artgenève – the « salon d’art »

The sixth edition of artgenève will take place at Palexpo from January 26th to 29th, 2017, and will host 80 carefully selected international galleries as well as 20 exhibitions from institutional and private collections. Since 2012 this cultural meeting distinguished itself among the world of art fairs, thanks to its concept of “salon art fair”. Its controlled size and the high quality of the works on display, as well as the wide range of invited exhibitions maintained by the organisers give the event a mini- biennale flavour. This success has encouraged artgenève to export its formula, network and expertise to Monaco, under the patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II. The first edition of artmonte-carlo took place at the end of April, marking the opening of Monaco’s summer season.

For this new edition, artgenève is proud once again to welcome world reputed galleries including Gagosian (Geneva, London, New York i.a.), Franco Noero (Turin), De Jonckheere (Geneva, Paris, Brussels), Lelong (Paris), Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins, Havana), Mai 36 (Zurich), Blondeau & Cie (Geneva), Blain|Southern (London, Berlin), Galería Juana de Aizpuru (Madrid) or Christine König (Vienna) to mention but a few.

This programme of world renowned galleries will be accompanied by a selection of exhibitions by prestigious museums and foundations such as the Fondation Beyeler (Basel), the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), the Collection Michael Ringier (Zurich) or the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin). The presence of the Musée Ariana, the Mamco, the Centre d’art contemporain, Friart and Plateforme 10 (Mudac, Musée des Beaux-Arts and Musée de l’Elysée of Lausanne), testify to artgenève’s willingness to create a dialogue between galleries, institutions and Swiss & international collectors.

Thanks to its Fondation pour les Arts Visuels and following both monumental 2015 General Idea installation and 2016 Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing, artgenève invites Anthony McCall for the 2017 Estate Show section. He will be presenting an impressive array of luminous sculptures in a 2000m2 black box.

The Living Room section, which each year regroups works from several participating galleries, will take the form of a “Ball Room”: a lively back-drop for mirrored artworks, sculptures and chandeliers by artists.

Extra muros and in collaboration with Geneva City’s museums and artgenève galleries, the exhibition artgenève/sculptures, following the winter edition on the lakeside, inaugurated its new summer version at the magnificent Parc des Eaux-Vives, with a series of events which enlightened this magical exhibition throughout the whole summer.

After the impressive interventions from Tino Sehgal and Anri Sala at previous editions, artgenève/musique will occupy the entire Villa Sarasin, adjacent to Palexpo’s halls, with a show and musical performance by artist Angela Bulloch, represented by Esther Schipper.

To make artgenève’s visitors’ experience complete, in addition to the Ruinart and Peroni lounges, the culinary offer will once again be innovative, but this time it will be kept a secret! In 2015 the Swedish duo PunkRoyale brought their touch of madness to artgenève, with a little-known Nordic gastronomy, and in 2016 artmonte-carlo’s visitors were delighted by the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, Chef Philippe Joannès’ dishes.

To complete the famous “art fairs’” offer and as an alternative to “boutique art fairs”, Geneva and Monaco “salons d’art” have distinguished themselves by a studied scenography and a human size allowing a proximity between world-reputed galleries and a rich program of institutional exhibitions. The exhibition spaces at artgenève and artmonte-carlo are the reflection of their locations, pleasant and with an international reputation.

The wide family of amateur art-lovers and professionals not only gather inside our salons, as they also offer them the possibility to visit private and institutional collections, which every year kindly open their doors for the VIP programme put in place for each edition.