Claire Fontaine

Claire Fontaine is a Paris-based collective that presents itself as a fictional artist in a conceptual project that evokes commentary on the art market. Using the name of a popular French notebook brand, the group of artists use “Claire Fontaine” as a penname to explore how pre-existing objects can take on new artistic identities. In the vein of Any Warhol’s iconic Brillo Box or Duchamp’s Fountain, Claire Fontaine seeks to catapult a brand name with a new context.

Claire Fontaine’s collective has said they have a goal of “interrogating the political impotence and the crisis of singularity that seem to define contemporary art today.” The collective’s work often provide criticism on issues like labor and commerce, emphasizing the commercialized burden that sits at the foundation of contemporary art.

Claire Fontaine’s work has been in collections in North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Aspen Art Museum as well as group exhibitions, including the 4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, the 12th Istanbul Biennial, Manifesta 7, and the 2004 Whitney Biennial. Fontaine’s Have Cake & Eat It fittingly hangs in Aventura Mall’s Treats Food Hall.