CHAOS Tote Shopping Bag – off-white Kunsthalle Originals

Product detailed description

The motif on the bag is based on Chaos, a work in which Annette Messager uses a tangle of metal wire. The chaotic lines form a sculptural object that sits somewhere between a drawing, a tangled mass and something that has slipped out of control. On the bag, the original three-dimensional work becomes a bold, graphic image.

Chaos captures the way Messager brings opposites together in her work. She refers to these kinds of unlikely combinations as “bad marriages” – bringing together things, images or ideas that would not normally belong together. The tension between them creates the humour, unease and playful disruption that run throughout her practice.

The bag features a bold print on an off-white background and measures 39 × 37 cm, making it practical for everyday use. There is plenty of room for groceries, books, a laptop or whatever else you need to carry with you. A useful everyday bag that also brings a motif from the exhibition into your daily life.

Annette Messager

Annette Messager is a French artist whose work spans installation, drawing, collage, photography and sculpture. She represented France at the 2005 Venice Biennale, where she was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. Her work has been exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, MoMA in New York and Hayward Gallery in London.

Her work has long explored the body, gender, desire and memory. Her early works examined systems of control and stereotypes surrounding women, while from the 1980s onwards she developed new forms of the female figure – witches, monsters, heroines and protesting figures. Humour and subtle subversion run throughout her practice.

Her work often brings opposites together – care and violence, order and chaos, playfulness and unease. She enjoys combining things that seem not to belong together, creating space for humour, provocation and unexpected meanings.