Aurélien Froment / Raphaël Zarka

This exhibition stems from Raphaël Zarka and Aurélien Froment’s mutual appreciation for each other’s work. They have both had numerous solo and collective exhibitions, in France and abroad (Centre Pompidou, Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery, the Venice Biennale, etc.). This exhibition at les Abattoirs is one of their biggest yet, both in size and in the number of works on show. They have woven together a captivating web, a shared vision and harmonious journey through which the visitor can discover their work.

This combination is a new event for the museum; not only to have the opportunity of seeing the collective project proposed by two of the most well known French artists of their generation, but also their respective monographs.

Spread over the whole museum, the exhibition displays over a hundred works, some of which have never been shown before. What starts as a canon for two voices quickly becomes an exponential polyphony. Various subjects and historical figures multiply; for Aurélien Froment and Raphaël Zarka are not the sole authors here. They invite the visitors on a tour of an imaginary museum where the collections are not behind glass but rather reinvented by the works which present them.

Aurélien Froment, born in Angers in 1976, lives and works in Dublin. Though his work is driven by the image, he creates a narrative with his unique poetic research through which each subject is carefully focused. Here we can see his fascination with the cinema, Ferdinand Cheval, the art of memory, and dance.

Raphaël Zarka, born in Montpelier in 1977, lives and works in Paris. As well as having sculpture at its base, Zarka’s work is realised through painting, photography, drawing, and film—and all through the language of geometry. His work is influenced by his love of skateboarding combined with his interest in mathematical objects, and the history of art.