FRENCH ART TOUR, SHANGHAI 2014
20th of November – 31st of December

CERAMIC ARTS, GLASS ARTS AND THE ART OF FRENCH LIVING

For the 50th anniversary of Franco-Chinese diplomatic relations, Ateliers d’Art de France is organising FRENCH ART TOUR, a previously unseen journey through themed show-and-sale exhibitions with stops in three of Shanghai’s symbolic cultural institutions: Tao Art Gallery, Liuli China Museum and Lafayette Art & Design Center. Through the contemporary work of over forty artists, this singular and unrivalled event reveals, for the first time in China, a rich and dynamic panorama of creation within the French arts scene.

Ateliers d’Art de France is the professional structure of reference in terms of the French arts. As the co-owner of the Maison&Objet Fair and organiser of Révélations, the arts and creation profession biennial organised in Paris at the Grand Palais, Ateliers d’Art de France has been successfully initiating various exhibition paths in collaboration with prestigious museums and galleries, in view of highlighting the thriving creativity and refined know-how of French artists.

Set within the framework of France - China 50, FRENCH ART TOUR is the first Ateliers d’Art de France event to take place in China.

For six weeks, the Tao Art Gallery, the Liuli China Museum and the Lafayette Design Center, closely tied to the event and located in the heart of the historic quarter of Puxi, will house a selection of two hundred contemporary creations that reflect the highest level of French artistic expression.

The fact that such an event is being launched in Shanghai is no coincidence. France and China share a long cultural tradition of creation and arts, which cover a significant portion of the artistic activity involved in matter.

Gérald Vatrin © Amadou Traoré

Just like Paris in Europe, Shanghai is one of the most flourishing cities of the Asian contemporary creation market and features a large and demanding audience on a quest for singularity.

FRENCH ART TOUR offers a rare opportunity to meet with French creative standards as well as the exclusive opportunity for the Chinese audience to acquire the unique pieces of forty-three creators whose works is multiple, audacious and high in quality.

Ceramics, glass and the art of French living make up the stepping stones of this three-stage journey.

J. Bonnefoy-Mercuriali © J. Bonnefoy-Mercuriali

Sophie Dalla Rosa © Matthieu Gauchet

ARTISTS PARTICIPATING IN FRENCH ART TOUR

Glass arts at Liuli China Museum

A pure, fragile and dense medium of light, glass inspires the creators who confront it using ancestral techniques in combination with the most innovative forms, to create pieces of art that are both beautiful and mysteriously fascinating.

A location of reference dedicated to glass arts, the Liuli China Museum will house the creations of twelve French artists, known as much for their technical skills as for their aesthetic research.

Aurelie Abadie + Sauques Samuel, Isabelle Baeckeroot, Jean-Pierre Baquère, Pauline Bétin, Lise Gonthier, Sophie et Guillaume Le Penher, Fabienne Picaud, Anne-Lise Riond Sibony, Vanessa Royant, Agathe Saint-Girons, Céline Tilliet, Gérald Vatrin

Ceramic arts at Tao Art Gallery

A millennial art form involving the four fundamental elements: water, earth, fire and air, ceramic lends itself to all types of metamorphoses at the whim of the most adventurous and free-minded inspiration of contemporary artists.

The Tao Art Gallery, a famed pottery-based art location in Shanghai, will be the setting of an exhibition featuring work by twelve highly renowned French ceramists.

Karine Benvenuti, Anne-Marie Casenaz, Pablo Castillo, Valérie Courtet, Patrick Crulis, Serge Dos Santos, Karima Duchamp, Marie-Laure Guerrier, Sabine Lalande, Ming Tong, Stéphanie Pelletrat, Christine Waxweiler

The art of French living at Lafayette Art & Design Center

Objects are a product of human invention and as such, they shape our decor, our environment and even our way of life. They spark creations involving multiple skills and boundless imagination.

The Lafayette Art & Design Center, a brand new space dedicated to creation, will open to the productions of nineteen exceptional artists who draw inspiration from the art of French living.

Marc Albert, Fabienne Auzolle, Sophie Bayeux, Jeanne Bonnefoy-Mercuriali, Capri, Agnès Nivot, Marie-Noëlle Ronayette Grange, Karin Stegmaier, Wen Tien, Alexandra Tollet, Anne Verdier (ceramics), Sophie Dalla Rosa, Anne-Valérie Dupond (textile), Isabelle Emmerique(lacquer), Jean Gazdac (glass), Bertrand Lacourt (furniture), Laurence Lehel (paper), Marie Minhac (mosaic), Pascal Oudet (wood)

Karine Benvenuti © Karine Benvenuti

Pascal Oudet © Pascal Oudet

ATELIERS D’ART DE FRANCE

Ateliers d’Art de France is the professional organisation of reference in terms of the French arts.

Founded in 1868, it unites over 6,000 artists, material artists and art manufactories. Having originated from art studios, it is the main link to public authorities, professionals as well as the general public. Its missions: to defend and represent professional artists and contribute to the economic development of this sector. With this goal in mind, it carries out symbolic initiatives within the field of arts in order to reveal the dynamic creativity of studios in France and beyond.

As the main organiser of fairs dedicated to the arts, Ateliers d'Art de France created the first Art Fair in Paris in 1949, which became Maison&Objet in 1995, the number one decoration and lifestyle reference worldwide. Nowadays, Ateliers d'Art de France co-owns it along with the Reed Expositions Group.

Ateliers d'Art de France also owns and organises two international fairs: "Révélations", the international arts and creation biennial, which launched in Paris in 2013 in the emblematic setting of the Grand Palais, and the "Salon International du Patrimoine Culturel" (international cultural heritage fair) which takes place once a year at the Carrousel du Louvre.

Ateliers d’Art de France rolls out many cultural and commercial events on an international level, including in Asia, the United States and Europe. They all contribute to the branching out of French artistic creation and the arising of new economic opportunities:

• the launch of Maison&Objet Asia and Maison&Objet Americas in Singapore and Miami has enabled us to place the French creative industry on the major export destinations map while opening up to new professional networks and to a patronage with significant purchasing power.

• joint pavilions on high-profile contemporary art fairs and trade shows: Collect and Top Drawers & Home in London, SOFA New York and Chicago, as well as the Craft Trend Fair in Seoul

• new event concepts in collaboration with international institutional and cultural players: cross-exhibitions and exhibition trails dedicated to arts, such as the French Art Tour Shanghai.

FRENCH ART TOUR has been planned and organised by Ateliers d’Art de France in partnership with the Master alliance of Art Ceramic in China, owner of the Tao Art Gallery; the Liuli China Museum and the Lafayette Art & Design Center. It has been awarded the France - China 50 seal and benefits from the support of the French Consulate in Shanghai.