From october 1st to 29th, Galeries lafayette is going all out to support contemporary young creators.

During this year’s FIAC event (international fair for Contemporary art), Galeries lafayette has decided to lend a helping hand in promoting 10 young artists who are among the most gifted of their generation.

From october 1st to 29th, each artist will show one of his most emblematic works at the Galeries’ Gallery, Galeries lafayette’s exhibition space dedicated to art of every style and format. We will discover the work of Saâdane Afif, Eric Baudart, Michel Blazy, Delphine Coindet, François-Xavier Courrèges, Richard Fauguet, Didier Marcel, Mathieu Mercier, Nicolas Moulin, Tatiana Trouvé, Jean-Luc Verna. The art on show will express these young artists’ strengths and originality. several mediums are used : installation, sculpture, photography, video, etc.

In France, private initiatives for contemporary art are rare and young artists often struggle to make their way. Galeries lafayette has always been a supporter of fashion and creation, and has come to the aid of many a designer. This is its response to the art world. The exhibition aims to show off the quality of the french art scene. Every day 80 000 french and foreign visitors passing by the famous department store on boulevard haussmann in Paris will have the opportunity to admire the work of these young artists.

Nevertheless, betting on the talents of a generation is not enough: by the end of the exhibition, its conceptors Mrs Ginette Moulin (Chairwoman of Galeries lafayette’s supervisory board) and Mr Guillaume Houzé, both art connoisseurs and collectors in their own right, will buy the entirety of the works on show.

The exhibition will become an annual event and may become part of the contemporary art calendar in Paris.

Interview

“Antidote”, an exhibition featuring 10 young French artists, will debut in October at La Galerie des Galeries, at the heart of the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann. This project has been initiated by Mrs Ginette Moulin, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of the Galeries Lafayette Group and Mr. Guillaume Houzé^*, who curaated the exhibition.

What prompted you to embark on such a project?

Guillaume Houzé: It was an observation that triggered this project. While visiting galleries during my travels, I realized that French artists suffer from a lack of recognition and representation in France and even more abroad. I thought that I could try to do something about this situation and utilize our family company, Les Galeries Lafayette, to promote these young artists.

Ginette Moulin: Guillaume shared with me his reflection about the situation that French artists are facing. When he explained his project to me, I immediately realized it fell within the tradition of support that Les Galeries Lafayette have given to young artists and creators. My grandfather, who founded the company, was an art connoisseur. He built up a collection of paintings while backing artists of his time. My parents followed the same path and Les Galeries Lafayette started organizing exhibitions. The most famous one in the immediate aftermath of World War II featured Nicolas de Staël, who was fairly unknown at the time. Besides, many interior designers, among whom the Adnet brothers, have worked in the Hausmann department store. This is why this new proposition, which is in the spirit of what we have always done, was immediately very appealing to me, both from a cultural and a corporate point of view.

Guillaume, you chose the artists featured in the exhibition, what criteria did you have?

G.H.: I wanted to assemble a group of artists between 30 and 40 years old, working in France, representative of a lively and promising scene. My choices are by nature very personal. I started looking with a very open mind to end up selecting only 10 artists, for the time being.

This project will have two phases: first the exhibition, then the acquisition of all the works…

G.H.: Yes, the artists will be presented at la Galerie des Galeries, a large space dedicated to all forms of creation, during the FIAC and the whole month of October. At the end of the exhibition, my grandmother and myself will purchase all the works featured in the the show.

You are thinking about renewing this initiative…

G.H.: It seems important to me to jump start our commitment to this young scene. We also would like to transform from this initiative into a perennial project, by renewing the exhibition on a yearly basis. Our ambition is to insert the project among the important “rendez-vous” of the contemporary art world.

Interview by Françoise-Claire Prodhon

*Great great grandson of Théophile Bader, the founder of the Galeries Lafayette, Guillaume Houzé is himself an entrepreneur. He has founded “Aire de jeu”, a company geared toward the childhood world. An avid art collector, he initiated the “Antidote” project.