Art-o-Rama, Paréidolie and La Traverse Inaugurate Marseille’s New Cultural Season
Every year, during the last weekend of August, contemporary art takes over the city of Marseille. It’s an exceptional and effervescent time of year, with multiple art fairs putting contemporary art in the spotlight. Among them, the international contemporary art fair Art-o-rama, which brings together some sixty galleries offering special curatorial projects. The opening weekend gave the public the chance to attend various screenings and talk with gallery owners, before an extended exhibition period welcoming a wide audience of art lovers. They could discover works such as “Campus Panic”, an exhibition by art and design graduates from the Beaux-Arts de Marseille, and enjoy meetings with artists along with exceptional performances.
On the other hand, the international contemporary drawing fair Paréidolie has established itself in just a few years as one of the art market’s major events. Held in the Château de Servières, visitors could discover 16 selected galleries which, alongside guest artists and structures, occupied the entire premises, creating an ideal space for encounters and exchanges between collectors, professionals and the public. Catherine David, art historian and curator, chairs this year’s artistic committee.
Numerous events once again delighted the public, such as the various previews as part of the Saison du Dessin, or the exhibition “Les Dryades de Cosquer”, presented as part of the Lithuanian cultural season in France this year, under the curation of Juste Kostikivaitė and Merilin Talumaa. It features works by contemporary Baltic and international artists, all influenced by the legacy of Marija Gimbutas, and is presented at La Traverse, a venue created by Catherine Bastide that mixes exhibitions, fooding and bed & breakfast. And since a weekend like this couldn’t take place without at least one great evening, gallerists, artists and art lovers gathered at the Jogging concept store, an event organized by Your Art.
Among the many previews, moments of exchange and conviviality between art lovers and professionals, we met Bernard Blistène, Xavier Rey, René Jacques Meyer, Nadia Candet, Jean-Pierre Blanc and Pascale Mussard, the collecting couple Marc and Josée Gensollen, artists Jean Bedez, Cyrielle Gulacsy, Claude Closky, Amaury Daras and Julien Berthier.
Photos : Michaël Huard
