“I wanted this inaugural exhibition to express a desire for openness and attest to the dynamism of this collection, which is in constant resonance with its time. I therefore made the choice of turning the museum over entirely to the artists so that they could confront their creations with the genius of the site itself.”
François Pinault
Unique artworks and ensembles: painting, sculpture, video, installation, photography, sound and light works, performance
Titled “Ouverture”, this exhibition is a manifesto of the range of artistic practices — painting, sculpture, video, installation, photography, performance — present in the collection and reflects the equilibrium between generations, cultures, origins and gender. It is also a manifesto of the diversity of the themes represented in the collection, or rather its key features: the obsessional issues of death, “the passage of time”, vanity (which does not exclude occasional moments of humour), proclamations of material poverty, the radicalism of the approaches committed to political, social, racial and gender issues…, a deeply humanistic vision, characteristic of works that unrelentingly question the human figure, the face and the body.
Some thirty artists, over a third of whom are presented for the first time by the collection
These themes merge through the artworks on display, with an emphasis on ensembles — the constitution of large corpuses is, in fact, one of the Pinault Collection’s most prominent features — shown for the first time, as well as site specific projects, designed for, or adapted to, the very specific context of the Bourse de Commerce.
A view of art that highlights diversity
This new contemporary art museum was born out of a collector’s desire, marked by his gaze and the strength of the relationship he developed with the artists over several decades. In keeping with the exhibitions presented in Venice since 2006, and the off-site exhibitions since 2007, “Ouverture” confirms the personal, passionate and committed nature of François Pinault’s cultural project. The opening of the Bourse de Commerce represents a new phase in this project, where nothing is ever static, and must always be questioned and constantly challenged. The title captures the spirit of this first exhibition: opening meaning the entry of the first visitor, opening meaning the liberty of a perspective on art ; continually seeking new and emerging situations; and finally, creating bridges between contemporary art and a wide and varied audience.