• Residencies - Fondation des Artistes

    • Residencies - Fondation des Artistes

    Exhibition view of "Groupe Mobile", Villa Vassilieff, Paris, 2016. Twenty-two books belonging to collection of the Fondation des Artistes (FA), Nogent-sur-Marne. Image: Aurélien Mole

    For over forty years the Fondation des Artistes (FA) has been working alongside and on behalf of artists. At a time when it seems spe­cial­iza­tion has become paramount, the FA prefers instead to focus on many dif­ferent aspects of the life of artists, their “form of life” as well as their cre­ative prac­tice. From the con­cep­tion and pro­duc­tion phases, to the cir­cu­la­tion of their works, to their housing needs, and even during their advanced years, the FA thrives to accom­pany artists throughout the entire pro­cess of their work.

    Such sup­port at every stage of the artist’s life is embodied in a diverse and unique array of means (pro­viding stu­dios, pro­duc­tion grants, patronage, dis­sem­i­na­tion at the Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz and assis­tance in set­tling into the retire­ment home the Maison Nationale des Artistes where Marie Vassilieff spent her last years). This life per­spec­tive gives the foun­da­tion a better under­standing of needs and sen­si­tive issues, and ulti­mately lends a very par­tic­ular coher­ence to its actions across the cur­rent field of visual arts.

    The FA encour­ages exper­i­men­ta­tion, inno­va­tion, research, long-term work and pro­jects that involve risk and that take a con­sid­er­able amount of time time. By offering sup­port from the very start to the satel­lite pro­gram of the Jeu de Paume, and by cre­ating in late 2011 a pro­ject funding scheme with a €500,000 annual endow­ment, these are the avenues the foun­da­tion has chosen to high­light and con­tinue to encourage.

    It is with this spirit in mind that today the FA is part­nering with the research pro­gram at the Villa Vassilieff. This exper­i­mental pro­ject picks up the work begun sev­eral years ago at the Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz, where cre­ators, including Jessica Warboys, Tamar Guimarães, Frédéric Teschner, and Harmen Liemburg brought their sin­gular per­spec­tive on the archives of the foun­da­tion. The archives—­con­sisting namely of the Smith-Champion funds and of archives of artists who passed away at the Maison Nationale des Artistes (archives kept at the Smith-Lesouëf Library in Nogent-sur-Marne)—will be the sub­ject of the research of the four artists selected as part of the pro­ject sup­ported by the FA: Iris Haüssler, Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Emmanuelle Lainé and Vuth Lyno.

    The pub­li­ca­tions related to this pro­ject are avail­able here.

    Gérard Sekoto, untitled, 1988, pencil on paper (sketch), Raymond Laboute Collection