Paris Vous Aime Magazine - n° 1

quette n’est donc pas là par hasard, j’essaie de mettre du sens dans tout ce que je fais. Quels artistes y sont présentés? Notre première exposition est consacrée à la hardiesse, un mot que l’on n’utilise plus beaucoup mais qui est vraiment le l rouge de ce que j’aime dans la démarche artistique. On y montre, entre autres, les tout petits dessins en couleur de Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, dessinateur et poète ivoirien dont la hardiesse se niche dans le côté modeste de la forme, alors que la pensée est immense. Nous accueillons aussi au sein de la Galerie du Jour une seconde petite maison, entièrement imaginée par Anonymous, deux artistes anglais qui offrent une deuxième vie à des diapositives que j’ai découverts cet été aux Rencontres photogra- phiques d’Arles. Quel regard portez-vous sur l’état de la création contemporaine parisienne? Nous avons beaucoup de très bons jeunes artistes ! Je pense, entre autres, à la peintre Claire Tabouret, que j’ai été la première à montrer, mais qui, avec le succès, a ni par s’exiler en Californie pour ne plus être dérangée dans son atelier par les acheteurs. La scène artistique est bien vivante, mais l’environne- ment, les collectionneurs, eux, ont changé. Avant, on avait des ama- teurs éclairés. Aujourd’hui, le mar- ché de l’art est tenu par des gens qui cherchent avant tout à spécu- ler sur des artistes déjà reconnus, en espérant qu’ils deviennent très chers. Ils évitent toute prise de risques. Je ne vois pas du tout les choses comme ça, je marche naissants, la fragilité et la puissance des débuts ” “ J’aime les talents

me. And they’re often right! One of the first works I acquired was a self-portrait by Basquiat in 1983 when he was not yet well known. For me it was an inevitable shock. Years later, as fate would have it, La Fab is opening on Place Jean-Mi- chel-Basquiat in Paris! Can you tell us about your new La Fab space and its ambition? It’s a very exciting project, so- mething ambitious we’ve been wor- king on for two years. La Fab is a hybrid space where I will show my collection in thematic exhibitions, as well as host the Librairie du Jour, a sort of little house where every- thing is for sale: photos, paintings, sculpture, furniture. I don’t have a collector’s mind; I always wanted to show things in the spirit of sharing and bringing a stylist’s eye to the works. With La Fab, I like the idea of becoming a sort of “assembler”, just as in the past when there were “in- terior engineers”! La Fab will also house the organisations we support and Tara Océan, our environmental project. In short, it’s a lively, open place. I put a large Moroccan zelli- ge bench at the entrance to be like an invitation, a sign of welcome. It’s important to me to be open to the world. I’ve always travelled to Morocco and adore sub-Saharan Africa. I find that we need places of conviviality and meetings around art, solidarity, ecology. So this bench is not there by chance; I try to give meaning to everything I do. Our first exhibition is devoted to audacity, a word that isn’t used much anymore but which is really fundamental to what I like in art. We show, among other things, Fré- déric Bruly Bouabré’s tiny colour drawings, whose boldness take a more modest form, while the thought behind them is immense. We also welcome a second small house inside the Galerie du Jour, entirely dreamed up by Anony- mous, two English artists I discove- red this summer at the Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles. Which artists are presented there?

I like emerging talents, the fragility and power of beginnings

How does this space resemble you, and why are you attached to it? I moved here about 15 years ago. Today, there are about 135 of us working here in the workshop and offices. The building was a mater- nity clinic in the 1930s. One day, a gentleman came in and said to me: “I was born here”. I found that very funny! I love this place, its glass roof, terrace, balconies. Everything is white, down to the floors, which makes everything stand out: ma- terials, my work, colours, hanging works. It’s like a big blank page. In addition to being a stylist, you’ve always been passionate about art. Where does this sensitivity come from? It started very early on with my father. When I was young, I drea- med of being a museum curator, and even took evening classes at the École du Louvre. I loved it! Then I got married at 17 and didn’t pursue this path. But the taste for art never left me. I’ve always been inspired by the freedom artists have to create new expressions, and when one is recep- tive to this, the book never closes. Your contemporary art collection includes works by Warhol, Mapplethorpe, Nan Goldin, Louise Bourgeois, Basquiat. How did you build it? I created it without any advice or strategy simply by being drawn to artists to whom I wanted to say, “I love your work”. For the rest, it’s really just chance: life, encoun- ters, an article in a magazine. I’m curious about everything. I’m also lucky to know many artists, who introduce me to other artists, thinking their work will please

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PARIS VOUS AIME MAGAZINE