Salon de Montrouge

Recently opened on the outskirts of Paris, the 57th edition of the Salon de Montrouge is a democratic display of contemporary art with a revolutionary formula, well worth a journey of discovery into the suburbs.

In Montrouge, artists and artworks gain access to the contemporary system through a true exercise in direct democracy, at the annual event that the illuminated administration of this small town in the Parisian outskirts offers to artists and residents. It's not important if they are professionals or absolute amateurs — in the Duchampian sense of the term. In the last two editions, under the artistic direction and impetus of Stephane Correard — atypical activist, intellectual and undisputed motor of the French scene — the event's critical lens has a College of Critics study the artists' dossiers; after careful selection from among the 2,000 initial submissions, eighty are accompanied to the interesting exhibition. The final verdict is entrusted to a jury of internationally renowned artists and critics.

This year's President is Jan Hoet (in his curatorial resumé are Documenta and Chambre d'amis). Guest artist Olivier Mosset is the M in BMTP (Buren, Mosset, Parmentier, Toroni), the group of artists that shook the French art world in the mid-sixties with their "non-authorial" project. Matali Crasset has choreographed the Salon's exhibit design for the last two years. This year's edition is hosted in a splendid renovated complex housing the theater and Le Beffroi palace; built in the 1930s, it has been home to Leger and Dalì exhibitions. The news this year is a master class for everyone: the public, artists and curators, and, in the Fall, an auction of the works presented. A leitmotif binding the Salon to academic research is also included; every year, an art school showcases a key project.

<em>Salon de Montrouge</em>, installation view — *Salon de Montrouge*, installation view

Seen through the cold and objective conceptual matrix of Maxime Chanson, the winning artist of this 57th edition, the Salon de Montrouge reveals a trend toward internationalization that began about 10 years ago, an exaggerated emphasis on traces and vestiges and very few artists interested in the political and/or social dimension, so apparently typical of the French scene. The artist's work, evidently a synthesis descending from the excessive use of web search engines, does stray somewhat from the philosophy of the jury's Special Prize.

English by adoption, Henrik Potter opts instead for a modular and ultra-modern interpretation of artistic practice; his work, for which he lays claim to a statute of a Yes/No State, is full of extremely fragile pieces, transforming their precariousness into their true manifesto.

And finally, the narrative flow of 16-mm images by Eponine Momenceau, the third "graduate" this year, closes and defines the intrinsic quality of the event. It is a close-up of high-quality works removed from the urgency of real-life contexts — the dazzling, intrinsic beauty of the ordinariness of artistic creation. With its charge of specificity and its undeniable success for artists of all ages who have not yet broken into the system and achieved market visibility, the opportunities are measured by real parameters.

In Montrouge, artists and artworks gain access to the contemporary system in a true exercise in direct democracy

A partnership with Palais de Tokyo offers the three graduates a solo show in one of the modules rather than an opportunity to expand their language. Judging by the success of the artists who have shown in Montrouge, the eye of many commercial galleries have also turned their gaze to this renewed institution — from the irony of the paintings that still bear the words, Perrotin-prends-moi, to the success of artists like Ivan Argote who have come through the Salon and are now represented by high-profile Parisian galleries.

For the moment, the freshness of the works on display should be enjoyed: from the sophisticated environmental installation by Claire Trotignon to the eight-sided ice polyhedron by Olivier Mosset.

The Salon de Montrouge is worth a journey of discovery into the suburbs.

Through 30 May 2012
Salon de Montrouge
Le Beffroi
2 place Emile Cresp, Montrouge

Salon de Montrouge

Recently opened on the outskirts of Paris, the 57th edition of the Salon de Montrouge is a democratic display of contemporary art with a revolutionary formula, well worth a journey of discovery into the suburbs.

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