The contemporary art exhibition created in 1991 by Thierry Raspail and Thierry Prat is ready to astonish the audience with notable changes. The Biennale de Lyon coming this year at its fifteenth edition, focus on emerging artists and new art spaces. Above all for this edition, the artistic direction chose an open and free approach. The theme is not by chance linked to the fluidity. This choice comes as a result of willing to represent an inclusive concept of art, one that embraces diversity and new ideas.
Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art 2019
This year the kermesse is taking place for the first time at the former factory Fagor and will be on display until January 5, 2020. However, this isn’t the only area dedicated to the exhibition. Official locations for the event are as well the Mac Lyon and the Street of Presqui’Île. Here, an urban vision of art brought to incredible creations that seem melt in the city. This year multi-site Biennale includes four complementary platforms located across the region: Veduta, Young International Artists, Associated Exhibitions and Résonance.
Veduta favors the relationship between artists and residents while the Young International Artists is entirely dedicated to emerging creators. The Associated Exhibitions include a collection of shows from the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Villa du Parc, and Couvent de la Tourette, among others. Lastly, the Résonance proposes events that represent fully the region’s vibrant art scene, often inspired by artist collectives and cultural institutions.
Actually, the most remarkable among the novelties is for sure the artistic direction of Isabelle Bertolotti and the curatorial team from the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (composed of Adélaïde Blanc, Daria de Beauvais, Yoann Gourmel, Matthieu Lelièvre, Vittoria Matarrese, Claire Moulène, and Hugo Vitrani).
This year’s edition is unprecedented in scale to any other. The Fagor Factory added more than 29,000 sqm to the event.
The curators picked more than 50 artists coming from Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Kostërrc, Lyon, Moscow, Saint-Étienne, Oslo, Mexico City, Rome, Paris, Zürich and many other cities around the world.
XV Lyon Biennale, Là où les eaux se mêlent
The exhibition formula of the Lyon Biennale favors harmonious fluidity. The works presented are set up seamlessly, leaving the viewers free to choose their path. Almost all the works have been created specifically for the spaces that house them.
Even if it might be wrong talking about a main theme, surely the idea of flow is at the base of the whole exhibition. The title of the event includes a quote from Raymon Carver, Là où les eaux se mêlent, (“There, where the waters mingle”). The flow is a free meeting of ideas, thoughts, matter, and cultures. It is happy chaos, in which each artwork finds an incredible expressive force!
This year, the event will be spectacular. The works taking part in the event include works by Malin Bülow, Shana Moulton, Eva L’Hoest, Simphiwe Ndzube, and Minouk Lim.
In conclusion, the purpose of this Biennale is to involve the viewer. The extra-large dimensions of the installations are aimed precisely at building a scenario of which the visitor is curious about. That’s the future of art in Lyon Biennale’s eyes!