast, Galerie Christine König, Wien
Coming Soon, Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
* 2007
Coming Soon, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris
One Man's Mess is Another Man Masterpiece, Jan Mot, Brussels
One Size Fits All, Mary Boone Gallery, Uptown New York
One Size Fits All, Mary Boone Gallery, Chelsea New York
One Size Fits All, Team Gallery, New York
* 2006
Siamo sulla Buona Strada, Villa Arson, Nice (curated by Thierry Davila)
Coming Soon, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica
Most Wanted Men, Erna Hecey, Brussels
Most Wanted Men, Jan Mot, Brussels
* 2005
Pierre Bismuth – Pantone 192 e altri colori, Galleria Sonia Rosso, Turin
The All Seeing Eye, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris (with Michel Gondry)
Tout ce qui n'est pas interdit est obligatoire, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun
In the framework of the Nuit Blanche Festival, Galerie SAS, Montreal
Points de vue, Ville de Nancy, Nancy
Following the Right Hand of Kim Novak in – Kiss Me Stupid, Art Unlimited Basel, Lisson Gallery, London
* 2004
Something Less Something More, Galerie Christine König, Wien
Something Less, Something More – Le Trous de Bale, Art Unlimited Basel, Jan Mot, Brussels
Nel nome del padre (Works After Daniel Buren), Galleria Sonia Rosso, Turin
* 2003
Presque identique, très légèrement différent, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris
Collages fit for General Audiences, Lisson Gallery, London
Pierre Bismuth, Art gallery of York University, Toronto
I Agree - the Idea of Cloning Humans is Disgusting, Jan Mot, Brussels
Arte per tutti, ma capita solo da te, Galleria Sonia Rosso, Torino
* 2002
Quelque chose en moins, quelque chose en plus, Erna Hecey gallery, Luxembourg
The Party, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover
* 2001
Alternance, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel
Our Trip Out West, CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania (in association with Jonathan Monk)
Pierre Bismuth, Centre d'Art Contemporain de Brétigny, Brétigny
Pierre Bismuth, Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv
Closed, Diana Stigter Gallery, Amsterdam
* 2000
Collages, Mot & Van Den Boogaard, Brussels
* 1999
Alternances d'éclaircies et de passages nuageux l'après-midi, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
Quelques comédiens au milieu de quelques acteurs, MAMCO, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva
Pierre Bismuth, MK2 Project-Café, Paris
* 1998
The Party, The Showroom, London
Galerie Mot & Van den Boogaard, Brussels
* 1997
Box, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Plus Min, Renesse,
Pierre Bismuth, Witte de With, Rotterdam
Kunsthalle, Wien
Arborétum, projet public pour la DRAC d'Orléans
Listening Me Watching Them/Humming/Synonymes, Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris
* 1996
Most Wanted Men, Mot & Van den Boogaard, Brussels
Le bruit du son, Lisson Gallery, London
The Blind Film, Tramway, Glasgow
* 1995
Pierre Bismuth, CCC Centre de Création Contemporaine, Tours
Pierre Bismuth, FRAC Languedoc Roussillon, Montpellier
* 1992
La Piéce de Chateauroux, Marcel Duchamp, Châteauroux
Pierre Bismuth, One Five Gallery, Antwerp
* 2011
Une terrible beauté est née, 11e Biennale de Lyon, Lyon
Fluiten in het donker, De Appel, Amsterdam
The End Of Money, Witte de With, Rotterdam
Bild für Bild – Film und zeitgenossische Kunst, aus der Sammlung des Centre Georges Pompidou, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund
Lonely at the top: Graphology, Chapter I, M HKA, Antwerp
* 2010
Prospective XXIe siècle, FRAC Ile-de-France, Le Plateau, Paris
De leur temps 3, 10 ans de création en France/le prix Marcel Duchamp, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, Strasbourg
The Last Newspaper, New Museum, New York (curated by Richard Flood and Benjamin Godsill)
ABC Art Belge Contemporain, Studio National des Arts Contemporain Le Fresnoy, Tourcoing (curated by Dominique Païni)
Exhibition, exhibition / Mostra, Castello di Rivoli, Turin (curated by Adam Carr)
Repetition Island, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (curated by Raimundas Malasauskas)
Chefs d'oeuvre, Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz
Seconde main, ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
FAX, Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong
DOUBLE BIND / Arrêtez d’essayer de mo comprendre !, Villa Arson, Nice
* 2009
GAGARIN The Artists in their Own Words, SMAK, Gent
Editions Vs Objects, CECCH – Centre d’édition contemporaine, Genève
Mille e tre, Le Louvre, Paris (curated by Marie-Laure Bernadac)
White Noise III, Pandora's Sound Box, White Box, New York (curated by Lara Pan)
Mise à l'échelle, Regard sur la collection d'art contemporain au Grand-Hornu, MAC's, Grand-Hornu
IV Bienal de Jafre, Bienal de Jafre, Jafre
Richard Prince and the revolution, Projectesd, Barcelona
Jonathan Monk on Richard Prince, Projecte SD, Barcelona
Following the Right Hand of - Sigmund Freud, Art Basel Film, Basel
Höhenrausch – Art on the Rooftops of Linz, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz
V.O.S.T. OV/OT, iMal, Bruxelles
Talk Show, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
FAX, Drawing Center, New York
Lille 3000, Liquid Frontiers, Tri Postal, Lille
* 2008
The All-Seeing Eye (The Hardcore-Techno Version), British Film Institute, Southbank Gallery, London
No Leftover, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern
Anna Kournikova Deleted By Memeright Trusted System, HHMKV, Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund
One of These Things Is Not Like the Other Things, Uno su Nove Art contemporanea, Roma
Yours, Mine Ours, Appropriation in Contemporary Art, University of Essex Gallery, Colchester
Beneath the Surface, Nils Staerk Contemporary Art, Copenhague
Collateral II, SESC, Avenida Paulista, São Paulo
* 2007
......... Without........., Yvon Lambert gallery, Paris (curated by Adam Carr)
ReadyMedia, Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Belgrade
Group show, Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv
Shallow – Pierre Bismuth, Stefan Brügemann, Martin Creed, Miltos Manetas and Malcolm McLaren, I-20, New York (curated by Stefan Brügemann)
…And Dreams are Dreams, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul
ISCP Open Studios, ISCP, New York
Following the Right Hand of Britney Spears in – Toxic (1 min, 2 min, 3 min), Sadler's Wells, London
Airs de Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (curated by Christine Macel and Daniel Birnbaum)
L'emprise du lieu, Domaine Pommery, Reims (curated by Daniel Buren)
Vilnius is Burning, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
Re-trait, Fondation d'entreprise RicardlFondation Ricard, Paris (curated by Claire Staebler)
Ready Media, Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst, Amsterdam
Entre fronteras, MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, Vigo
* 2006
Sudden Impact, nouvelles acquisitions, Le Plateau, Paris
Being in Brussels, Argos, Bruxelles
Le mouvement des images, présentation thématique des collections du Musée National d'Art Moderne (nouvel accrochage), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (curated by Philippe-Alain Michaud)
Peintures/Malerei, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (curated by Laurent Le Bon)
Figures de l'acteur, Le paradoxe du comédien, Collection Lambert, Avignon
People. Volti, corpi e segni contemporanei dalla collezione di Ernesto Esposito, MADRE – Museo d'arte Donna Regina, Naples (curated by Edoardo Cicelyn et Mario Codognato)
La force de l'art, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais (Paris)lGrand Palais, Paris
Somewhere Else, M HKA, Antwerp
I Love My Scene: Scene 3, Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Message personnel, Yvon Lambert gallery, Paris
Curating the Campus, deSingel, Antwerp
Play Station, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover
The Satellite of Love, Witte de With Museum and Tent, Rotterdam
* 2005
VideoDictionnary, La Casa Encendida, Madrid
Mouvement des deux côtés du Rhin, Ludwig Museum, Köln
Shortcuts, Between Reality and Fiction: Video, Installations and Painting from le Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Bass Museum of Art, Miami
Loud & Clear TOO, Ludwig Museum, Budapest
Post Notes, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Just do it! The Subversion of Signs from Marcel Duchamp to Prada Meinhof, Lentos Art Museum Linz
Group Show, Galerie Roger Pailhas, Marseille
* 2004
Animaux - Des animaux et des hommes, Seedamm Kulturzentrum, Pfaffikon
Diffusion per Vidéo, ZKM, Karlsruhe
This is not a hom this is a house, L’observatoire Maison grégoire, Bruxelles
Duo Track, language and image in audiovisual art from Flanders ans the Netherlands, Argos, Bruxelles
Collage, Bloomberg Space, London
Soziale Kreaturen, How Bodies Become Art, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover
A-Side Film Festival, Side Cinema, Newcastle
Loud & Clear, Institut Néerlandais, Paris
Mute!, Guild & Greyshkul, New York
Paisages Mediatics, Fundacio "La Caixa" Blondel, Lleida
* 2003
Loud & Clear, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Images of Society, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun
(visa para), Contemporary Art Center Vilnius, Vilnius
Loud & Clear, Roseum Universal Studio, Malmo
Mouvements de fonds, Acquisitions 2002 du Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, MAC Marseille
Falsa Inocencia, Miró Foundation, Barcelone
Copyright Europe Exists, MMCH, Thessalonike
Plunder, Dundee Contemporary Arts Exhibitions, Dundee
The Real McCOY, Institut Français, Istanbul
* 2002
The Larsen Effect, Casino Luxembourg, Forum d'Art Contemporain, Luxembourg
Basics, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern
Manifesta 4, European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Frankfurt
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, Villa Galvani, Pordenone
Sans commune mesure. Image et texte dans l'art actuel, Studio National des Arts Contemporain Le Fresnoy, Tourcoing
Video-Zone, 1st Bienale of video Art, Tel Aviv
Invitation, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main
* 2001
Exposition itinérante, Centre d'Art Contemporain de Vilnius, Vilnius
Rooseum-Malmö, Malmö
Plateau of Humankind, 49ème Biennale de Venise, Venezia (curated by Harald Szeeman)
Rendez Vous #2, Collection Lambert en Avignon, Avignon
Ingenting, Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art, Sweden
Nothing, CAC Vilnius, Vilnius
Pierre Bismuth & Jonathan Monk, Our Trip Out West, CAC Vilnius, Vilnius
Exploding Cinema, Cinema Without Walls, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
L'Effet Larssen, O.K. Center for Contemporary art, Linz
Film/video Works – Lisson Gallery at 9 Keane Street, Lisson Gallery, London
* 2000
Korean Biennial, Seoul
Orbis Terrarum/Ways of Worldmaking, Museum Plantin-Mauretus, Antwerp
Rendez Vous #1, Collection Lambert en Avignon
Be seeing you, Centre d'art Contemporain de Brétigny, Brétigny
* 1999
Fourth Wall, National Theatre, London
Cinema, Cinema/Contemporary Art and the Cinematic Experience, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
8ème biennale de l'image en mouvement, Centre pour l'image en mouvement, Geneva
Let's Get Lost, Saint Martin School of Art, London
* 1998
The Cinema Project, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
Happy Hours, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris (with Lawrence Weiner, Douglas Gordon, Marcel Broodthaers, Christian Boltanski)
In-Between, Museum Dhont-Dhaenens, Deurle
La collection Yvon Lambert, œuvres sur papier et photographies, Yokohama Museum, Yokohama
La terre est ronde, nouvelle narration, Musée d'art contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart
Speed, Whitechapel Art Gallery and The Photographer's Gallery, London
Disrupting The Scene, Darkroom Gallery, Cambridge
* 1997
Instant donnés, Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris/ARC, Paris
Jonctions, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Blueprint, De Appel, Amsterdam
At One Remove, The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Coïncidences, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris
International Film Festival, Rotterdam
Wish you were here too, 83 Hill St, Glasgow
* 1996
Wish You Were Here, De Appel, Amsterdam
Fabbrica Europa, Stazione Leopoldo, Firenze
Perfect, Galerie Mot & Van den Boogaard, Brussels
Host, Otto Berchem Projects, Amsterdam
Il futuro dello sguardo, Museo Civico, Prato
* 1995
Ideal Standard Summertime, Lisson Gallery, London
Stoppage, Villa Arson, Nice
CCC, Tours
Watt, Witte de With, Rotterdam
Beyond Belief, Lisson Gallery, London

## Galleries

Pierre Bismuth is represented by the following galleries:
* Galerie Jan Mot, Bruxelles
* Galerie Bugada & Cargnel, Paris
* Christine König Galerie, Vienne
* Team Gallery, New-York
He has among others also exhibited at the Galerie Yvon Lambert in Paris, at the Lisson Gallery in London, at Sonia Rosso in Turin, at Roger Pailhas in Marseille and also at Mary Boone in New-York.