Exhibition 'Like long echoes that merge from afar' is at LAAC

Published

March 28, 2023

The LAAC (Place of Contemporary Art and Action) in Dunkirk is celebrating its 40th anniversary with an exceptionally large exhibition, "Like Long Echoes That Merge From afar," which runs until May 7, 2023.

To mark this anniversary, the Museum is returning to its creative principles by honoring the artists in the collection and inviting 13 artists, each of whom will engage in dialogue with a historical work of their choice. At the same time, the Contemporary Art Association, founded by Gilbert Delaine, who founded the LAAC, has been given carte blanche to select the works exhibited in the final room. Special recognition is given to the major artists who have donated to the museum, as well as a representative collection from the first donation in 1981.

Birthdays are often an opportunity to reflect on past years and consider new perspectives for the years to come.

Forty years is the pinnacle of youth for a museum institution. Yet, in just a few decades, the LAAC has managed to forge a distinct identity. Its atypical history is due to the personality of the museum's founder, Gilbert Delaine, as well as to the building of its collection, thanks to patronage and strong support from artists. The Contemporary Art Association, founded by Delaine, is both generous and tenacious, bringing together some 932 works.

Since its reopening in 2005, the museum has also housed more than 700 works acquired by the city, very aware of the jewel in its care, as an extension of the "Delaine Collection". The quality of the collection is established, and its originality is expressed through the specialization around artistic movements (mainly painting) from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Today, a more relevant question than ever arises for the museum. Gilbert Delaine wanted to make it a living art museum by inviting contemporary artists. The challenge today is to reaffirm the relevance of this collection, given that many of its artists have entered history.

To celebrate the LAAC's fortieth anniversary, the museum's curatorial team, in collaboration with members of the Contemporary Art Association, invited 13 artists to explore the collection and engage in dialogue between their work and selected works. The exhibition Like long echoes that merge from afar » breaks with the conventional way of presenting works in the museum space, which separates the collection from temporarily borrowed works by allowing them to interact in the same spaces.

The selections by the artists in the collection and the way in which these works are arranged with their own creations offer new avenues of interpretation by reaffirming their relevance today. There is no doubt that the public will (re)discover the LAAC regulars. Since some pieces in the collection sometimes struggle to find their place on the museum walls, a visit to the permanent collection must be a delicate balancing act, logically and pedagogically articulating the fundamental pieces – the “masterpieces” – works representing the strong themes of the collection, works of delight, works of learning or illustrating common themes, etc. The invitation to the artists offers a completely different freedom. Their personality resonates directly with those of the artists in the collection. Just as Baudelaire's poem was chosen as the title of the exhibition, evoking the effect of correspondence between different senses and perceptions, these intergenerational "dialogues" have effects of echoes, kinship, filiation... They question artistic heritage, transmission in opposition or continuity, communities of thought or generation gaps...

Carte blanche is given to the Contemporary Art Association in one of the exhibition rooms, alongside this dialogue between the artists. This exhibition highlights the artists who played an extraordinary role in building these collections in the 1970s and 1980s. They were generous and believed in Gilbert Delaine's project, supporting him by donating one or more works to the museum. A tribute is paid to them here, accompanied by a presentation of part of the first donation of 1981 to the Museum Association, demonstrating the diversity and quality of the first works acquired.

Some 70 artists

Karel AppelPierre Alechinsky / Arman / Jean Arp / Atila / Jean-Michel Atlan / Anna-Eva Bergman / Pierre-Yves Brest / Camille Bryen / Marcelle Cahn / Alexander Calder / César / Jean Christoforou / Chu Teh-Chun / Dominique De BeirOlivier Debré / Decock / Christine Deknuydt / Sonia Delaunay / Charlotte Denamur / Jean Dewasne / Eugène Dodeigne / Noël Dolla / Jacques Doucet / Gérard DuchêneNatalia Dumitresco / Erró / Maurice Estève / Henri Goetz / Cecilia Granara / James Guitet / Hans Hartung / Maya Hayuk / Auguste Herbin / Toshimitsu Imaï / Joëlle Jakubiak / Paul Jenkins / Michèle Katz / Farah Khelil / Ladislas Kijno / Louis Latapie / Eugène Leroy / Aglaé Liberaki / Ludovic Linard / Béatrice Lussol / Alberto Magnelli / Gottfried Mairwöger / Robert Malaval / Alfred Manessier / Maurice Marinot / Natacha Mercier / Jean Messagier / Jean-Michel Meurice / Joan Miró / Marianne / Mispelaëre / Jürgen Nefzger / Bernard Pagès / Édouard Pignon / Diogo Pimentão / Serge Poliakoff / Georges Rouault / Gérard Schneider / Gustave Singier / Pierre Soulages / Pierre Theunissen / Maxime Thieffine / Raoul Ubac / Arthur Van Hecke / Victor Vasarely / Maria Helena Vieira Da Silva / Hugh Weiss.