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With complete freedom, Hervé Di Rosa chose works from the Mucem's collections that touched his sensibilities, creating a piece that echoed each one. Like a ring designed to enhance a diamond or a reliquary intended to magnify the sacred, the artist wanted to embed his works within those of the Mucem. He believed there was a family resemblance between his works and the Mucem's folk art objects. Jean Seisser, artistic director and longtime partner of the artist, designed an inventive and joyful journey, like an archipelago made up of fifteen islets. Each of them resonates objects from the Mucem's collections with a creation by Hervé Di Rosa, thus offering a complete story, freely interpretable by the visitor. Three sculpted panels by Hervé Di Rosa, created on the highlands of Amadoua, in the Noun region of western Cameroon, sit alongside a fairground ride in the shape of a fish. Further on, a ladder made of ox yokes collected in the regions of France by the museum's ethnographers seems to escape (or give wings?) to a resin cow painted by the artist. A long hunting rifle (3,70 m!), once used for waterfowl, is presented amidst a myriad of wooden birds, sculpted years ago by Marius Di Rosa, the artist's father. This collection of hunting decoys is all the more important because it is undoubtedly a founding element in the artist's career: his father, an SNCF employee, spent much of his free time shaping and coloring decoys for duck hunting. Since childhood, Hervé Di Rosa has watched his father work with wood, sculpting and painting it. None of these sculptures were intended for a museum: created on the kitchen table, they were presented on the water, in ponds. Always and wherever he lives, Hervé Di Rosa works with local artisans. Those who, all over the world, know how to update their know-how with each generation, to create works intended for the places where they appear, for the people who live there. Three large paintings on canvas represent Marseille, and the portraits of the Marseillais also form the decor of the suspended screens which mark the exhibition.
A Family Resemblance – Hervé Di Rosa
Mucem
Esplanade du J4, 13002 Marseille
Until September 1, 2025
Ticketing online
Entrance: 18 €
