Until January 19, the Petit Palais de Paris opens its doors for the first time to urban art. The exhibition “We are here” offers a rich, surprising and sometimes irreverent dialogue between the museum’s permanent collection and the committed works of thirteen international street artists.
Huge wings planted on the monumental entrance to the Petit Palais, small wings which mischievously spread over the sculptures in the permanent collections, or even a giant paint bomb which emerges from the 1900 mosaic floor… With the exhibition ” We are here”, is a true exploration of urban art that the Parisian museum offers its visitors.
This unique exhibition is the idea of Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Twenty years ago, the man opened a gallery in Paris dedicated to street art. Since then, this enthusiast has continued to introduce urban art to as many people as possible by giving visibility to the artists of this movement.
The exhibition “We are here” represents a challenge for Mehdi Ben Cheikh: bringing urban art into the very traditional environment of the museum institution. His choice fell on the Petit Palais, because in the 18th century, on this land, stood the Palais de l’Industrie in which the Salon des Refusés was held, in 1863, the salon of painters who were not wanted not in official shows. Artists who subsequently left their mark on the history of art, like Edouard Manet. “I think that our era will also be marked by street art. It’s a whole generation that imposes its aesthetic codes,” indicates Mehdi Ben Cheikh in the Vertigo show on January 1.
Shake up the codes
At the Petit Palais in Paris, through a tour of new works, accessible free of charge – since street art is supposed to be seen for free in the street -, the historical museum offers a unique dialogue between the permanent collection and even the spectacular architecture of the place, and the committed work of thirteen street artists from all over the world.
Thus Shepard Fairey, Invader, D*Face, Seth, Cleon Peterson, Hush, Swoon, Vhils, Inti, Add Fuel and even Conor Harrington invest the Parisian institution with monumental works to forge links with the museum’s collections.
The title of the exhibition itself sets the tone, “We are here”, “nous sont là” in French. A way of indicating the spectacular and shattering entry of urban art into the institutional world of classical art, thus giving it visibility and legitimacy.
Figuration, abstraction, collages, paintings, stencils or even sculpture, the exhibition is an opportunity to realize the diversity of urban art, but also a way of desecrating the place, of shaking up the established codes, which is the very DNA of urban art.
Subject radio: Ariane Hasler
Web adaptation: Lara Donnet
“We are here – an exploration of urban art at the Petit Palais”, Petit Palais, Paris, from June 12, 2024 to January 19, 2025.
