By Carine Loeillet
In Paris, the Laurent Rigail Gallery brings together nearly ninety contemporary artists around a theme as universal as it is elusive: the circle. Entitled Squaring the CircleThe group exhibition, on display until June 20, 2026 at 40 rue Volta in the 3rd arrondissement, explores the infinite possibilities of the contemporary tondo. An ambitious project that blends historical heritage, artistic experimentation, and reflection on contemporary creation.
Since antiquity, squaring the circle has belonged to the realm of impossible enigmas. This mathematical problem, which consists of transforming a circle into a square of the same area using only classical geometric tools, has persisted through the centuries without ever finding a solution. But where mathematics has encountered an impasse, art discovers a space of freedom. The impossible ceases to be a limit and becomes a starting point.
This tension between rigor and imagination permeates the entire exhibition. The circle appears less as a closed form than as a territory for experimentation.
The central theme of the project is the tondo, this circular format emblematic of the Renaissance Italian. From Giotto à MichelangeloIt was long associated with the sacred, with cosmic harmony and a certain idea of perfection. In the hands of contemporary artists invited by Laurent Rigail, this historical reference is transformed into a field of artistic exploration.
Painting, photography, drawing, collage, mixed media: the approaches multiply throughout the exhibition. Each artist explores circularity according to their own sensibility. Some work with the notion of limits, using the circle as a space of visual concentration where tension intensifies. Others, on the contrary, see it as a movement of openness, a horizon without beginning or end, conducive to contemplation and escape. The circle then becomes a mental window, almost cosmic.
The exhibition reveals how a formal constraint can generate tenfold creative freedom. Behind the apparent unity of the format, radically different worlds emerge. The works engage in a dialogue without ever becoming uniform. Some favor geometric abstraction, others develop more organic or poetic visual narratives. Elsewhere, the material takes precedence, worked into almost sculptural compositions. The eye moves from one tondo to another as if within a constellation of unique artistic identities.
This dialogue between constraint and invention is precisely one of the exhibition's great achievements. The circle imposes a rule, but it dictates no language. It acts as a catalyst. Each artist asserts their own unique style, their way of occupying space, constructing rhythm, and playing with emptiness or saturation. The exhibition thus offers a particularly vibrant interpretation of contemporary art, in all its aesthetic and conceptual diversity.
Beyond the exhibition itself, La Quadrature du cercle also embodies the vision defended for over twenty years by Laurent RigailBy officially becoming the Galerie Laurent Rigail after having long been known as Galerie Brugier-Rigail, the venue is not seeking to effect a dramatic break. On the contrary, it affirms a deliberate continuity, faithful to an artistic vision built over time.
A collector before becoming a gallery owner, Laurent Rigail has always viewed his profession as a commitment rather than a mere commercial activity. His vision has been shaped by artists driven by a genuine creative necessity, far removed from fleeting trends and short-term speculative strategies. The gallery has gradually established itself as a leading institution at the crossroads of urban and contemporary art scenes, championing artists who are now essential figures from the very beginning.
Among them are pioneers of 1980s urban art such as Miss Tic, Speedy Graphito, Jérôme Mesnager, and Robert Combas, as well as international figures like Shepard Fairey, JonOne, and John Matos Crash. The gallery has helped to firmly establish these artists within the institutional and critical landscape, viewing them not as mere witnesses of their time, but as genuine cultural and social actors.
One of the unique aspects of Galerie Laurent Rigail lies in its ability to foster dialogue between generations. Rejecting any rigid, heritage-based interpretation of urban art, it has supported emerging artists since its inception, artists whose practices extend or reinvent certain contemporary codes. Levalet, MadC, L'Atlas, Monkeybird, and M.Chat were among those supported early on by the gallery, before gaining institutional and international recognition.
In an art market often subject to acceleration and standardization, Laurent Rigail champions a long-term approach. The collector is not seen as a mere buyer, but as a partner with whom a relationship of trust is built, nurtured by dialogue, guidance, and intellectual rigor. This editorial dimension permeates the gallery's entire project: exhibiting a work is as much of an engagement as selling it.
This philosophy is fully reflected in "Squaring the Circle." The exhibition doesn't simply seek to bring together works around a common theme. It functions as a laboratory of ideas where artists experiment, compare their practices, and open up new perspectives. The circle becomes a pretext for questioning our relationship to space, to sight, to repetition, to movement, and even to the very notion of perfection.
In a world saturated with images and discourse, this exhibition also reminds us that contemporary art retains an essential capacity: that of raising questions rather than providing definitive answers. The visitor is not invited to solve the enigma of squaring the circle, but to allow themselves to be moved by it, to experience this fertile tension between order and imagination, logic and emotion.
Squaring the Circle – Contemporary Tondi
From 28 May to 20 June 2026
Laurent Rigail Gallery
40 rue Volta, Paris III
