EXPO CHICAGO Announces Official Partnership with Palais de Tokyo
For Immediate Release: September 22, 2016
CHICAGO— EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, is pleased to announce an official partnership with the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Institut Français for a large-scale, off-site exhibition project and an official satellite program initiated by the fair to open in Chicago during the sixth edition of the exposition (Sept. 13-17, 2017) and run concurrently during the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial (Sept. 16 - Dec. 31, 2017). Curated by the Palais de Tokyo’s Katell Jaffrès, the project will develop in two parts; the first through a strategic residency partnership with Mana Contemporary Chicago, allowing international and France-based artists to produce new work in Chicago; and the second, an ambitious large-scale public exhibition that will involve a strong architectural component—site to be announced—and through a partnership with the Graham Foundation to nominate local emerging architects to collaborate with Jaffrès on a singular approach to the space and exhibition design.
“International collaborations are at the core of EXPO CHICAGO’s mission, and I cannot be more proud of our upcoming partnership with the renowned Paris-based institution, Palais de Tokyo and Institut français,” said President | Director of EXPO CHICAGO Tony Karman. “Having an institution of their caliber in Chicago sets a historic precedent for our city, and furthers our long legacy of collaborations with French artists, curators and institutions. I am confident that this curated exhibition of local and international artists will have a lasting impact and will foster many new partnerships in the future.”
"Following our meeting with Tony Karman and the team of EXPO CHICAGO four years ago, we opened a new cycle of collaborations with Chicago: invitations of French curators and artists for EXPO CHICAGO, several curators from Chicago came to France, implementation of the residence "Méthode Room" in partnership with the Rebuild Foundation. All these projects have strengthened dialogue and boosted exchanges between the two scenes in the visual arts and architecture, and even further, with the Focus on Chicago at le Théatre de la Ville for the Festival d’Automne in 2015,” said Bruno Foucher, President of Institut français. “For EXPO CHICAGO 2017, we chose to partner with the Palais de Tokyo in order to imagine a project together around the French artists and the local scene. This unique partnership aims to continue in 2018 and 2019, in two other cities in connection with major international events. We are especially pleased and proud that the first step of this collaboration can take place in the highly challenging context of EXPO CHICAGO and of the Architecture Biennale because it will necessarily bearer for the artists that we will support."
“Our collaboration with EXPO CHICAGO has grown enormously since 2013. We have organized exchanges between the new generation of both French and American curators. Internationally recognized and established artists, Daniel Buren and Christian Boltanski, were invited to Chicago, and young artists have been included as part of a residency program at the Rebuild Foundation and the Hyde Park Art Center. In a very short time, artists and art professionals from France have come to Chicago, and now, galleries and collectors have followed suit,” said Bénédicte de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in the United States. “They continue to develop fruitful relationships with local partners; innovative programs emerge. In Chicago, French artists and professionals are discovering a new scene, and finding a new gateway to the United States. The Palais de Tokyo’s Hors les Murs project in partnership with EXPO CHICAGO and Mana Contemporary Chicago, will take this collaboration even further. As we celebrate this year, the twentieth anniversary of Chicago-Paris Sister Cities, never have Chicago and Paris been so close.”
About the Curator
Before taking on the role of curator at Palais de Tokyo in 2007, Katell Jaffrès worked with various institutions in France and Europe and then joined the team of galerie Marian Goodman (Paris). In 2005, she started to work at Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain as a curator. Jaffrès’ recent exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo include David Ryan and Jérôme Joy “Nothing at All”, 2016 and Jean-Michel Alberola “L’Aventure des Détails”, 2016. Recent exhibitions include “Servitudes” by Jesper Just (2015); Patrick Neu solo show (2015) and "Inside" group-show, co- curated with Jean de Loisy and Daria de Beauvais (2014). She regularly sits on various juries. Jaffrès holds a master in Curatorial Studies, from the University Rennes 2 (France).
About Palais de Tokyo
Established in 2002 and dedicated to contemporary art, Palais de Tokyo welcomes today’s generation of artists and is the largest center for contemporary art in Europe. It is an essential destination for those eager to experience art in all its forms. Hosting exhibitions, conferences, projections, concerts and performances, and including a library and two restaurants, Palais de Tokyo, with its spectacular architecture and flexible and welcoming team of mediators, is a space in which art can be endlessly enjoyed. Palais de Tokyo “Hors les Murs” program offers off-site exhibitions held during major international art events. Previous projects include Zürich, in parallel to Manifesta 11 (June 2016), as well as in Singapore (January 2016), an exhibition co-produced with the ICA Singapore and presented on the occasion of Art Stage Singapore. Palais de Tokyo has also organized two participations at the Lyon Biennale (2013 and 2015) and the traveling exhibition Inside China coproduced with the K11 Foundation during Art Basel Hong Kong 2015 and in Shanghai. Projects have also been developed with MoMA PS1 and the Stedelijk Museum in 2014.
About The Cultural Services of the French Embassy
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy provides a platform for exchange and innovation between French and American artists, intellectuals, educators, students, the tech community, and the general public. Based in New York City, Washington D.C., and eight other cities across the US, the Cultural Services develops the cultural economy by focusing on six principal fields of action: visual and performing arts, literature, cinema, the digital sphere, French language and higher education. www.frenchculture.org
About Institut français
The Institut français is the agency of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for cultural action outside of France. As an agent of cultural diplomacy, the Institut français is a unique brand throughout 96 countries and in France. It ensures the promotion of artists, architects, ideas, works and industries that together present an innovative and dynamic image of creation in France. The Institut français contributes to the dialogue between cultures and enlivens professional communities in each sector of its activity, all the while participating in France’s cultural networks abroad. www.institutfrancais.com
About Mana Contemporary Chicago
Mana Contemporary Chicago is a rapidly expanding art center set in an enormous landmark building in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. Designed by noted Chicago architect George Nimmons, the building is now home to dozens of artists’ studios, exhibition spaces, classrooms, a central cafe, a library and more. Mana serves as a nexus for many of the strongest artists and organizations in the city. Artists of diverse disciplines, including painting, sculpture, photography, dance, film, sound, and performance work alongside each other in a novel campus environment which fosters experimentation, collaboration, and mutual inspiration. Very established artists; studios neighbor those that house strong emerging practices, as there is a wide range of studio sizes.
About The Graham Foundation
Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations and produces public programs to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society.
About Chicago Architecture Biennial
The Chicago Architecture Biennial provides a platform for groundbreaking architectural projects and spatial experiments that demonstrate how creativity and innovation can radically transform our lived experience. A vision of Mayor Rahm Emanuel for a major international architectural event and an outcome of the comprehensive cultural plan developed by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the inaugural 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial was presented through the support of BP, and in partnership with the City of Chicago and the Graham Foundation.
About EXPO CHICAGO/2016
EXPO CHICAGO/2016 The International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, is presented by Art Expositions, LLC. Now in its fifth year as a leading international art fair, EXPO CHICAGO (Sept. 22 – 25, 2016) is a four-day art event featuring more than 145 leading international galleries and offering diverse programming including /Dialogues, IN/SITU, IN/SITU Outside, EXPO VIDEO and the Curatorial Forum. In addition, EXPO CHICAGO continues to publish THE SEEN, Chicago's International Journal of Contemporary & Modern Art, following the first printed edition, which launched during the 2015 exposition. Under the leadership of President and Director Tony Karman, EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while highlighting the region’s contemporary arts community and inspiring its collector base. Vernissage, the opening night preview benefiting the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, takes place Thursday, Sept 22, 6 – 9 p.m. General Admission to the exposition is Friday, Sept. 23 – Sunday, Sept. 25 (for hours please visit expochicago.com). Tickets to the exposition are $20 for one day, $30 for three days. Northern Trust is the Presenting Sponsor of EXPO CHICAGO. For more information about EXPO CHICAGO and EXPO ART WEEK (Monday Sept. 19 – Sunday Sept. 25), visit expochicago.com.
