"Voeux", "Le Monde à l'envers III" : the in situ works told by the artists

Pediment

Fully integrated into the architecture, the entrance pediment of the Fondation Pernod Ricard allows an artist to hang a canvas there for a period of two years. Each artist then designates the person who will take their place. 

Sarah Benslimane’s work succeeds TEMPLATE (2024) by Nicolas Chardon.

Le Monde à l'envers III belongs to a series of eponymous works initiated by Sarah Benslimane in 2024. In this set, the artist uses widely diffused digital images, which have become archetypal representations of the world shared on a global scale.

Installed at the entrance of the Fondation, the work is based on a satellite view of the Earth, reworked and then fragmented into vertical strips that recompose the image by reversing it. This altered vision invites us to question our relationship with the planet, as well as the geopolitical categories that structure the representations of the North and the South, by challenging the usual landmarks and conventions that organize our perception of territory and otherness. 

The surface of the work is punctuated with mirrors and lamps of various shapes and dimensions. Coming from the domestic universe, these elements generate reflections and luminous effects that disturb perception, blurring the boundaries between the globe represented and the space in which the visitor evolves.

Borrowed from a common expression evoking the complexity of the contemporary world, the title is reinvested by the artist to shift the gaze and propose a reflection on the systems of representation that shape our understanding of reality, as well as our relationship to territories, to others and the environment.

Art Wall

Art Wall is an arts patronage program that displays a monumental artwork for two years in front of Pernod Ricard’s global headquarters in Paris, chosen by the group’s employees from a selection proposed by the Foundation. 

Louise Sartor’s work succeeds Carlotta Bailly Borg’s Cloudy (2022).

A monumental work installed on the building facing the Fondation Pernod Ricard, Voeux (2026) by Louise Sartor expresses the sometimes contradictory feelings raised by the current state of the world. Every day a cascade of news, each more alarming than the last, paralyzes our reasoning and critical sense by keeping us in a permanent state of shock.

The climate of questioning the very notion of truth, and of the decline of relative peace between nations is intensely anxiogenic.

The sheets of newsprint evoke this daily assault of terrifying news and the worrying state of information processing. But their origami folding refers to a symbol of peace: according to a Japanese legend, individually folding a thousand paper cranes allowed one’s wish to be granted.

This tradition continues today at the Hiroshima Memorial, where every year thousands of Peace Votive Cranes from around the world are laid to rest.