FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LALANNE (1927-2008)

Claude Lalanne noted about her husband and artistic partner, "François-Xavier is so afraid of being taken for an artist that he tried to make utilitarian objects" (Les Lalanne, exh. cat., Centre National d'Art Contemporain Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1975, p. 37). The result is a certain form of de-sacralization of the artist's sculptures which takes nothing away from the poetry and elegance that emerge from the simple lines of these Teeny Bells designed in homage to Marcel Duchamp's wife, Alexina "Teeny" Duchamp. Each equipped with a small bell, they introduce a break to traditional sculpture, addressing the gaze, the touch, and ears of the passer-by who will dare to handle them. By irreverently achieving this union between sculpture and utilitarian object, Lalanne rediscovers a form of universality which tends to reach the sensitivity of all.