July 2023

For four months, from June 17 to October 15, 2023, and for the 4th consecutive year, the Vasarely Foundation will continue its collaboration with the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne-Centre de création industrielle.

The summer exhibition entitled “Vasarely avant l’Op, une abstraction européenne, 1945-1955” highlights a selection of 35 major works from the Centre Pompidou, the Musée départemental Matisse, the Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, the Hartung-Bergman Foundation, the Marta Pan Foundation, the Denise René Gallery and private collections. These works will be presented at the Vasarely Foundation throughout this period.

In the aftermath of World War II, Victor Vasarely, who had enjoyed success in advertising graphics since arriving in France in 1930, decided to become a full-fledged artist. In the summer of 1944, in the “Vasarely ˗ dessins et compositions graphiques” exhibition at the Denise René gallery, newly created at his instigation, he again showed the works whose painting he was to produce over the following years, and with which he was to fully take his place in the art world, seemed to put the achievements in abeyance.

Exhibition catalogue 
60 pages in French / Fage éditions
Price: €18

Crédit photo : Soglia Gianni

RESTORATION OF THE INTEGRATIONS

We are delighted to announce the imminent completion of the restoration of two monumental integrations at the Vasarely Foundation, Zett and Tridim-Blanc.

For 4 months, under the direction of Magalie Troy, curator-restorer, specialising in contemporary painting, a team of six curator-restorers and a chemical engineer (Laura Briganti, Christelle Lemaire, Roos Campman, Alice Le Bohec , Aude Monet and Paolo Cremonesi), took it in turns to restore these works to their original legibility and intensity.

Under the scientific and technical supervision of the Conservation Régionale des Monuments Historiques and the Centre Interdisciplinaire de Conservation Restauration du Patrimoine (CICRP), the cleaning and restoration protocol was as follows

proposed by the conservator-restorers has been approved. The result is breathtaking, given the old damage. The restoration work is due to be published in an international scientific journal. Don’t hesitate to come and discover or rediscover these works.

DAMIEN BÉNÉTEAU
VARIATIONS IN VARIATIONS
until 17 September 

Damien Bénéteau’s Atrium continues until 17 September, offering an immersive experience that explores the invisible forces of our universe. Inspired by his previous sculptures in the Variations series. Bénéteau creates a captivating environment where movement, volume and light combine to provoke deep reflection.

Don’t miss this unique experience. Immerse yourself in this fusion of movement, volume and light and let yourself be transported into a universe where time takes on a new dimension.

PHOTO OPART
VASARELY EXPERIENCE
until 8 July

The educational project of the Vasarely Museum in Pécs, the OP Art Academy, aims to create an academic interpretation of Vasarely’s legacy. This experiment, which is also being carried out by Moholy-Nagy University in Budapest, reflects our times. 

The objectives of the OP Art Academy projects are to provide students with a diversified artistic education, to create a dialogue between generations of artists, to give students the opportunity to express themselves freely while paying tribute to the legacy of Vasarely and other artists of his time.

Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of Victor Vasarely at the Vasarely Foundation and let your artistic curiosity blossom! Join us for a creative and inspiring holiday, where art becomes a source of wonder for everyone!

During our temporary exhibition “Vasarely avant l’Op”, we invite you to take part in our workshops specially designed for budding young artists aged 3 to 12. Our enthusiastic cultural mediators will be delighted to guide young and old alike in discovering the abstract world of Vasarely, as well as his contemporaries such as Auguste Herbin, Hans Hartung and Simone Boisecq.

EXPLORAT-OP AND HIS DOUDOU

MY FIRST NAME IS A WORK OF ART WORKSHOP

PRINTING EXPRESS WORKSHOP

The Fondation Vasarely continues its online sale of 10 signed and numbered original silkscreen prints by Victor Vasarely.

By taking part in this online sale, you will be able to choose from a carefully assembled selection of silkscreen prints that bear witness to the lasting influence of the visual artist while enabling us to support our actions. 

Each silkscreen comes with a certificate of authenticity, guaranteeing its provenance and authenticity.

Detail from Pokol BF, silkscreen on Arches vellum, 60x60cm, 1965

To mark the centenary of the birth of Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923-2019), the Foundation is joining forces with the Cruz-Diez workshop to present “Chromosaturation” on the forecourt of the Fondation Vasarely from July 6. 

This installation offers a unique and captivating vision, immersing visitors in an artificial environment made up of three colour chambers: one red, one green and one blue. The effect of this experience is to submerge the viewer in an absolute monochrome situation, blurring the retina, which is used to perceiving a wide range of colours simultaneously.

The aim of ‘Chromosaturation’ is to act as a detonator, to activate in the viewer the notion of colour as a material, a physical situation taking place in space, independent of any form or medium, whatever the cultural convention.

VASARELY,
LE SOLFÈGE PLASTIQUE

Chapel of the Observance, Draguignan 
from 29 April to 17 September

From Saturday 29 April to Sunday 17 September, the Chapelle de l’Observance will be hosting the exhibition Vasarely, le solfège plastique, the creative process of the father of Op’art.

This new exhibition, curated by Robert Jourdan and Camille Bernard Schreiber, is a tribute to Victor Vasarely, the emblematic artist of the 1960s and 1970s, a renowned visual artist and the father of kinetic art or optical art known as Op’art. 

GRAPHIC DIALOGUES
VASARELY & AKATRE, 

L’Essentiel, Cucuron
From 1st July to 1st September

Les dialogues graphiques Vasarely & Akatre is an initiative made possible by the history linking Victor Vasarely to the Luberon, as well as Pierre Vasarely’s attachment to the village of Cucuron.

Akatre is a creative studio founded in 2007 by Julien Dhivert and Sébastien Riveron. Its universe lies at the frontiers of graphic design, typography, 3D, audiovisual and musical creation. 

www.akatre.com

MOUVEMENT
ET LUMIÈRE

Villa Datris, L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue
19 May to 1 November

Movement and Light, the exhibition at Villa Datris, explores works of kinetic art from the original movement of the 1950s, as well as new generations of artists.

Light is also given pride of place in the design of the 81 works on display (including 3 by Vasarely), created by 60 emerging and established French and international artists. Together, they create a hypnotic, luminous visual experience for visitors. Come and discover this unique exhibition in the magnificent Villa Datris.

VASARELY, FROM A PROGRAMMATIC TO DIGITAL ART

Espace Lympia, Nice
From 16 June to 22 October

Among Vasarely’s wide range of works, this exhibition presents a collection of studies, paintings and multiples that testify to his unfailing desire to produce and share art for an ever-growing number of people. At the time of the first computers, he proposed his Plastic Alphabet inherited from the Bauhaus, patented in 1959, combining simple shapes with primary colours and binary circle/square geometry to develop a plastic language based on algorithms. His research prefigured what would later be known as Computer Art, as well as technologies such as augmented reality and 4D, now part of our everyday lives, applied to cinema, virtual games and art.

INSTANT D’ÉTÉ 
16 July in the parc of the Foundation

Join us at the Foundation for a special evening in partnership with Instants d’été! We invite you to an exceptional screening of the film “Phantom of the Paradise”, directed by Brian De Palma and released in 1974. This immersive screening will take place in our park and the film will be projected onto the façade of the architectural centre. In partnership with the Institut de l’image, this programme has been designed to be accessible to all, combining popular cinema, artistic standards, curiosity and originality of form. Don’t miss this unique summer event, which promises an unforgettable cinematic experience.