Exhibition produced and developed by In extenso, Clermont-Ferrand. Text by Katia Porro

…Display, transmission, tricks, secrets, symbols—these are themes we discussed with Sophie T. Lvoff while she prepared her solo presentation Crazy Boots. The work stems from reading forty-seven books during her pregnancy and postpartum period, as well as reflecting on containment—the gestating body, a book and its content, a bottle filled with liquid. A riff on the monochrome and a situation-installation shake these themes into an ambiguous cocktail, served from [the] blue book-bottles themselves. And if Sophie is trained as a photographer—although today her work also expresses itself through language, objects and spaces—her photographic practice should be understood broadly: as a gesture of framing a non-reality within reality, of display, and of unsettling the banal, be it on a photographic surface or in space.

A shadow of a doubt emerges from the street, as the display window of In extenso is covered with an adhesive sticker of a zoomed in image of grapes, tricking passersby into questioning the nature of the premises: cave à vins? supermarché? A few steps further, one peeks in to find a bar-cum-bookcase (or bookcase-cum-bar?), behind which the artist serves calimochos (with Pepsi, not Coke) and white wine spritzers à la Stephen Collier on the night of the opening [and closing]. A zoomed-out version of the green grapes photograph from the window scales the wall. Although the grapes simply happened—that is, they were the subject of one of the artist’s most recent and favorite photographs, taken in Bretagne in 2025—the symbolism runs deep. From power to abundance, fertility, hospitality and indulgence, the grapes—and their vines—also represent knowledge, coming full circle.

This looping is not only felt in the repeated motifs—let’s call them the regulars—but also in certain gestures, ticks inherent to the artist’s practice—let’s call her the bartender. Ticks, and also tricks (don’t forget to tip!)….

As for the title of the exhibition, it refers to a nickname given to the artist unbeknownst to her—before she heard it through the grapevine—prolonging the reflection on what is presented (said) and what is hidden (kept secret). The lyrics of the theme song from Cheers ring out a little differently.