Suzanne Valadon: A World of Her Own

Dear Readers,

I am thrilled to share with you the exciting opening of Suzanne Valadon: A World of Her Own at the Centre Pompidou-Metz (April 15 to September 11, 2023), a retrospective I curated of Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) whose life and work continue to captivate us today. This show will bring together more than 200 works by Valadon and by artists that influenced her. The drawings and paintings by Valadon have rarely been shown in France, and many of them are from Degas’ personal collection. Valadon’s life and work bridged the 19th and 20th centuries and reflect major social and cultural shifts that occurred during this period. Today, the Centre Pompidou holds the most important collection of her works. Despite her historical importance, no exhibition has celebrated Valadon in France since her last retrospective at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris in 1967.

On June 10 we will open Bonne Chance, the first solo exhibition in a French museum by Elmgreen & Dragset. Bonne Chance (June 10, 2023 to April 1, 2024). The exhibition takes its title from the French for "good luck" and features a series of interconnected installations that play with ideas of chance and fate. As the artists themselves explain, "Our works deal with the absurdity of existence and the human condition, but they are also infused with humor and irony. We want the visitors to be entertained but also to reflect on the deeper meaning of their own lives."

On the same day, we will open Worldbuilding: Gaming and Art in the Digital Age (June 10, 2023 to January 15, 2024), curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist. The exhibition will transform the top floor of the museum into one big lively arcade, exploring the ways in which contemporary artists have engaged with video games and made them into a new art form. As Obrist explains, "In the digital age, video games have become one of the most important cultural forms of our time, shaping not only our leisure time but also our sense of identity and community. This exhibition brings together a wide range of artists, especially young, relatively unknown artists who are exploring the creative possibilities of gaming."

Currently on view, the exhibition Repetition (February 4, 2023 to January 27, 2025) brings together emblematic works from the Centre Pompidou collection, exploring the theme of repetition as a subject, a method, and a constraint in the production and reception of art. As the curator Éric de Chassey notes, "Repetition is one of the most fundamental strategies of modern and contemporary art, from the repetition of motifs and patterns to the repetition of gestures and actions. This exhibition invites visitors to explore the rich and varied ways in which repetition has been used by artists throughout the 20th and 21st centuries."

On December 31st, we will celebrate the new year with Lacan, the Exhibition: When Art Meets Psychoanalysis. (January 1 to May 27, 2024) curated by Marie-Laure Bernadac and Bernard Marcadé. This show will explore the relationship between artistic creation and Lacanian psychoanalysis, featuring loans such as Courbet’s The Origin of the World (once owned by Lacan), Caravaggio’s Narcissus, Magritte’s The Human Condition, and Bourgeois’ Fillette (Sweeter Version).

The Centre Pompidou-Metz is an inspiring place for creation, reflection, and exchange. Architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines conceived the museum as a space without borders between inside and outside. In the Paper Tube Studio, a participatory installation by Kimsooja entitled, Deductive Object. (Un)fold (February 4, 2023 to September 4, 2023), invites us to create a cartography of our mind using rice paper. The garden, recently reimagined by Gilles Clément, also reflects our commitment to creativity and sustainability. In The Forum (the entry hall gallery), Elmgreen & Dragset's monumental building, The One & The Many, will succeed the exhibition-installation, Sculptures for Lovers, created by Thomas Houseago for this atypical exhibition space.

Throughout the year, the museum will pulsate to the rhythm of an exciting program of associated events, including lectures, panel discussions, screenings, and performances. Dance will continue to be central to our program. For his fourth event, Boris Charmatz will perform SOMNOLE on October 4th and 5th, and Vinii Revlon will transform the museum with his Black & Gold Voguing Ball on October 8th. In addition, on June 17th in our garden, François Chaignaud will perform a recital about Isadora Duncan. Two programming highlights will include one of Hans Ulrich Obrist’s well known marathons around Worldbuilding on June 10th and the international symposium on Suzanne Valadon on September 9th. These events and more will provide great opportunities for the exchange of ideas.

The Centre Pompidou-Metz is committed to fostering an environment that stimulates creativity, reflection, and discourse and serves as a platform for exploring the intersection of various forms of artistic expression. As a dynamic hub of contemporary art, our institution aims to attract a diverse and international audience that can dive into our programming through our exhibition catalogues or in person.

We hope you will join us.

Yours,
Chiara Parisi

contact us : presse [​at​] centrepompidou-metz.fr