The underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof….What I mean is that the idea of detached bodies floating in space, of different sizes and densities, perhaps of different colors and temperatures, and surrounded and interlarded with wisps of gaseous condition, and some at rest, while others move in peculiar manners, seems to me the ideal source of form.

--Alexander Calder

My creative process imposes from the outset a formative idea that is rigorously realisable. The formative idea is, above all, the understanding of an ensemble as a whole.

--Jean Prouvé

Gagosian Paris, in collaboration with Galerie Patrick Seguin, presents an exhibition of works by Alexander Calder and by Jean Prouvé.

Eloïse Daniels / eloise@claudinecolin.com

The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée — MuCEM) is a ground-breaking project for the Mediterranean region of the 21st century.

With an exceptional location overlooking the entrance to the Vieux Port, the MuCEM incorporates the Fort Saint-Jean, a historical site spanning 15,000 m2, and a new 17,000 m2 building constructed by architect Rudy Ricciotti on the J4 pier. Both sites will be linked by a pedestrian bridge of 115 m.

The MuCEM will open its doors in 2013, at the time when Marseille will be the European Capital of Culture.

Diane JUNQUA /  diane@claudinecolin.com

Against the backdrop of upheaval in the gender order, this exhibition offers a status report on the issue of “gender”.

An itinerary connecting everyday objects, works of contemporary art (Niki de Saint Phalle, Louise Bourgeois, Pierre et Gilles, Canan, Sandra Dukic…) and numerous excerpts from fiction and documentary films, inviting inquiry into the multiple ways of being a man or a woman in modern Mediterranean societies: how individuals express sexuality, meet, become a couple or family and, more generally, communicate their differences, and assert their rights…

Diane JUNQUA /diane@claudinecolin.com

This exhibition opens with Goya and Miro, the lights and their shadows, the idea of civilisation and its inverse, which vindicates violence and conquest.

The Black and Blue… A crossing of imaginary representations of the Mediterranean, in twelve moments: A Tour of the Mediterranean in the Eighteenth Century; Conquest and Civilisation; Antiquities; Vacation; Exchanges and Cosmopolitism; A Shared Dream?; Domination and Affirmation ; A Dream Destroyed and Reinvented; Blue Tourism / Black Mafia ; The Mediterranean of the Dark Years (Beirut, Algiers, Sarajevo, Jerusalem); Crossings and “A Salvo of the Future…”.

A story and a journey, from one shore of the Mediterranean to the other, that invites us to come look from the other side of the mirror.

An exhibition of civilisation that combines paintings, sculptures, photographs and contemporary installations, rare documents, books, manuscripts and journals, and images from the archives, both documentary and fiction.

A Mediterranean dream, constantly renewed, which does not forget the nightmares of history, yet is never imprisoned.

The Black and Blue…

Diane Junqua / diane@claudinecolin.com

On the ground floor of the J4, the Gallery of the Mediterranean offers a unique perspective on the history of civilisations of the Mediterranean Basin.

Invention and expansion of agriculture, monotheisms, citizenship and human rights, travel and major discoveries, constitute the four thematic axes of a transversal and multidisciplinary itinerary for the discovery of the Mediterranean world.

The exhibition unveils objects from diverse periods, origins and styles: archaeological pieces, testaments of daily life, sculptures, paintings, and contemporary art (Cristina Lucas, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jacques Monory, Barthélémy Toguo…).

This original selection highlights certain key issues of the contemporary world: the environment, human rights, and relations with the Other

Diane JUNQUA / diane@claudinecolin.com

Shown simultaneously at four major European venues - Centre Pompidou Metz (Metz, France), Le Fresnoy (Tourcoing, France), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany) and Les Champs Libres (Rennes, France) - this virtual exhibition, curated by Jean-Jacques Lebel, delves deep into the Beat Generation, a cultural and literary movement that began in San Francisco in the 1950s and would have worldwide impact. Its leading protagonists were Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. 

A new exhibition, Prima Materia, will be on view in Venice from May 30, 2013, to December 31, 2014, at Punta della Dogana. François Pinault has appointed Caroline Bourgeois and Michael Govan as the curators. 

Mathilde Beaujard / mathilde@claudinecolin.com

Eloïse Daniels / eloise@claudinecolin.com

Tel : +33 (0)1 42 72 60 01

 www.claudinecolin.com 

The home is a relationship between space and time. Time is the creator and destructor of space. Space is not autonomous and static. Space is controlled by time.

--Mario Merz

 Gagosian Paris presents a selection of works by Mario Merz. Merz's work was first shown at Gagosian London in 2006.

Eloïse Daniels / eloise@claudinecolin.com

Diane JUNQUA / diane@claudinecolin.com

As president and founder of Le Printemps de Cahors and its reincarnation as Le Printemps de Septembre à Toulouse, one of the first festivals in France dedicated to contemporary visual and performing arts, Marie-Thérèse Perrin asked Jean-Marc Bustamante to look into ways of renewing the festival, addressing new issues and exploring a broader, more international vision. Under the aegis of this Toulouse-born artist, and in keeping with his project for the city, the festival is metamorphosing, changing its name and dates and developing new ambitions, with the artists themselves very much at the centre: at Toulouse, the Artist comes first.

As it was when originally founded, the festival will now be held in the spring, and last a full month. The 2013 edition runs from 24 May to 23 June.