Claire Fontaine is an artist collective founded in 2004 consisting of two members who remain anonymous, often referred to as “assistants,” yet have in recent years been identified as possibly being a duo of Italian and English artists. Despite their elusive identity, Claire Fontaine has become a prominent figure in contemporary art, engaging in a unique blend of conceptual and politically charged work. The collective takes its name from a popular French brand of school notebooks, a choice that underscores its interest in issues of identity, authorship, and the commodification of creativity.

The group’s work often critiques the conditions of contemporary capitalism, focusing on themes of labor, power, and the alienation inherent in consumer culture. It describe itself as a “readymade artist,” implying that, like the industrial products it sometimes uses, artistic identity can be manufactured and replicated. This concept allows the group to explore the role of the artist in society, questioning traditional notions of originality and authorship.

Claire Fontaine’s art practice spans various mediums, including installation, sculpture, video, and text-based works. The works themselves often merge the aesthetics of Minimalism with an iconography inspired by the 1968 student protests and activism, transforming everyday objects into symbols of defiance. The work is deeply influenced by Marxist theory and the Situationist International, reflecting a consistent engagement with modern mechanisms of power and control. The art invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with consumer culture and the structures that govern their daily lives.

One of Claire Fontaine’s best-known works is the series of neon signs Foreigners Everywhere, the first of which was made in 2004. It has been produced/translated as a piece into more than thirty languages—several of them extinct—and is an ongoing project. Foreigners Everywhere was the title of this year’s 60th Venice Biennale and originated with the Turin-based collective known as Luther Blissett. This group was active in the early 2000s and was involved in anti-racist and anti-xenophobic activism in Italy.