If an accumulation reflects a life
The quality of that accumulation reflects the quality of that life
Lawrence Weiner
Since 2004, the Association for the international dissemination of French art (ADIAF) has been organising a triennial exhibition entitled “De leur temps” displaying a selection of recent purchases by French collector-members of the association. A testimony of private collectors’ commitment to the artistic creation of their times, this exhibition presents a panorama of the research done by passionate collectors who are sensitive to various aspects of contemporary art. After Tourcoing in 2004 (Musée des beaux-arts), Grenoble in 2007 (Musée des beaux-arts), Strasbourg in 2010 (Musée d’art contemporain), Nantes in 2013 (Hangar à bananes), Villeurbanne in 2016 (IAC), the sixth edition of the triennial will be on display in Avignon’s Collection Lambert, contemporary art museum, from December 14th, 2019 to March 15, 2020.
For this new edition, “De leur temps” takes a new and more ambitious direction, going straight to the heart of the matter with acquisitions made not only over the past three years, as in previous events, but since the beginning of the 2st century: i.e. almost twenty years of acquisitions. The exhibition displays no less than 182 works on loan from 77 collectors, who were asked to choose the major works they have purchased since 2001 from living artists. The lenders’ enthusiasm was equal to the ambition of the project: almost 800 works were submitted to the selection committee, consisting of ADIAF officials and the Collection Lambert curatorial team.
This considerable volume of works from private collections will be ideally presented in the rooms of the Avignon museum’s hôtel particulier. Founded for Yvon Lambert’s collection in 2000, its aim has always been to share with the widest possible audience the passions of certain players in the world of contemporary art, through exhibitions that have become emblematic (“Collection d’artistes”, “Theorema”, “La disparition des lucioles”, “On aime l’art…!!”). Thanks to the wealth and variety of works on display, and the commitment and investment of 77 collectors to whom we pay homage, the exhibition presented in Avignon broadly explores all the artistic practices since the dawn of this century, now emerging from its adolescence, with all the tumult in the world of creation, perception of forms, the introduction of new sensitive devices, new ways of thinking, new actions, new questions. But it also reveals the audacity, clairvoyance and passion driving those who love the art of their times, showing what it can mean to be a collector in 21st century France.
The exhibition is curated by Stéphane Ibars, responsible for the artistic programming of the Collection Lambert.
