The “Play Hard” Exhibition at Les Bains
Les Bains, Paris, its owner Jean-Pierre Marois and curator Jérôme Pauchant have invited Benjamin Sabatier to take over this legendary venue on 7 rue du Bourg L’Abbé. The latest creations of the French artist deploy themselves across the entirety of the property: from the public areas, entrance hall, Chinese lounge, reception, Roxo (bar, restaurant) and courtyards to the private areas, hotel corridors and bedrooms.
The “Play Hard” exhibition is the result of a long-standing relationship between these three protagonists and a natural extension of Benjamin Sebatier’s work “Trois quatres” (2014) – a project commissioned for the opening of the hotel in 2015 and designed to sublimate the history of the premises (from the nineteenth-century Bains Guerbois to the late twentieth-century Club des Bains Douches). This constructivist work evokes the transformation of the place and offers a space for artistic thought and contemplation.
Fascinated by Benjamin’s new research into modern painting and sculpture, Jérôme had no trouble convincing Jean-Pierre to invite Benjamin to work on a large-scale project that would actually “take over” Les Bains.
The private preview on 8 June 2023 was a total success and saw contemporary art collectors such as Frédéric de Goldschmidt-Rothschild, Jean-Philippe Vernes and Marcia de Labbey. Art professionals such as Maître Alexandre Giquelllo and many other fashion and music personalities also gathered in this particularly elegant setting to discover the latest modernist sculptures and abstract murals by the artist.
Photos: Edouard Richard
