At the initiative of Mehdi Ben Cheikh, director of Galerie Itinerrance, the “We Are Here” exhibition brought together the biggest names in street Art and more than 200 major works, establishing a subtle dialogue with the permanent collections of the Petit Palais . Initially scheduled from June 12 to November 17, 2024, the exhibition was extended until January 19, 2025, due to its great success with the public. An unprecedented event in the history of street art, where the works of artists have become an obvious choice within the Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris.
Thirteen key street art figures have created original works for We Are Here: Shepard Fairey, Invader, D*Face, Seth, Vhils, Swoon, Inti, Hush, El Seed, Conor Harrington, Add Fuel, DaBro, Cleon Peterson. These exceptional creations offered the public a unique journey through the Petit Palais, while providing a new interpretation of the museum's permanent collections.
The exhibition concluded in style with the Salle Concorde, which captivated visitors with an impressive scenography. No less than 160 works, by around sixty artists, were hung there, in homage to the Salon des Refusés of 1863, where the first works of the Impressionists were exhibited, marking the beginning of a movement which would profoundly rewrite history of modern art. To extend the experience of this unique exhibition, the book We Are Here, published by Albin Michel Beaux Livres, is now available in bookstores.
“We Are Here demonstrated that the primary mission of museums is not only to preserve, but also to exhibit! The museum is a privileged place where history is revealed. Knowing your past through the works that shaped it, while opening yourself to a vision of the future, transforms the museum into an ideal space for writing today's history. By opening the doors of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Street Art has talentedly taken over the Petit Palais and its collections, thus propelling the museum into an assertive modernity.” — Mehdi Ben Cheikh, director of Galerie Itinerrance
“The Petit Palais is delighted with this excellent attendance, which has enabled an unprecedented dialogue between street art artists and our collections, but also attracted a diverse public who discovered the museum on this occasion. This intersection of arts and eras, this dialogue between the past and the present has made our museum even more alive. The exhibition highlighted the magical and immutable bond that exists between artists of all time. Everyone, yesterday as today, invites us to rethink the world, to shake up boundaries, to think freely and to imagine the future.” — Annick Lemoine, director of the Petit Palais
-[Source : communiqué de presse]
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“We Are Here, street art enters the museum”: the book of the exhibition at the Petit Palais is available from Éditions Albin Michel
