By chance, when ‘Arty Fouray,’ a possible nickname for Arthur Fouray – matching the character count of Warhol’s name (4 for the first name, 6 for the last name, with each syllable having a double meaning) – was transcribed vocally on a phone, in 2014, it resulted in an intriguing acronym: RT4A.
The shift can be seen as both Warhol-inspired and reminiscent of Cage’s artistic approach – a playful experiment with unpredictable and arbitrary source material: a given name. The moniker Arthur Fouray was consciously deconstructed into a form beyond traditional, ego-driven notions of artistic identity. Thus, RT4A can be viewed as a response to the cultural imperialism prevalent in the cultural sectors of the 21st century, where birth names and cultural inheritances are often overemphasised.
By shedding an identity and adopting an impersonal acronym, RT4A performs a kind of symbolic violence against the artist’s ego and the cultural capital typically associated with a known, individual artist’s name. In the same way, the concept of ‘institutional critique’ put forth by artists such as Hans Haacke and Andrea Fraser questioned the inherent power structures of arts institutions and sought to expose their underlying biases. Impersonal acronyms could reconfigure the politics of recognition in the art world.
A mutable identity resonates with Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto (1985), as it echoes the cyborg’s erasure of boundaries between the identity of a human and a machine. RT4A, an impersonal and robotic cypher, takes the place of an ego-laden individual artist identity. In this context, it even becomes a simulacrum – a copy without an original, an entity that undermines the difference between the ‘real’ and the ‘imaginary’. Highly influenced by Jean Baudrillard’s postmodern theory of ‘hyperreality’ – where the real and the simulated become indistinguishable – the RT4A project can be seen as an avatar, a simulacrum, complicating the distinctions between ‘real’ artists and ‘constructed’ identities.
As a signature, it embodies a paradox: simultaneously the mark of an artistic act and an impersonal symbol obscuring individual identity. This duality reflects artistic practices’ profound tensions and paradoxes as they navigate between personal expression and the collective forces of culture and society. It not only facilitates the incorporation of other artists’ practices into RT4A but also ensures that its creations are not confined to the temporal boundaries of a single artist’s lifespan. It gives rise to an anti-Benjaminian aura – one that transcends a singular, irreplaceable presence and instead potentially structures by or into the collective.
The impersonal acronym, multiplicity, and diversity of practices can be seen as an assertion of a ‘right to opacity’, an invitation for viewers to engage with the artworks on their own terms. RT4A can be seen as a manifestation of utopian longing, a hope for more equitable, inclusive, ‘out of the box’ art worlds.
Birds
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2233, Courtesy of the artist
Chunk
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2232, Courtesy of the artist
Distance
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2231, Courtesy of the artist
Fast
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2230, Courtesy of the artist
Feast
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2229, Courtesy of the artist
Formidable
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2228, Courtesy of the artist
Interrogations
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2227, Courtesy of the artist
Mmm
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2226, Courtesy of the artist
Nice
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2225, Courtesy of the artist
Sloppy
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2224, Courtesy of the artist
Spray
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2223, Courtesy of the artist
Yes
2022-2023, Ceramic, 32 x 32 x 2 cm
RT4A2222, Courtesy of the artist
Index
Agreable
2022-2023, Ceramic, 28 x 28 x 12 cm
RT4A2219, Courtesy of the artist
Exclamations
2022-2023, Ceramic, 28 x 28 x 12 cm
RT4A2218, Courtesy of the artist
Hope
2022-2023, Ceramic, 28 x 28 x 12 cm
RT4A2217, Courtesy of the artist
No
2022-2023, Ceramic, 28 x 28 x 12 cm
RT4A2216, Courtesy of the artist
Slash
2022-2023, Ceramic, 28 x 28 x 12 cm
RT4A2215, Courtesy of the artist
Specific
2022-2023, Ceramic, 28 x 28 x 12 cm
RT4A2214, Courtesy of the artist
Treat
2022-2023, Ceramic, 28 x 28 x 12 cm
RT4A2213, Courtesy of the artist
Index
Conservatism kills
2022
Ash, graphite powder and primers on linen canvas
41 x 75 x 24 cm
RT4A2212
Courtesy of the artist
Utilising three pre-stretched and pre-coated commercial canvases, typically favoured by hobbyists or weekend artists, joined together, Conservatism kills emulates the style of mandatory warnings found on cigarette packs. It is a spin on the notorious ‘Smoking Kills’ phrase, recontextualised to critique a pervasive and arguably more perilous mindset.
The canvases, once unified, were further treated with several layers of diverse primers (incorporating five different types). The inscribed text was crafted from a blend of cigarette ash, graphite powder, and a transparent acrylic medium to secure the pigments to the painting.
The triptych, emblematic of classical art, paired with the statement ‘conservatism kills’, presents a delightful juxtaposition. The restrained use of black and white colours, coupled with the Helvetica typeface – which, though now ubiquitous, was once a rare find in typesetting and thus became a symbol of culture during the second half of the 20th century – further underscores a discourse of conservative standardisation masked as elegance.
Index
ScandalE Drama <3
2022
Acrylic on cotton canvases
18,5 x 88 x 2,5 cm
RT4A2211
Courtesy of the artist
Scandal + Drama = Love?
Scandal = Drama = Love?
Scandal/Drama/Love?
Scandale Drama <3 juxtaposes the French ‘Scandale’ with the English ‘Drama’, frequently employed in French to humorously accentuate the melodramatic facets of passions, and a heart. It might be perceived as a reaction to recurrent cycles of personal and often extraneous dramas woven into intricate love affairs. Alternatively, it could be an ode to passion, to love, dramas, divided across three interconnected canvases painted as a cohesive piece.
Index
Foundation
2022
Acrylic and pencil on cotton canvas
61 x 146 x 5 cm
RT4A2210
Courtesy of the artist
Drawing from an observation by an art world colleague, Foundation delves into an analogy. It likens the Apple TV adaptation (2021–) of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation (1951–1993) to the private art foundations of the 21st century. Predominantly, these foundations champion inclusivity initiatives, technological progress and are fervent proponents of ecological activism.
Ecology – inclusivity – technology: Are these pooled pursuits not strategies aimed at preserving Earth’s species, much like psychohistory serves as a preservation tool in Asimov’s saga? Do they not provide a foundational framework for envisioning life on another planet, echoing Asimov’s concept of relocating a scientific intelligentsia to a remote planetary outpost to save a galaxy from barbarism?
Index
At the Dawn of the XXIst Century...
2022
Acrylic and pencil on cotton canvas
120 x 120 x 5 cm
RT4A2209
Courtesy of the artist
‘At the dawn of the XXIst century, art was no passion. What was called “contemporary” was addiction.’
This contentious and seemingly exasperated statement was inscribed with a greasy pencil on a Post-it note, magnified six times its original size. The initial plan involved repurposing an old, unused, and unstretched canvas by affixing it to the main canvas, aiming to simulate the appearance of an actual sticky note. However, this attempt was visually unappealing.
Consequently, the blue square note, borrowing the same colour code of the #aaafff painting series (2014–2017), was directly painted onto the neon yellow canvas, still emulating a Post-it note attached to a bright cardboard folder. After the statement’s initial iteration, modifications were made to make it more ambiguous or ambivalent, revealing the edits and self-censored sections.
Index
IDEA
2022
Acrylic and toothbrush on linen canvas
30 x 113 x 3 cm
RT4A2208
Courtesy of the artist
Simply changing a K into a D, IDEA was as a personal challenge to reproduce complex typography using only tape while inventing the letter D, based on the other letters from the logo ‘IKEA’ only with the help of calculations, rulers and tape. The letters formed by the play on words are painted using a toothbrush. They are then blended into the background by applying matt varnish, evoking the imagery of a rainy day outside a vast IKEA shopping mall – a place designed to inspire new ideas for your interior decoration.
Index
Duty
2022
Acrylic and pencil on linen canvas
46 x 105 x 5 cm
RT4A2207
Courtesy of the artist
This piece arose from the requirement of a profile picture for artists on the Apple Music platform, which mandates a centred human face devoid of typefaces or promotional contents, leading to the painting’s title and written text: Duty. Naturally, the Self-Portrait in Profile by Marcel Duchamp (1957) sprang to mind as the point of reference for a profile picture.
The final rendition retained only the backdrop sky from a portrait taken by a loved one, captured beside a pool at a palace on the French Riviera. The term Duty juxtaposes this ‘idyllic’ imagery with the obligation to produce images that reveal oneself through portraying a human figure and not just using any image or representation. Here, the choice was a portrait in negative, defined by what surrounds it (a sky).
Index