Endeavours and Masterpieces

Artists: Mariam Abouzid Souali, Adam Adach, Louka Anargyros, Noel W Anderson, Bianca Argimón, Daniel Arsham, Christian Babou, Jean Bedez, Neal Beggs, Julien Beneyton, Berdaguer & Péjus, Guillaume Bijl, Julia Borderie, Lilian Bourgeat, Marie Bovo, Guillaume Bresson, Elina Brotherus, Roderick Buchanan, Johanna Cartier, Nina Childress, Lieven De Boeck, Raoul De Keyser, Gérard Deschamps, documentation céline duval, Marianne Dupain, Fédération Française d’Art, Lorraine Féline, Aurélie Ferruel et Florentine Guédon, Barry Flanagan,Jean-Baptiste Ganne, gethan&myles, Jef Geys, Pierre Gonnord, Estelle Hanania, Lea Guldditte Hestelund, Camille Holtz, Bella Hunt & Ddc, Fabrice Hyber, Taro Izumi, Zuzanna Janin, Jacques Julien, Jeremy John Kaplan, Jérémy Laffon, Stéphane Le Mercier, Frédéric Lefever, Camille Llobet, Fiona McMonagle, Gilles Mahé, Éric Maillet, Fatima Mazmouz, Présence Panchounette,Bruno Peinado, Laurent Perbos, Guillaume Pinard, Antoine Proux, Antonio Recalcati, Delphine Reist, Stefan Rinck, Alexandra Riss, Pascal Rivet, Éléonore Saintagnan, Alain Séchas, Chloé Serre, Jérémie Setton, Yoan Sorin, Susanne Strassmann, Maryline Terrier, Hank Willis Thomas, Barthélémy Toguo, Olivier Tourenc, Yves Trémorin, Sarah Trouche, Thomas Tudoux, Salla Tykkä, Thomas Wattebled

Endeavours and Masterpieces examines art’s relationship with sport through more than 350 works by nearly 100 artists from France and abroad, in which fascination, criticism and humor live side-by-side.

Today, art cannot help taking account of sport, which has become an ever-present backdrop to our contemporary societies. On the initiative of the Frac Sud—Cité de l’art contemporain, and at the invitation of its director Muriel Enjalran, the curator and art critic Jean-Marc Huitorel has conceived an exhibition in three leading cultural institutions in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region and the City of Marseille: Frac Sud—Cité de l’art contemporain, The Hour of Glory (until December 22); Mucem—Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Trophies and Relics;  [mac]—Musée d’art contemporain de Marseille, Pictures at an Exhibition (until September 8, 2024).

At the approach of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games—some events of which will take place in Marseille—these questions of art’s link to sport take on a contemporary relevance that is worth understanding through all of the tools available. It is not a matter of adding more soul or offering some kind of decorative backing to the upcoming sports competitions, but rather seizing this opportunity to try to explore their nature and circumstances through the use of a number of symbolic objects that, each in its own way, help us to interpret them.

Beyond any demonstrative aim, it is about offering an event that not only supports reflection and the questioning of certain conclusions, but also inspires delight, a moment of pleasure. There are a thousand ways to approach the subject of the links between art and sport, with the understanding that although both of them are liable to produce beauty, sport is not art and art is not sport.

For Endeavours and Masterpieces, we have chosen three entry points that are as flexible and porous as possible, corresponding to the three exhibition sites.

The Hour of Glory (from April 26 until December 22, 2024)
Curated by Jean-Marc Huitorel and Muriel Enjalran
Frac Sud—Cité de l’art contemporain
20 boulevard de Dunkerque, 13002 Marseille

Trophies and Relics (from April 26 until September 8, 2024)
Curated by Jean-Marc Huitorel and Jean-Fabien Philippy
Mucem—Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée
7 promenade Robert Laffont (esplanade du J4), 13002 Marseille

Pictures at an Exhibition (from April 26 until September 8, 2024)
Curated by Jean-Marc Huitorel and Stéphanie Airaud
[mac]—musée d’art contemporain de Marseille
69 avenue d'Haifa, 13008 Marseille

Certified by Paris 2024, it counts among the flagship projects of the Cultural Olympiad in France, the only one of its size in the field of contemporary art.

*Image above: View of The Hour of Glory, Frac Sud, 2024. Louka Anargyros, Leatherboys II, from the series “Leatherboys”, 2020. Ceramic, paint, 180 × 155 × 120 cm. Noel W Anderson, Lebron en transition, 2022. Tapestry. Galerie Zidoun-Bossuyt Dubaï, Luxembourg, Paris. ​Bianca Argimón, Materazzi, 2016–17. 22 glazed ceramic players, Beech, metal, resin. Collection MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, France. gethan&myles Icare / Mont Ventoux 80 km/h, 2017. Pierced bicycle (Vitus 979 Frank Beck, c. 1985), Duralinox, aluminium, steel, rubber, plastic. Courtesy of the artists. Yoan Sorin, Hit/Dig, 2021. Stained plaster and polystyrene volume, brass knuckles in bronze, strip of cloth, shorts and t-shirt. Collection Frac Sud – Cité de l’art contemporain, Marseille, France. Lieven de Boeck, The World Unmade #5, 2015. Paint, 40 basketballs, Courtesy of the artist and Meessen De Clercq, Brussels. Elina Brotherus, Balloon Dash 2, 2017. Rules of the Game series, Pigment ink prints on Museo Silver Rag paper. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: © Marc Domage.*