Maison 1729: From The Vineyards of Champagne to the High Line is open to the public from now until June 9, 2023 at 500 W. 22nd Street, New York, NY.

*Eva Jospin* by Flavien Prioreau. Image: Ruinart

With Ruinart, Eva Jospin's Theatrical Cardboard Works Come to the United States for the First Time

Selected as Ruinart’s Carte Blanche resident artist for 2023, Eva Jospin’s broad interpretation of the Champagne Region feels somewhere between scientific modeling and expert archiving and fantastic theater and modeled worlds. As part of Ruinart’s pop up, Maison 1729: From The Vineyards of Champagne to the High Line and open to personal interpretation, Promenade(s), as the show is known, documents the “site of the Montagne de Reims as it appeared to the French artist, as composed of different geological and temporal strata, real and imaginary.” Past Carte Blanche artists include Vik Muniz and Jeppe Hein.

Promenade(s) is Eva Jospin’s debut in the United States

*Forêt, 2023* by Eva Jospin. Image: Ruinart

The centerpiece of the pop up is Eva Jospin’s range of work, which is on display for the first time in the United States. We cannot seriously talk about Eva Jospin’s practice without mentioning cardboard, a constant material in the artist’s work and an unexpectedly adaptable one. In one work, cardboard performs as a forest with its brown, mallet-hewed texture and shadowy layering. Substantial tree trunks fraction into delicate limbs and climbing tendrils, offering an air of magic and infinity. The illusion of depth is further achieved by changing the angle at which the cardboard is cut. The practical brown color of the material can effectively go from dusty caves to tree bark to earthy mud, with little manipulation.

As scaled grottoes or gardens, stacked layers of fluted sheets and liner make ideal indicators of architecture, as either geometries of columns, arches, or otherwise. As caves, masses of sanded cardboard or rough-cut sheets can make for a great variety of rock formations. The horizontal lines of stacked cardboard sheets offer the natural cue of age and time. Flat sheets of smooth cardboard make excellent pedestals and staircases. On the extremities and the edge of the work, the precision of the cut makes the entire piece seem like a cross-section of academic quality.

Models of Sustainable Humanity

Whether it is a cave, forest or grotto, you can almost imagine yourself amid the magical territories that Jospin has crafted, something like dollhouses of natural environments. In its uniform character with natural structures made of the same material as man-made ones (with only incidental use of metals as supporting material), Jospin communicates her biggest idea yet: that we have worked with and created within the earth for thousands of years, activated by its constance and unpredictability, and that is it possible to sustainably indulge in its beauty.

As it pertains to Ruinart, Jospin recognizes the delicate balance of production and ecological stewardship. As the oldest Champagne house in a region where climate changes are present challenges, sustainability and living with the natural reality is a concern of existential character for Ruinart. To this end, the brand is also presenting a video documentary at the pop up, examining the sustainable techniques they’ve been practicing for generations.

*Carmontelle* by Eva Jospin (2023) Image: Ruinart

Along with sculptures and video, there are additional works which are extremely archival in tone and character, like a rare treasures unearthed from a rediscovered trove. Works in embroidery and drawing communicate a luxuriant exploration in craft and legacy. A carmontelle, named so after Louis Carrogis Carmontelle, the 18th-century set designer, is of cartographic inspiration and finished in Indian ink. It manually unravels and is encased in plexiglass, introducing even more ideas around preservation, serving as a thought-provoking finale in the stroll through Promenade(s).

Promenade(s), ultimately, is a multi-modal exercise in examining how humans have lived and worked among ancient natural forms such as caves and old-growth forests, as well as celebrating craft and legacy. If anything, Promenade(s) helps situated humanity amid nature, recognizing that one day, even today will be ancient history.

Visiting Maison 1729: From The Vineyards of Champagne to the High Line

Maison 1729: From the Vineyards of Champagne to The High Line, a true rendezvous of cultural convergence, is open now through 9 June, 2023 at 500 W. 22nd Street, New York, NY (View on Google Maps), with opening hours below.

Opening Hours of Ruinart’s Maison 1729

Sunday, May 21: 11:00am – 5:00pm
Thursdays - May 25, June 8: 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Fridays- May 26, June 2, June 9: 10:00am – 5:00pm

In a partnership with The High Line, Ruinart is also conducting immersive tours of The High Line, guiding esteemed guests from the confines of Maison 1729 onto a transformative journey with docent-lead experiences, examining the preservation of indigenous flora and the nourishment of biodiversity in both New York City and in the Champagne region. Following the tours, guests will be met by a Ruinart ambassador and brought to Maison 1729: From Reims to the High Line, for a deeper look at Ruinart’s commitments to art and sustainability. Tours can be scheduled here.