Anita MOLINERO

INTI-PUNKU

by Elise Roche
Exhibition curator: Baptiste Ozenne
From 15 September to 15 October 2022
Strouk Gallery

Originally, it was music that governed the life of Baptiste Ozenne. Over time and through his initiations, contemporary art enters the circle to form the poetic dance that will make his world resonate. Far from being a simple matter of acquisition, the life of a collector can become, to quote the poet Arthur Davison Ficke, "one of the most humanistic occupations seeking to illustrate by the assemblage of significant relics the march of the human spirit in its quest for beauty". Initially an art dealer and collector, Baptiste Ozenne relies on his instincts. From his travels and encounters, projects emerge that make sense with his humanist values. His first collaboration with the Strouk gallery dates back to 2016. This year, at the invitation of the gallery, he officiates as a curator, sharing his vision of art through the selection of contemporary artists discovered during his stopovers.

Literally, "Gate of the Sun", Inti-Punku is the most important gateway to the Inca city. At each summer solstice, the sun's rays pierce its walls. It is of course also the symbol of a passage, of a renewal of oneself, like the Strouk gallery. The opening of its space on rue du Mail announces its metamorphosis. Since it is a process, every passage is both a here and a there, a separation and an adhesion. It is therefore driven by the desire to join the narrative of the present that the gallery supports the emergence of another relationship to the world that will shape the visions to come. By taking this step and regularly inviting a new curator, Strouk, in its role as facilitator, is preparing to tell us a sensitive and renewed story of the contemporary scene.