2017 Art Horoscope
From Orlan at the MEP to David Hockney at the Centre Pompidou and Camille Henrot at the Palais de Tokyo, here's a summary of the contemporary art exhibitions taking place throughout 2017. It's bound to be the most reliable horoscope you’ll come across during this start to the year.
Winter heralds conceptual journeys
The winter season is well under way and will continue at LE BAL. Through the month of January, the venue will take us on a journey in the footsteps of photographer Stéphane Duroy, from the ghosts of old Europe to the upheaval of young America, and from static prints to organic installations (until 9 April). Later in the month, Crédac, the Contemporary Arts Centre of Ivry-sur-Seine, will take on the recent work of two modern young people born in 1988: the dreamlike videos of Lola Gonzàlez and paintings set to music by Corentin Canesson (20 January to 2 April).
February will mark the start of the En toute chose season at the Palais de Tokyo, which will examine our relationships with objects. The programme features a collective exhibit named after the poem All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace as well as seven personal works, including an installation by Abraham Poincheval, the “habitable sculptures” specialist (3 February to 8 May).
Spring promises photographic experiences
The highlight of 2017, the new Month of Photography—renamed the Greater Paris Month of Photography (Mois de la Photo du Grand Paris)—will take place in April, with exhibits extending into the Parisian suburbs. The historical epicentre of the event, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP), will dedicate, as part of a season focused on the body, a major exhibition to
Orlan, the famous artist with the bi-coloured hair (19 April to 18 June). At the same time, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain will narrate the passionate relationship that has existed between photography and the automobile from Jacques Henri Lartigue to Stéphane Couturier and Alain Bublex (April to October).
Preceding a series of events devoted to Africa, the Fondation Louis Vuitton will explore the contemporary African art scene from three different angles starting in late April. The programme features an unprecedented look into the collection of businessman Jean Pigozzi (Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé and Barthélémy Toguo), a dialogue between three generations of South African artists (David Goldblatt, Zanele Muholi and Athi-Patra Ruga) and a selection of works drawn from the collection of the Fondation (26 April to 28 August).
A summer of monographic exhibitions
As part of the Centre Pompidou's 40th anniversary celebrations, and another highlight of 2017, in June the Soulages museum in Rodez will exhibit about a dozen works by Pierre Soulages on loan from Paris. The works will be integrated with its own collection and displayed as a journey through 70 years of painting (16 June to 5 November). The Centre Pompidou will then kick off the summer with the largest-ever retrospective exhibition devoted to the dynamic David Hockney. Paintings, photographs, drawings, video installations and printed materials will be among the more than 200 works by the English artist on display (21 June to 23 October). Shortly after, in Brittany, the Kerguéhennec estate will showcase sculptor Bernard Pagès, a key figure in the French “Supports/Surfaces” art movement—and thus deconstructionism—as an “assembler” of diverse elements, materials and realms (25 June to 5 November). In July, the Frac PACA regional contemporary arts centre in Marseille will unveil the final instalment of a three-part exhibition dedicated to "serial painter” Pascal Pinaud (1 July to 29 October).
Autumn will be a time for reflection
In September, we’ll eagerly make our way to the MEP to try to spot Chinese artist Liu Bolin, still perfectly hidden within his own photographs (6 September to 29 October). Having come to terms with the return from the summer holidays, we’ll proceed to the Palais de Tokyo. After featuring Philippe Parreno in 2013 and Tino Sehgal in 2016, the venue will devote all of its exhibition space to French artist Camille Henrot
in a showcase reflecting on the notion of dependence (18 October to 7 January). Finally, we’ll inch closer to winter with a long-awaited retrospective exhibition devoted to the work of sculptor César, a key figure in the “nouveau réalisme” (new realism) artistic movement, at the Centre Pompidou. It will be an opportunity to delve into some of his most famous series of works including his “impressions” and “human imprints”, and also to encounter some lesser-known projects (13 December to 23 March).
