Experience the time of a Parisian stay surrounded by works of art that you love. Explore the young artistic guard in a house designed by one of the pioneers of modern architecture. Learn about contemporary art from around the world without moving from your neighborhood. Or visit an art fair set up in an agricultural meadow. Thanks to new concepts carried by entrepreneurs full of audacity and ideas, art opens up to new experiences. For target? The collector, the informed public… but also the stranger who does not always dare to cross the intimidating threshold of large galleries. These initiatives are most often motivated by the desire, or rather the challenge, to dynamite the codes of an environment known to be conservative and to reinvent the connection with the public. A disruptive momentum in short, in reaction to a post-covid crisis situation (low attendance at traditional galleries, shift in sales to the internet), but also in response to the movements of a changing world, from ecological transition to #metoo wave going through the revolution ofGenerative AI... It's hard to resist this new breath of fresh air, especially when theart itself carries, in its DNA, a quest for new horizons. Focus on three new ways of experiencing contemporary art.

Genius Loci

Founded in 2021. By Marion Vignal

The genesis : Renowned journalist in design and art, also independent curator, Marion Vignal already knows the backstage of the art world when in 2021 she launches her first “exhibition-experience” in a place as prestigious as it is inaccessible: the only house in France by Gio Ponti, in Garches. Making a jewel of architecture the center of a polyphonic and transversal artistic conversation: the idea of this art historian inspired by the Bauhaus for whom art is part of a total experience, of the lines of the building to the tapestry adorning the walls, creating a buzz among the public. The non-profit Genius Loci (pronounced “loqi”) was born.

@ Yves Gellie / Maison Bernard endowment fund

The principle: « I wanted to offer a sensory experience of architecture. In this logic, the notion of “genius of place” (“genius loci”) interested me: all that a building can provide in terms of sensations, the way in which it is crossed by lights, sounds, the people who live there ". Each exhibition therefore strives to resonate the atmosphere of exceptional private houses (such as an artist's studio built by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, collective spaces of Ricardo Bofill or even an apartment of Auguste Perret where he lived for many years). years) that the expert knows how to unearth by convincing the owners to open their doors to the public for a few weeks. At the rate of one exhibition per year, each curation mixes art disciplines, big names like emerging scene, performances like NFT.

@ Yves Gellie / Maison Bernard endowment fund

Good to know: Genius Loci is currently developing its “Circle of Friends”, a private circle of patrons, individuals or companies, supporting the association. In exchange for membership, they benefit from an exclusive experience each month: visits to private architectural sites or artists' studios, trips in small groups. The next one will take place in September, in Venice, following in the footsteps of Carlo Scarpa, on the occasion of the 2024 Art Biennale.

3 questions for Marion Vignal

The art world code that annoys you the most?

The principle of the “short list” widely practiced in the art world. This selection of big names of the moment that we will find everywhere and which reflects a lack of audacity and curiosity.

Your genius idea?

Open architectural masterpieces that have gone under the radar or are completely inaccessible. The art world, which can sometimes feel a little jaded, is always looking for new things, so this idea appeals. There is also the idea that our visitors are always treated as important guests: each visit is accompanied by a guide.

Next exhibition?

Until June 23, in Théoule-sur-Mer, in the Maison Bernard, an extraordinary construction by Antti Lovag where there will be an installation by students from Villa Arson, an in situ creation by Xavier Veilhan, a piece by Marion Mailaender and more other artists. Némo Flouret will be expected on several dates for a dance performance.

geniusloci-experience.com

Marion Vignal at Maison Bernard © Damian Noszkowicz

Amélie Art House

Since 2015. By Amélie du Chalard

The genesis : When this former investment banker at Rothschild exhibited her first artists in 2015, in her apartment in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the intuition came to her to rethink the model of the contemporary gallery, by imagining her first House d'Art as a place of life, beautiful, lively, warm which makes you want to linger. Already all the bricks behind its success are on the table: breaking the museum model of the “white cube”, multiplying the mediums, with painting, sculpture but also ceramics and textiles, finally, making the human fiber vibrate in each encounter thanks to his innate sense of relationship. “ Finally returning to what the greatest art dealers were already doing after the Second World War, like the visionary Paul Rosenberg in his house at 21 rue La Boétie ».

Photographed by Gaelle Le Boulicaut
Instagram: @gaelleleboulicaut
Web: www.gaelleleboulicaut.com

The principle: In its beautiful space on the left bank of Paris, and for several months in New York, on the ground floor of a “landmark” building in Soho, it is the collector who decides on his exhibition. The hanging is rethought every ten days depending on the next meetings. “ It's telling a new story each time, even if the common thread connecting our artists remains the same ". His choices as a gallery owner are mainly oriented towards abstraction with a particular importance given to the material. Five exhibitions per year and per location, this time open to all, are added to a program of events (such as “learning to see” dinners led by curator Pierre Wat) and services as smart as they are sophisticated: a workshop coaching, BtoB curation, a collection of houses for rent (ambroise-collection.com), etc.

Photographed by Gaelle Le Boulicaut
Instagram: @gaelleleboulicaut
Web: www.gaelleleboulicaut.com

Photographed by Gaelle Le Boulicaut
Instagram: @gaelleleboulicaut
Web: www.gaelleleboulicaut.com

Good to know: With an artist mother, Amélie du Chalard could not be at a better school to support the artists in her gallery. Support that is provided over time, through different means. Publication of monographs, meetings with art critics, links to institutions, residencies in Paris and Provence.

3 questions for Amélie du Chalard

The art world code that annoys you the most?

The opacity on prices and waiting lists... I don't understand how there are works that you can't buy if you don't have the right name. With us, this is not the case and the prices are displayed.

Your genius idea?

Rethink the gallery concept from top to bottom, in order to make people want to be interested in art again.

Next exhibition?

Francis Limérat, an artist who died last year. A tribute exhibition. Until June 14 in Paris.

ameliemaisondart.com

Amélie du Chalard

Hatch

Since 2022. By Margot de Rochebouët and Giovanna Traversa

The genesis : The two young women were assisting Alexandra Fain, during a previous edition of Asia Now, when they had the idea of a joint curatorial project. Thus Hatch was born, “to hatch” in English. In less than three years of existence, their structure has organized 13 exhibitions on 13 different sites and has had several lives. “Curatorial platform” then nomadic “project space”, Hatch should soon move into its own gallery. Margot de Rochebouët and Giovanna Traversa, both in their twenties, are faithful to their line: “ defend an emerging and engaged art, pushing the boundaries between mediums ».

The principle: The usual term “representation” of an artist is banned from their vocabulary. “ The question of representation is reductive. Because it does not underlie all the commitment that the relationship between artist and gallery owner implies. Even more, it does not take into account the intimate character. We prefer to speak of collaboration ". The duo of twenty-somethings also promotes synergies between artists, as well as with collectors who are increasingly involved in their programming, such as with the Brazilian Simone Coscarelli Parma. And why not, one day, get closer to foreign galleries, through an invitation to present their artists and vice versa. Working collectively is also popular in the art world! This is, for example, one of the keys to the success of the “Basel Social Club”, the young fair created by a group of gallery owners and artists on the same dates as Art Basel, in Basel, in the spring. In an abandoned factory last year, in the meadows of an agricultural farm this year, open to all, with extended hours and a large audience attracted by word of mouth, ranging from VIPs to art students... Enough to break with traditional codes, and fundamentally transform the visitor experience. The latter, initiate or novice, is invited to change their perspective, and even find immediate proximity with the artists.

Good to know: Hatch's artists have most often never exhibited in Paris and belong, for the most part, to the same generation as their gallery owners. Their subjects are those of our time, with a predilection for questions of identity and territory.

3 questions to Margot de Rochebouët

The art world code that annoys you the most?

Annoying is not the right word. What we miss the most is mutual assistance between the players. It is still a little timid, but we are seeing more and more "joint ventures" between large and small galleries. The former need the flexibility, the more personal experience, the control over curation or even the specialization of the latter. The latter need all the expertise of their elders.

Your genius idea?

Not being afraid to work from the start with a clean artistic vision and on ambitious projects.

Next exhibition?

After Art-o-rama in Marseille, from 04/09, "Rythm Typology", for the first time in Paris, historical Italian post-war women artists. A new focus for Hatch: to rediscover historical artists who have marked the history of art.

Hatchparis.com