Bourse de Commerce–Pinault Collection, Paris
May 2021
May 22–December 31, 2021
To celebrate its recent opening the Bourse de commerce, Pinault Collection presents its inaugural exhibition, Ouverture (Opening), which features some 200 works by thirty-two contemporary artists, ranging from paintings, sculptures, and video to installations, photography, and performance art.
This remarkable show features in the vast central rotunda an ensemble of wax candle sculptures by Urs Fischer, the main sculpture being a reproduction of The Rape of the Sabine Women (1579–1583) by Giambologna. High up in the rotunda are several pigeons that look down from atop by artist Maurizio Cattelan. The presentation makes use of all ten exhibition spaces and showcases in situ works throughout—inside and outside. The first floor of the building is the photography gallery featuring works by Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, and Richard Prince. The works of two African-American artists will be displayed. According to reports, François Pinault has acquired thirty pieces by David Hammons over nearly forty years and this the first time that this rare ensemble of works will be on view in their entirety. Works by Kerry James Marshall will be displayed on the second floor which is dedicated to paintings.
The section on painting, which began with the three monumental portraits by artist Rudolf Stingel, continued throughout the galleries on the second floor and perfectly showcases the choices of the inaugural exhibition. Furthermore, the architectural features of the building are shown to their advantage: the transparency, natural light, dual-aspect views and curvature of the walls, all of which constitute the singularity of this space. The unusual layout, mixed from the point of view of genre, origins, and cultures, is open to all generations of artists: those born in the 1950s (Marlene Dumas, Thomas Schütte, Miriam Cahn, and Kerry James Marshall), artists born in the late 1970s (Lynette Yiadom-Boakye), the 1980s (Florian Krewer, Xinyi Cheng, Claire Tabouret, and Antonio Oba), and the 1990s (Ser Serpas).