Venice Biennale 2015

For the 2015 Contemporary Art Biennale in Venice, the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard is continuing its involvement in the French art scene, and backing the following projects:

–      “rêvolutions” by the artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot for the French Pavilion, curated by Emma Lavigne.

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot is producing a poetic work conjuring up the follies of 18th century romantic parks, while at the same time offering glimpses of a political dimension.

–        Des jeux dont j’ignore les règles by Boris Achour (Prix Fondation d’entreprise Ricard 2002), as part of the  56th international exhibition All the World’s Futures, curated by Okwui Enwezor.

Des jeux dont j’ignore les règles is organized around the simultaneous presentation of films and sculptures (games) which are handled in these films.

In tandem with the project, and complementing it, a game of cards has been created by Maki Suzuki, of the Abake group, with the backing of the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard.   This 80-card game, inspired by the Marseille Tarot,  will include letters and images of games.  It will have a double use:  firstly it will be used to write the titles of works in the manner of games such as Scrabble and  Des chiffres et des Lettres, replacing the labels.  It will also be handed out free, by the artist and by the Biennale’s guards and mediators.  Offered in groups of just a few cards, it will be a collector’s extension and a fragment of the work Des jeux dont j’ignore les règles, whose use is also uncertain and free.

Forever Weak and Ungrateful by Mathieu K. Abonnenc is part of the artist Vincent Meessen’s project, Personne et les autres for the Belgian Pavilion, curated by Katerina Gregos.

The artist Vincent Meessen’s project, Personne et les autres, chosen to represent Belgium at the 56th Venice Biennale, moves away from the traditional form of a solo show, and is open to many different postures and voices.  Working in close collaboration, Vincent Meessen and Katerina Gregos, a Brussels-based curator, have developed a themed exhibition, inviting a dozen foreign artists including Mathieu K. Abonnenc, whose work, like Meessen’s, explores the history and extensions of colonial modernity.