AT THE STRASBOURG MUSEUM OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART UNTIL 7 NOVEMBER, THE “CIRCUITS COURTS” (SHORT CIRCUITS) EXHIBITION GIVES ART ENTHUSIASTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY ALL THE ABUNDANCE OF CONTEMPORARY ART CREATION IN ALSACE... AND BEYOND.
At the entrance of the museum of modern art, the expression wall given to the public is always crowded. It has already been repainted twice since the place reopened, and visitors continue to write how much they missed the museum and culture during the health crisis. The short circuits exhibition is rather like a tribute to this unprecedented year, during which the museum wanted to support artists by continuing with a dynamic acquisition policy, like a grand finale to 10 years of collecting and patronage. The support fund set up by the Strasbourg Eurométropole thus enabled artists who were little represented in public collections to join those of MAMCS, like Mali Arun, Léà Barbazanges, Guillaume Barth, Valérie Graftieaux, Aurélie de Heinzelin, Silvi Simon, Gretel Weyer. This also gave the public the thrill of being able to see works which had never been exhibited before.
WORKS CONNECTED TO STRASBOURG AND ITS REGION
The 800m2 have been dedicated to showcasing the works of the 42 artists, women and men aged from 30 to 70, that have been noticed by the MAMCS curators during the last decade. There is a common theme behind their diversity, with full responsibility taken: how they are related, in one way or another, to Strasbourg and its region. Some are from artists from the territory; they live there or have stayed there, or studied at the Haute école des arts du Rhin art and music school. Other works come from donations from collectors in the region; their artists had perhaps never set foot in Alsace, but their works somewhat represent a certain regional leaning. Finally others have been acquired on the regional art market, during contemporary art fairs like the St-art show, or from Strasbourg and Alsace galleries. It is a way of saying that you do not need to go to Paris to be impressed.
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GETTING CLOSELY ACQUAINTED WITH THE ARTISTS
As soon as you enter the first room, the heterogeneity of works questions, destabilises you, fires up your imagination. What central theme can be found between the Fernande Petitdemange’s whalebone photos, the mirror by Ettore Sottsass, the ceramics of Gretel Weyer, Anne Loubet’s two-person paintings, Lisa Sartoria’s wallpaper, or the stencils by François Génot? Rather than look for a path between these works, the exhibition curator and MAMCS director, Estelle Pietrzyk, chose to let them converse together and lead artists and collectors to take part in this mediation.
Alternative references were preferred to the traditional panels displayed near the paintings and sculptures to present the author or give an informed interpretation of their work: photos of interiors giving a glimpse of collectors’ private lives, founding elements of the artist’s work (works of art, books, record sleeves, landscapes or objects), souvenirs and reflections. They enable the life of the works to be alluded to and invite the public to establish a close connection with their creators or patrons, who accepted to talk about themselves, like a farmer talks about their land to the person who has come to buy their products.
Gretel Weyer – Guetteur – 2018 – © Mathieu Bertola/ Musées de la ville de Strasbourg
“This exhibition is not made to be well-informed, it is not an art demonstration. Its aim is more to give the visitor a special moment with each artist. And due to its plurality, even those who say they do not like contemporary art will find it interesting. We also wanted to introduce new publics to contemporary art. To do so, you cannot be dogmatic but must accept all observations”, explains Estelle Pietrzyk.
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NATURE, THE STORY, ABSTRACTION: 3 OF THE TERRITORY’S “SOUND ASSETS”
60% of the works exhibited as part of “Circuits courts” joined the MAMCS collections through a donation or patronage. A phenomenon that, far from clichés, requires a lot of work from the museum’s teams. “We receive many propositions, but we only accept a minority of these works, because there would be no interest in keeping them with no perspective of being to exhibit them one day”, the director explains.
Some fundamentals return often, like the question of the connection with nature, which has been shown in artists’ work for a long time. It is studied from every artistic angle, from the landscapes by Yannick Demmerle (alias Jan Raymond Faust) to the jars of the zoological museum, photographed from all angles by Patrick Bailly-Maître-Grand, inviting us to contemplate our own environment with a new approach. There is also a taste for story-telling, that of lives pictured by Françoise Saur, like a melancholic house clearance; and just as poetic, the calligraphies of the much missed Jean-Marie Krauth, discretely dispersed through the exhibition rooms. Finally there is the importance of abstraction, represented by the eminent women Aurélie Nemours and Geneviève Asse, like a continuation given to the line the museum’s modern collections have drawn since the beginnings.
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AN ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE WITH NO INTERVENTION
After spending months experiencing virtual social lives and digital connections, Estelle Pietrzyk set herself an objective: to bring this exhibition to life with no intervention. The gamble works because “Circuits courts” only shows two videos, one of which a virtual reality work, far removed from any idea of a screen. Mutatis, by Mali Arun, invites the viewer into an nocturnal immersion in the marge greenhouse of the botanical garden, to explore humans’ beliefs, rituals and myths. A first at the MAMCS.
“Circuits courts – Artistes et mécènes du territoire ; une décennie d'acquisitions en art contemporain”, at the Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The exhibition can be seen every day (except Mondays) until 7 November 2021.
Guided tour on registration on 17 October at 2:30pm. Estelle Pietrzyk, the museum’s head curator, will look back at ten years of acquisitions by the MAMCS in terms of contemporary art.
On 3 November 2021, at 6:30 pm, two works by Mali Arun, “Paradisus” and “La maison”, will be shown in the museum’s auditorium.
Guided tour at the exhibition’s closing on 7 November at 2:30 pm
Author: Nathalie Stey
About the author
Nathalie Stey is a freelance journalist who likes Alsace, who ran a magazine dedicated to river transport for 20 years based in Strasbourg. Since then she has widened her spectrum and today works as a regional correspondent for Le Monde newspaper and Le Mensuel éco Grand Est, all while continuing to write about the waterways sector that she endeavours to introduce to others.