Une Chambre à Soi: The Nocturnal Journey of Creativity and Introspection at Château La Coste

The concept of sleeplessness and the boundary between night and day have long fascinated artists, writers, and thinkers. In “Une Chambre à Soi,” the group exhibition curated by Margaux Plessy at Château La Coste in the Richard Rogers Drawing Gallery (from September 14 – November 12, 2024), the essence of these fleeting nocturnal moments is transformed into a visual narrative. The exhibition, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s seminal essay A Room of One’s Own, brings together 15 emerging international artists who explore the tension between dreams and reality, serenity and restlessness, while drawing on the contributions of four leading female figures in art history.

Plessy’s curation at Château La Coste is deeply personal, born from her own battles with insomnia. She sees sleepless nights not as a loss but as a source of inspiration. This vision, an experience familiar to many creatives, has been translated into a sensory and immersive exhibition where the very act of sleep, or lack thereof, becomes a powerful artistic instigator.

Setting the Scene: A Bedroom of Imagination at Château La Coste

The exhibition space is designed as an intimate bedroom setting—a room imbued with secrecy, dreams, nightmares, and the solace or chaos that only nighttime can bring. Visitors embark on a journey through fragmented phases of a sleepless night, from sunset to dawn, guided by an evolving series of works that reflect the complex emotions of these twilight hours. As the audience steps into the gallery, they are invited to close their eyes, as if preparing for sleep. What follows is an exploration of the space between dreams and waking life, where consciousness hovers delicately on the edge, and creativity flourishes.

The title “Une Chambre à Soi” is a nod to Woolf’s advocacy for a private space where women, in particular, could freely cultivate their imagination. Much like Woolf’s essay, which emphasizes the importance of autonomy and privacy in fostering artistic genius, Plessy’s exhibition at Château La Coste offers a metaphorical room of one’s own—a space for reflection, creation, and contemplation. The bed, a recurring motif throughout the works, serves as both a place of rest and a battleground of inner turmoil.

Sunset: The Calm Before the Storm

As the exhibition begins, the tone is one of tranquility and gentle introspection. Claudia Keep’s luminous, warm-hued paintings of duvets and pillows evoke a soft invitation to relax, to drift into a state of serenity. Alongside her works, Tracey Emin’s reclining figure, Thinking More of You (2012), conveys a poignant sense of longing and vulnerability. The body, stretched out in a languid pose, speaks to the intimacy of the bedroom, where the most private thoughts and desires surface.

Nathanaëlle Herbelin’s Fenêtre bleue (2023), a gauzy window, subtly hints at the twilight hour—between wakefulness and the dream world. This delicate threshold marks the transition from day to night, a time when the mind begins to unwind, and the weight of the day’s events slowly lifts. The viewer, gently lulled by these images, is invited to close their eyes and let go.

At the center of the room, Dorothy Cross’s marble sculpture of two pillows, each topped with an ear, introduces a tactile experience of sound and silence. The ears, softly resting on the pillows, suggest a state of listening—a night spent attuned to every creak, every sigh, every heartbeat. Meanwhile, Kiki Smith’s silver Crescent Bird (2015) perches nearby, offering a symbolic connection to the moon and the mysteries of the night. These early moments set the tone for what is to come: a journey through the emotional landscapes of a sleepless night.

Of particular note are the contributions of Julian Farade and Alex Foxton, whose works form crucial touchstones within this intricate exploration of sleep and sleeplessness. Both artists delve deep into the psychological layers of the exhibition’s themes, offering visual expressions that reflect not only on personal introspection but also on the collective experiences of anxiety, fear, and longing.

The Beast Within: Julian Farade’s Gardien de mes nuits

Julian Farade’s Gardien de mes nuits (2019) marks a pivotal moment in the exhibition, a dramatic crescendo in its emotional arc. Farade’s work confronts the visitor with a terrifying, beast-like figure—a creature that appears to have crawled out from the depths of a nightmare. Its looming presence evokes the primal fears that often emerge in the dead of night: the things that lurk just outside of conscious perception, the anxieties that wake us up in cold sweat. His menacing character seems to prowl the gallery, standing as a sentinel of terror, protecting the threshold between waking and dreaming, real and imagined. The figure, draped in deep, immersive hues of blue, immediately creates a visceral reaction, drawing the viewer into the same unsettling uncertainty that one might feel during a night terror.

Farade’s mastery lies in his ability to trigger a response akin to that of being chased or haunted, as though the painting itself embodies the restless spirit of insomnia. The blurred boundaries of reality that Farade explores resonate deeply with those who have experienced the half-conscious state of lying awake in the darkness, unsure whether what they perceive is dream or reality. The use of blue—a color traditionally associated with calmness and contemplation—becomes here a tool of disquiet, cloaking the scene in a shroud of uncertainty. Farade transforms this normally tranquil hue into one of oppressive heaviness, challenging our preconceived notions of nighttime serenity.

In Gardien de mes nuits, Farade not only explores fear but also probes into the psychological tension that accompanies sleeplessness. As the exhibition progresses, his contribution serves as a pivotal reminder of the emotional volatility that insomnia can provoke, shifting the mood of the viewer from the lulling calm of the earlier works to the frantic, desperate hours of the night where sleep seems unreachable.

Alex Foxton: Dreamer or Drifter?

In contrast to Farade’s exploration of the nightmarish, Alex Foxton’s work invites visitors to Château La Coste to drift into a softer, more reflective dreamscape. Known for his exploration of masculinity, identity, and emotion, Foxton’s contributions to “Une Chambre à Soi” operate on a more introspective level. In keeping with his wider body of work, Foxton blends figuration and abstraction to create haunting, ambiguous portraits that evoke the sensations of drifting between wakefulness and sleep. His figures, often distorted or fragmented, seem to exist in a dreamlike state of suspended animation, as though captured in the moments just before sleep overtakes consciousness.

Foxton’s works within the exhibition unfold like snapshots of dreams, offering glimpses of figures caught in their own reveries. The loose, gestural brushwork suggests the fluidity of thought during these in-between moments. Yet, there is also a sense of unease in Foxton’s figures; their faces, though often beautiful, are obscured, distorted, or erased, reflecting the unstable nature of identity in dreams. This ambiguity calls into question the viewer’s relationship to the subjects—is the figure a representation of the self, a projection, or an unknown presence from the subconscious?

There is a poignant fragility in Foxton’s handling of color and form, which aligns with the broader thematic concerns of the exhibition. As visitors move through the space, they encounter Foxton’s work at a moment where the night deepens, yet there remains a sense of quiet introspection. His work echoes the universal experience of lying awake, unable to sleep but not entirely present, drifting through thoughts, memories, and fragmented visions.

As the exhibition progresses, the mood shifts from calm to unease, echoing the restlessness of insomnia. The works begin to reflect the internal battles waged in the dead of night—the racing thoughts, the unanswered questions, and the spiraling anxieties. Louise Bourgeois’s text-based series What Is the Shape of This Problem? (1999) captures this mental struggle. Her minimalist phrases, sharp and evocative, express the frustrations of overthinking, the incessant cycling of thoughts that often accompanies sleeplessness.

Victoire Inchauspé’s bronze sculpture of wilted flowers, slumped against a wall, mirrors the feelings of exhaustion and helplessness that accompany insomnia. The once-vibrant blooms, now drooping and lifeless, are a stark representation of the body’s surrender to fatigue. Genesis Belanger’s porcelain installation Scrub, Spritz, Splash (2019), a playful yet eerie collection of bathroom objects, provides a moment of light reprieve, though it remains tinged with the surreal and uncanny. Nearby, Inès Longevial’s surreal drawings on bathroom paper further blur the lines between the ordinary and the fantastical, merging human, animal, and plant forms into strange hybrids.

Nightmares: The Dark Heart of the Exhibition

The emotional climax of “Une Chambre à Soi” at Château La Coste arrives with a series of works that delve into the realm of nightmares. The gallery space, now engulfed in dark, royal blues, plunges the viewer into the depths of night terror. Julian Farade’s Gardien de mes nuits (2019), with its frightening beast-like figure, evokes the visceral sensation of being pursued in a dream—a predator chasing its prey through the unconscious mind. The intensity of this piece is matched by Constance Lafonta’s Sursaut (2023), which captures the jolt of alarm that comes with a sudden awakening in the middle of the night.

Marcella Barceló’s The Night Mare (2024) deepens the sense of dread. A solitary naked figure is depicted as being watched or followed by a menacing black horse, an ancient symbol of nightmares and terror. The figure’s vulnerability is palpable, and the blurred boundaries between reality and imagination heighten the tension. As the night deepens, the works of Adrian Geller, Djabril Boukenaissi, and Xie Lei further explore the intense emotions of fear, sadness, and panic that often plague the sleepless hours.

Dawn: The Promise of a New Day

As the exhibition draws to a close, a sense of relief washes over the visitor. Dawn breaks, bringing with it the promise of renewal and peace. Kenia Almaraz Murillo’s La Ciudad de Oro (2024), with its glowing halo and golden threads, signifies the arrival of morning—a soft, comforting light that dispels the darkness. Etel Adnan’s engravings, with their serene, pastel hues, offer a moment of calm reflection. The night is over, and the day ahead holds new possibilities.

Nathanaëlle Herbelin’s David (2020), a figure smoking in the morning light, captures the quiet aftermath of a sleepless night—the contemplative moments before the rush of the day begins. And finally, Sophie Calle’s Ainsi de suite, with its inscription “Here lies secrets,” serves as a fitting end to the journey. The night has passed, and with it, the secrets it held.

“Une Chambre à Soi” at Château La Coste is an evocative and deeply personal exploration of the night’s emotional landscape. Through the works of these talented emerging artists, Plessy offers a space for introspection, creativity, and connection—a room of one’s own, where the mysteries of the night unfold in all their beauty and terror.