THE 10 EXHIBITIONS TO NOT MISS IN PARIS THIS MONTH

By Crash redaction

THE 10 EXHIBITIONS TO NOT MISS IN PARIS THIS MONTH

image above: exhibition view Jannis Kounellis © Monnaie de Paris, 2016, photo: Manolis Baboussis, courtesy of the artist.

Jannis Kounellis at La Monnaie de Paris

Jannis Kounnelis, eminent artist of the italian postwar scene of Arte Povera, transforms the 1000-square-meter salons space at the Monnaie de Paris in a dramatic exhibition going forward the fresco-painting art with an installation exploring the theme of war and metallic materials. Indeed, metal is a symbol for coins and currency that honors the XVIII century palace. The public can directly experience the works of art wandering around the rooms, where the installations are emphasized by the classic decoration of the Palace: columns, marble and gilding.

From March 11, 2016 to April 30, 2016
Monnaie de Paris
11, quai de Conti, 75006 Paris
Open every day from 11am to 7pm, Thursdays until 10pm
www.monnaiedeparis.fr

Jannis Kounellis solo show at Galleria Continua – Les Moulins

On a same note, a Jannis Kounellis solo show is on until May 8, 2016 at Galleria Continua – Les Moulins in Boissy-le-Châtel. The exhibition brings together the artist’s more recent work and his questioning around the role of the artist and the social mission of art in our contemporary society. Indeed, as a major figure of contemporary art for the last forty-five years, Jannis Kounellis works, for the realization of this exhibition, with « structures of resistance » bringing to life the most intrinsic aspects of human experiences. A large installation made of wardrobes, exclusively conceived for Galleria Continua, occupies the center of the exhibition and it is traversed by a line of coal while a series of minor works made with metallic material and black coats is exposed in the rest of the space.

From October 18, 2015 to May 8, 2016
Galliera Continua
46 rue de la Ferté Gaucher
77169 Boissy-le-Châtel (Seine-et-Marne)
www.galleriacontinua.com

Niele Toroni at Marian Goodman

Marian Goodman Gallery is pleased to host the Niele Toroni solo exhibition in Le Marais Parisian neighborhood. Belonging to the first generation of minimalists painters of the 60s, his practice has always had the only purpose to « affirm the existence of painting as such ». Unvaried since 1967, Toroni has been applying imprints of a no.50 paintbrush at regular intervals of 30cm, using any type of surface. Rejecting all forms of subjectivity, the artist explores the meaning of pictorial activity without constructing any message or story around it.

From March 5, 2016 to April 16, 2016
Marian Goodman Gallery
79 rue du Temple 
75003 Paris
www.mariangoodman.com

Tony Cragg at Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin

Thaddaeus Ropac hosts in the vast gallery space in Paris Pantin a solo exhibition by Tony Cragg, one of the most distinguished contemporary sculptors. Following the artist’s identification as a materialist seeking and exploring new materials for his works, the exhibition is featuring 25 sculptures of steel, bronze, wood, fiberglass and stone. Cragg’s approach suggests several meanings, most important a conception of the world based on physical phenomena and the relationship between human being and his environment. A circular movement shapes the rhythm of the sculptures transforming them in open structures of visual cosmos.

From February 11, 2016 to June 30, 2016
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
69, avenue du Général Leclerc 
93500 Pantin
www.ropac.net

BENTU: chinese artists in a time of turbulence and transformation at Fondation Louis Vuitton

Taking its name from the Chinese term « motherland », BENTU is an exhibition featuring 12 Chinese artists from all generations living in mainland China: Cao Fei, Hao Liang, Hu Xiangqiang, Liu Chuang, Liu Shiyuan, Liu Wei, Liu Xiaodong, Qiu Zhijie, Tao Hui, Xu Qu, Xu Zhen, Yang Fudong. The name of the exhibition unveils its main theme: the reconciliation of « local » and « global » bentu with the aim of rediscovering Chinese identity. The exhibition mixes traditional local cultures with new forward-thinking technologies, showing the contemporary Chinese society’s complexity due to the extremely fast evolutions of the country. Indeed, the artworks underline the economics and ecologic transformations as well as the changing relationships between city and countryside. The aim of BENTU is to highlight the transient nature of Chinese art through the work of artists with a strong personality.

From January 27, 2016 to May 2, 2016
Fondation Louis Vuitton
8, Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi
Bois de Boulogne 75116 Paris
www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr

Gina Pane at Kamel Mennour

This is the second solo exhibition dedicated to Gina Pane at the Kamel Mennour gallery in Paris. A major figure of body arts of the 70s and 80s in France, Gina Pane – born in Biarritz in 1939 and raised in Italy – provided a new lecture on the art of performance until her passing in 1990. In fact, she preferred the term « actions » to describe her art, which was closely linked to nature. Using her body as her main medium, she also extended her practice using photography, sketches, or sculpture with the help of various natural materials. One of which being felt, a fabric reminiscent of her childhood and the Piedmontese mountains where she grew up. The exhibition offers to rediscover three of her major works spread over 30 years: Souvenir enroulé d’un matin bleu (1968), Action de Chasse C’est la nuit chérie… (1979-1981), and La Prière des pauvres et le corps des saints (1989). The exhibition promises to give an immersive look into Pane’s poetic, intimate, and celestial vision.

From March 12th to April 16th, 2016
at Kamel Mennour, 6 rue du Pont de Lodi 75006
www.kamelmennour.com

Eva Barto, The infinite debt,  Level One, gb agency

The infinite debt is a hybrid space conceived by artist Eva Barto where the concept of exhibition can be associated with the snake biting its own tail, also called ouroboros. The exhibition is a reflection on our economic model and the obvious failures of it. The viewer finds himself in an ambiguous space where objects don’t seem to quite fit and leave to think they belong to a fictive company, apparent victim of the economical gamble. The exhibition gives a strong perspective on notions of trust (ironically also the name of this imaginary company), gain and loss, and the endless gamble of our goods, leading to the irresolution of our economic reality. The infinite debt embodies immobilism and endless consumption, and questions the relation between creditor and debtor involving the idea of dependance and culpability – an ever-growing concept in today’s world.

From February 4th to March 19th
Level One, gb agency, 18 rue des 4 fils 75003 Paris
www.gbagency.fr

Daido Tokyo, Daido Moriyama at the Fondation Cartier

Curated by Hervé Chandès and Alexis Fabry, Daido Tokyo displays in an unusual way the recent works of Japanese artist Daido Moriyama in the spaces of the Fondation Cartier. A major figure of Japanese photography, Moriyama is once again put forward by the Fondation, after his first French exhibition in 2003. The exhibition consists in a vast ensemble of color photographies that depict the Tokyo of today. Moriyama’s color photographs remained little known until now but it is an ever-present motif in the artist’s work. As a second part to the exhibition, the artist was commissioned to create an exclusive diaporama based on black and white photographs, which is projected on several screens as moving diptychs. As for the color photographs, they stand between traditional photography and street posters: rather than being hanged on a wall, they exist between cement pillars, which enable the viewer to wander around them – just like Moriyama’s work is a wandering experience.

From February 6th to June 5th, 2016
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 261 boulevard Raspail 75014 Paris
www.fondation.cartier.com

Journiac Vol. 4, Michel Journiac at Patricia Dorfmann

Journiac Vol. 4 is the fourth installment of a cycle of exhibitions initiated in 2008 and dedicated to the work of French artist Michel Journiac, a major symbol of body art in the 70s and 80s. A former theology student with the ambition to become a priest, Journiac soon found his being to be incompatible with such aspirations. Through art, Michel Journiac found a way to free himself from nature and accept who he was. Such revelation resulted in a work influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, and Journiac soon became one of the champions of a liberated speech, with Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault. Journiac’s work is liberating and addresses desire by un-inhibiting and removing any sense of guilt.

March 12th to April 9th, 2016
Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, 61 rue de la Verrerie 75004 Paris
www.patriciadorfmann.com

Bitter Sweet Symphony at Untilthen Gallery

Untilthen Gallery opened its doors in 2015 upon direction of ancient collaborators of notably known Yvon Lambert Gallery. The new space, situated in Saint-Ouen just nearby the homonym flea market, is an old industrial hangar of 500 square meters full of light to better enhance its artists works. This month until May, Untilthen is hosting Bitter Sweet Symphony exhibition featuring a collective of artists including Stefan Bruggerman, Douglas Gordon and Claude Lévêque. The exhibition is questioning the role and power of art through our decade, a post-romantic society in which all emotions are controlled and standardized. Inspired by the eponym song « Bitter Sweet Symphony » by the 90s group The Verve, the exhibition expresses the tragic of our times.

March 13th to May 8th, 2016
Galerie Untilthen 77, Rue des rosiers 93400, Saint-Ouen
www.untilthen.fr