À la peau confite (2003)

The site-specific boutique at an open-air gallery market in Paris sold sweet and savory products of and for the flesh. This boutique created in collaboration with Delphine Bacri, “À la peau confite,” featured a five-foot marzipan tampon, erotic chocolates life cast from the artist, a prosciutto dress sold by the slice off the body of a performer, and cakes modeled after the amputated breasts of Saint Agatha. The works humorously literalize consumer culture’s cannibalistic drive to devour the female body in media images.

“Edible Dress,” live performance with prosciutto dress

· “Rencontres A3” group exhibition with Orlan, Pierre & Gilles, others, Place Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France

Alain Bernardini, Sarah Venturi

À la peau confite (2003)

The site-specific boutique at an open-air gallery market in Paris sold sweet and savory products of and for the flesh. This boutique created in collaboration with Delphine Bacri, “À la peau confite,” featured a five-foot marzipan tampon, erotic chocolates life cast from the artist, a prosciutto dress sold by the slice off the body of a performer, and cakes modeled after the amputated breasts of Saint Agatha. The works humorously literalize consumer culture’s cannibalistic drive to devour the female body in media images.

“The Giant Tampon,” sculpted marzipan, styrofoam structure and cord, 5 x 1.5'

· “Rencontres A3” group exhibition with Orlan, Pierre & Gilles, others, Place Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France

Alain Bernardini

À la peau confite (2003)

The “Consume Me” boxes are a series of three paper sculptures. Each sculpture is a codex of four small boxes which contain a chocolate replica of a body part of the artist (tongue, nipple, or lips), and a small flipbook of a mouth saying “consume me,” “taste me,” or “savour me.” Photographs anticipating the act of consumption of the included body part adorn the exterior. The box hinges at the locus of their anticipated contact.

The series humorously and seductively implicates the viewer in the erotic cannibalism of consumer society, the fetishized image of the white woman in the media, and the appropriation of exotic commodities through colonial conquest.

“Taste Me” box with tongue on the exterior, 4 x 5.5 x 4"

· “Rencontres A3” group exhibition with Orlan, Pierre & Gilles, others, Place Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France

Alain Bernardini

À la peau confite (2003)

The “Consume Me” boxes are a series of three paper sculptures. Each sculpture is a codex of four small boxes which contain a chocolate replica of a body part of the artist (tongue, nipple, or lips), and a small flipbook of a mouth saying “consume me,” “taste me,” or “savour me.” Photographs anticipating the act of consumption of the included body part adorn the exterior. The box hinges at the locus of their anticipated contact.

The series humorously and seductively implicates the viewer in the erotic cannibalism of consumer society, the fetishized image of the white woman in the media, and the appropriation of exotic commodities through colonial conquest.

Body cast edible chocolate sculpture, 1.5 x 2 x .5"

· “Rencontres A3” group exhibition with Orlan, Pierre & Gilles, others, Place Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France

Alain Bernardini