Biennale de Paris


The Biennale de Paris was a noted French art festival, established in 1959. In 1983, the organization ceased functions, until its reestablishment in 2000 with the first exhibition of the new era occurring in 2004. The organization ran the festival until 2021, when the organization announced it would "“turn the page of the Biennale, in order to set up a new event," focusing instead on luxury crafts.
The Biennale's mission is to promote art and artists which challenge current conventions in the art world.

History

Inspired by the Venice Biennale, the Menton Biennale and the São Paulo Art Biennial, the 'Biennale de Paris' was created by André Malraux, the Minister of Culture, in 1959 and headed by Raymond Cogniat. Cogniat held the position as director until 1967, when he resigned due to health concerns. He was succeeded by Jacques Lassaigne who lead the institution until its decommissioning in 1985. The initial goal of the Biennale was to present an overview of young creativity worldwide and to create a place of experiences and meetings; this was achieved partly with an international jury and the institution of an upper age limit of 35 years for submitted artists.
Held every two years from 1959 to 1985, it was eventually decommissioned by the Ministry of Culture for a multitude of reasons including the rise of competing art exhibitions in Paris and the removal of the age requirements for artists. After its decommissioning, there were several failed attempts to revive the exhibition. In 1993, Alfred Pacquement headed attempts to restore and finance a new edition of the Biennale, but the plans were ultimately dropped. In 2000, Alexandre Gurita headed the reestablishment of the Biennale as a public institution with a focus on challenging and pushing conventions of contemporary art. With support from contemporary artists and art critics, the Biennale put on its first exhibition since 1985 in 2004, and continues to run with its emphasis on non-traditional art forms.
The revived version of the Bienniale came to an end in 2021, following years of controversies around forgery and economic stresses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Presentations of the Biennale

1959 Edition

'''From the 2nd to the 25th of October 1959, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1961 Edition

'''From the 29th of September to the 5th of November 1961, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1963 Edition

'''From the 28th of September to the 3rd of November 1963, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1965 Edition

'''From the 28th of September to the 3rd of November 1965, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1967 Edition

'''From the 29th of September to the 5th of November 1967, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1969 Edition

'''From the 24th of September to the 1st of November 1969, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1971 Biennale

'''From the 15th of September to the 21st of October 1971, Parc floral de Paris, Bois de Vincennes'''

1973 Edition

'''From the 15th of September to the 21st of October 1973, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1975 Edition

'''From the 19th of September to the 2nd of November 1975, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Palais Galliera'''

1977 Edition

From the 17th of September to the 1st of November 1977, Palais de Tokyo, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris
To celebrate the Biennale's 10th showing, French critic and curator Daniel Abadie and Georges Boudaille organized a retrospetive of works by artists who had particiated in past editions of the Paris Biennale. Selected artists included Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Jack Youngerman, Ed Ruscha, John McCracken, Don Eddy, Joseph Kosuth, and John De Andrea.

1980 Edition

'''From the 20th of September to the 2nd of November 1980, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1982 Edition

'''From the 2nd of October to the 14th of November 1982, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris'''

1985 Edition

'''From the 21st of March to the 21st of May 1985, Grande halle de la Villette'''

2004 Edition

'''From the 20th of February to the 15th of March 2004, Paris et ailleurs'''

2006-2008 Edition

From the 1st of October 2006 to the 30th of September 2008, Paris, varied countries and regions
Image:bdpxvcat.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Catalogue 15th of Biennale de Paris, 1184 pp., 21 x 29 cm, fr. |Cover for the 15th edition of the Biennale de Paris.
Image:cartexvbdp zoom.jpg|thumb|alt=Map of the 15th of biennale de Paris, 2006-2008|Map of locations of expositions for the 15th Biennale de Paris, 2006–2008.

Exhibitions of the 2006-2008 Biennale de Paris

  • The XV Biennale de Paris at the Art Gallery of Knoxville, Tennessee »
  • That's Painting Productions

    Creeds

  • Orientations - The Biennale de Paris rejects exhibitions and art objects. It refuses to be "thought by art". It identifies and defends true alternatives. It calls for "non-standard practices"
  • Strategy - To be liquid. If the ground floor is occupied, occupy the floor below.
  • An Invisual Art - No serious proof exists that art is dependent on the art object. We can therefore assume the opposite. The Biennale de Paris promotes invisual practices which do not need to be seen to exist. The invisual is visible but not as art.
  • A Non-Artistic Art - The Biennale de Paris defends an art which does not obey the common criteria for art: creative, emotive, aesthetic, spectacular...
  • An Art which Operates in Everyday Reality - The Biennale de Paris promotes practices that relegate art to the background in order to conquer everyday reality.
  • A Public of Indifference - With the Biennale de Paris there are no more art spectacles. The Biennale addresses what it calls "a public of indifference": persons who, consciously or accidentally, interact with propositions that can no longer be identified as artistic.
  • A Unified Criticism - Organised as a network, the Biennale de Paris constitutes a critical mass composed of hundreds of initiatives, which would otherwise have been isolated and without impact.
  • A Horizontal Institution - The Biennale de Paris works horizontally. To participate means to become a partner. As such each partner decides the conditions linked to his or her proposed activities. This decision-making power acts on the structure and state of mind of the Biennale.

    Curators, art historians, art theoricians, art critics since 1959

, Alfred Pacquement, Jean-Marc Poinsot, Daniel Abadie, Lucy R. Lippard, Pontus Hulten, Gérald Gassiot-Talabot, Achille Bonito Oliva, Pierre Restany, Pierre Courcelles, Paul Ardenne, Stephen Wright, Francesco Masci, Brian Holmes, Elisabeth Lebovici.

From 1959 to 2008, the Biennale de Paris presented works of artists such as

A

,
Alighiero Boetti,
André Éric Létourneau,
Anish Kapoor,

B

Bernard Brunon,
Bernard Delville,
Bureau d'Etudes,

C

Chinnapan Jesudoss Anthony Doss,
Christian Boltanski,
Christo,
Cosey Fanni Tutti,

D-F

,
Daniel Buren,
Dominic Gagnon,
Florian Brochec,
Francois Deck,

G

Gage Taylor
Gary Bigot,
Gilbert and George,
Giulio Paolini,
Gordon Matta-Clark,

H-I

Horst Antes,
Hubert Renard,
Ian Burn,

J

Jan Middlebos,
Jayant Parikh,
Jean-Baptiste Farkas,
Johannes Heisig,
John M. Armleder,
Joseph Beuys,
Joseph Kosuth,

K

Karen Andreassian,
Karine Lebrun,
Kees Brusse,

L

,
La Chèvre Phénomène,
Lawrence Weiner,
Les Somnatistes,
Liliane Viala,

M

,
Mario Merz,
Michel Chevalier,
Michelangelo Pistoletto,
Microcollection,

N-O

,
Nana Petzet
Niele Toroni,
Olivier Darné,
OSTSA,

P

,
Paratene Matchitt,
Park Seo-Bo,
Paul Robert,

R

,
Ricardo Mbarkho,
Richard Serra,
Robert Smithson,
Rodolfo Nieto,
Rolf Glasmeier,

S

Sabine Falk,
Sadequain
Saint-Thomas l'Imposteur,
Sérgio de Camargo,
Soussan Ltd,

T-Y

Thierry Boutonnier,
Visualinguistic,
Winston Branch,
Wolf Vostell,
Yasuo Mizui,
Yves Klein,

Associated institutions

  • Archives de la Critique d’Art in Rennes,
  • L'Ecole Nationale d'Art de Paris,
  • The Kandinsky Library,
  • Decentralized Invisual Art Market,
  • Centre de Documentation, de Recherche et d’Application des Offensives,
  • Institut de Recherche Internationale en Anthropologie de la Singularité,