January 2023

Since 2018, the Foundation’s upstairs rooms have been dedicated to an exhibition of the work of the “father of Op Art”. The Pierre and Nicole Guénant room presents a retrospective from 1930 to 1980 while the Lucien Arkas room offers twelve acrylics by this collector who was passionate about the work of Victor Vasarely.

A tour and cultural mediation allows visitors to discover or rediscover the Master’s plastic universe, from his beginnings as a graphic artist to the realization of his monumental integrations and his utopian project of the “polychrome city of happiness”.

This didactic presentation, with nearly 200 original works and documents, in an adapted scenography, integrates the fundamental elements of the project of the French artist of Hungarian origin (Pécs 1906 – Paris 1997).

For his work, Damien Bénéteau takes up the form of the pendulum, thought out on the scale of a building, like Foucault’s pendulum in the Pantheon. Fixed to the ceiling, at a height of 11 metres, the installation is based on the same principle as the Variations: a sphere in movement crosses an imposing metal plate placed vertically, cut out in all its height and lit from its inner edge. Treated in the mass, it presents two surfaces leaning against each other – one side matt, the other silver – even if the ball, of a black without shine, does not produce a shimmering effect and leaves, around, Vasarely’s works intact.

In this installation, the interaction between movement, volume and light creates an environment marked by depth, mystery and a certain solemnity. The slow and regular oscillation of the mobile sculpture is part of a temporal loop that calls to mind the image of a metronome or a chronometric measuring instrument.

Curator: Djeff

The seven monumental tapestries, which had been taken down for restoration, have been returned to the walls of the institution. This intervention is part of a global conservation-restoration project of the 44 architectural integrations. The first phase of the work, completed in 2019, mainly concerned the shell of the Architectonic Centre.

The second major phase of this vast project is the continuation of the restoration of the monumental works, including this set of seven tapestries, true masterpieces from the Pinton workshops in Aubusson. This monumental ensemble has just returned from a restoration campaign. The work of safeguarding is continuing this time, within the institution, supervised by Abigaël David, a heritage restorer, specialised in the treatment of textile materials and composite objects. The general diagnosis is serious: our tapestries have suffered from dust, dirt and moth colonisation, which have partially attacked the woolen support.

Upon their return in June 2022, the works were given a special dynamic anoxic treatment. This insecticide treatment, which does not pose any risk to the heritage collections, consists of depriving them of oxygen by injecting nitrogen in a continuous flow within a hermetically sealed bubble.

For one week, from 21 to 25 November 2022, Abigaël David and her team carried out a precise assessment of the seven tapestries and a thorough dusting. Following these interventions, the tapestries were rehung. We look forward to welcoming you to rediscover them.

Come to the Foundation and let yourself be taken in by the experience of visual phenomena, optical illusions and the effects of colours and geometric shapes and note down all your impressions of the moment. And since every experience deserves to be told, during this workshop you will be able to create a unique and personalized postcard to share your adventures in the artist’s heritage.