“Intellectually, I start from everything I see ” declares the versatile artist Hélène Delprat who reveals her universe for the first time at the Galerie Hauser & Wirth. A sentence resonating with the atmosphere of Monster Soup, a colossal exhibition with a multidimensional approach which mixes eclectic sources of inspiration and constitutes a disturbing world full of beauty, darkness, absurdity and grotesque.

The multifaceted artist invites us on a stroll through satirical paintings on war like There is nothing more to do where portraits of Nazi soldiers and levitating military boots coexist with distorted faces from propaganda cartoons. If our gaze lingers on this form of absurdity, it is quickly diverted by an anthology of sculptures, videos and surprising installations which question the notions of memory, trace and heritage in a space where fiction and documentary intertwine .

Everything is full of fantastic characters and creatures with a sometimes monstrous appearance which float on misty and multicolored backgrounds revealing dreamlike compositions where the mysterious character of memory shines through. Apparently meaningless stories guide us on a path strewn with paradoxes, ambiguity, humor and self-deprecation specific to an almost trashy universe that seems elusive. Something is escaping us, keeping us in a perpetual search initiated by the immense creativity of a genius artist.