In creating his architectural center in 1976, Victor Vasarely made a gesture of exceptional significance and generosity. This French artist of Hungarian origin (Pécs 1906 – Paris 1997), internationally recognized as the father of Op Art, a specialist in optical and kinetic effects, as well as a brilliant advertising illustrator, created in Aix-en-Provence “La Cité polychrome of happiness “, bringing together visual artists, architects and urban planners, and wished to promote a social art accessible to all.
Vasarely Foundation, hall n°5
Reflecting on the art and avant-garde look that Victor Vasarely focused on the role of the artist in the twentieth century, the Foundation was created to popularize art without cultural or social discrimination: an art for all; accessible to everyone.
Avant-garde architecture, the Foundation is thought of as a gigantic lumino-kinetic sculpture where the optical animations of the facade prefigure the kinetic games of the 42 monumental integrations that we discover inside the building.
The most famous works of Victor Vasarely are presented to the Foundation in the form of monumental works allowing the visitor to appreciate the outcome to which Vasarely brings geometric abstract painting under the name of kinetic art. Vasarely was one of the promoters of this movement, as well as his son Yvaral, visual artist and graphic designer. The Foundation presents their works, as well as those of contemporary artists who work on the interactions between the work and the public in temporary exhibitions.
Word of the President for the autumn season
Dear members,
In these times of “autumn”, here is some information concerning our programming for this autumn:
The conferences of Agnès Ghenassia, due to the unavailability of the conference room of the Vasarely Foundation during the exhibition ‘The Permanent Revolution’ of the Pompidou Center, will not resume until Tuesday, November 5, at the beginning of the holidays of the Toussaint. Until the end of April 2020, these conferences on modern and contemporary art will always be scheduled on Tuesdays from 10:30 to 12:00.
That of Tuesday, November 5 will be dedicated to art and nature. You will receive the announcement and the invitation in October.
For Tuesday, September 17, at 18:30, you received the announcement of a conference that promises to be rich in humor on the Shadoks, by Gerard Berry, computer scientist, professor emeritus at the College de France.
In addition, the months of September to November offer many temporary exhibitions in our region. Also, Agnès Ghénassia offers you an end-of-day excursion to Lisle-sur-la-Sorgue at the end of September to visit the Villa Datris exhibition: “Bêtes de Scène”, as well as the exhibition of the Campredon Art Center dedicated to Guy Bourdin.
At the beginning of October, a day in Montpellier will make you discover the works of the painter Vincent Bioulès at the Fabre museum,
At the end of October, a day in Nice will allow us to get to know young visual artist Clément Cogitore, invited to interact with Marc Chagall’s paintings.
For these outings, you will shortly receive the announcement of the precise dates and practical conditions of these trips.
Other appointments will be offered around the optical and kinetic works of the exhibition “The Permanent Revolution”, presented at the Vasarely Foundation until October 20th.
Happy new year to you all!
Best regards.
Joachim Rothacker
Art and Nature, season 2, December 3rd 2019 at 10h30am
Next conferences
A conference by Agnès Ghenassia
Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Lecturer of Modern and Contemporary Art
Among the proliferation of postures and contemporary artistic practices, painters revisit the tradition of landscape and the gaze on the garden, sculptors imagine hybrid poetic man / nature and ecologically engaged artists try to mobilize the public or react to our collective concerns.
© Philippe Echaroux 2016
Philippe Echaroux went in 2016 to meet a tribe of Indians from the Amazon. By mixing street art and photography, he captured portraits of members of this tribe and projected their faces onto the trees of their forest.
Tuesday December 3rd 2019 at 10h30am
MEMBERS ENTRY FEE : 5€
NON MEMBERS : 7€
Fondation Vasarely
Jas de Bouffan
1 avenue Marcel Pagnol
13090 Aix-en-Provence
Art and nature, the 5th of Novembre at 10:30am
Next conferences
A conference by Agnès Ghenassia
Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Lecturer of Modern and Contemporary Art
Long present in Western art in the form of landscape painting, nature had been somewhat absent from the preoccupations of the “avant-gardes”. It made a spectacular comeback in the 1970’s in different forms: Land Art is manifested in the landscape and many artistic interventions take nature both as support and as material. Painting also confronts nature, earth, forest, rocks, garden …
As the history of art is intimately linked to the history of ideas, our relationship to nature has been transformed into a century of romantic contemplation and vigilant anxiety. The new awareness of the fragility of the natural beauties that surround us and their possible disappearance finds an echo in the most recent artistic practices.
Tuesday November 5th 2019 at 10h30am
MEMBERS ENTRY FEE : 5€
NON MEMBERS : 7€
Fondation Vasarely
Jas de Bouffan
1 avenue Marcel Pagnol
13090 Aix-en-Provence
Science and conscience among the Shadoks, conference of the 17th of September 2019
Next conferences
A conference by Gérard Berry
Regent of Deformatics at the College of Pataphysics
Computer scientist, professor emeritus at the College de France, member of the Academy of Sciences, Academy of Technology, laureate of the CNRS gold medal.
The name of Shadoks is known throughout France, but not the details of their strange existence. After having gossiped about their birth and their presence in the universe, we will study the immense progress of their science, which goes from the elementary probabilities to the understanding of the phenomenon of gravitation, via the systems of numeration, the theory of the sets and that of transport. We will see how modern imagery has made it possible to understand the original functioning of their brain, which has led to a form of culture from which we can draw a lot if we look at it more closely.
Tuesday Septembre 17th 2019 à 18h30 pm
MEMBERS ENTRY FEE : 5€
NON MEMBERS : 7€
Fondation Vasarely
Jas de Bouffan
1 avenue Marcel Pagnol
13090 Aix-en-Provence
Cycle of conferences by Agnès Ghenassia
Art and Nature, season 2, December 3rd 2019 at 10h30am
A conference by Agnès Ghenassia Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Lecturer of Modern and Contemporary Art Among the proliferation of postures and contemporary artistic practices, painters revisit the tradition of landscape and the gaze on the garden, sculptors imagine hybrid poetic man / nature and ecologically engaged artists try to mobilize the public or react to our collective concerns. © Philippe Echaroux 2016Philippe Echaroux went in 2016 to meet a tribe of Indians from the Amazon. By mixing street art and photography, he captured portraits of members of this tribe and projected...
Art and nature, the 5th of Novembre at 10:30am
A conference by Agnès Ghenassia Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Lecturer of Modern and Contemporary Art Long present in Western art in the form of landscape painting, nature had been somewhat absent from the preoccupations of the "avant-gardes". It made a spectacular comeback in the 1970's in different forms: Land Art is manifested in the landscape and many artistic interventions take nature both as support and as material. Painting also confronts nature, earth, forest, rocks, garden ...As the history of art is intimately linked to the history of ideas, our relationship to nature has...
Modern art and design, conference of the 25th of June 2019
In the twentieth century, being modern meant chasing ornament. So the exclamation "it's decorative!" Described with contempt a superficial painting, without a real artistic dimension.How, after having dreamed of a fusion between major and minor arts, have painters managed to deny the decorative dimension of painting? Who resisted this separation and played "on both counts"?From this conflictual relationship, contemporary artists have often taken with humor putting the decorative, ornamental, even kitsch in the heart of their practice. Tuesday June 25th 2019 at 10:30 am Salle Armand Lunel,...
Monochrome, a twists and turns adventure, conference of the 28th of May 2019
Nothing is more disturbing to an uninitiated than a monochrome painting, a painting of the absence of representation.However, the monochrome adventure started in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, then embodied by Yves Klein, has continued to develop, between nihilism and sense of the absolute, to the point of becoming a genre in its own right that is surprisingly rich in plastic and conceptual possibilities. Tuesday May 28th 2019 at 10:30 am Salle Armand Lunel, Bibliothèque Méjanes, Aix-en-Provence
Art and sciences, conference of the 19th of March 2019
Whether they have themselves first benefited from a scientific background or they need to collaborate with biologists, mathematicians, architects, computer scientists, to implement their projects, some contemporary artists produce works at the crossroads of art and science.The recent exhibition of Tomas Saraceno at the Palais de Tokyo, for example, is the result of a collaboration between biologists, cosmonauts and philosophers. Tuseday 19th of March 2019 at 10:30 am Vasarely Foundation Aix-en-Provence
Space, time, light and sound in contemporary artistic practices, conference of the 26th of February 2019
Many installations today involve all the senses. While some are technologically complex, others are at the crossroads of DIY and poetry. All aim to enrich the field of our perceptions, taking us away from those that the contemporary world offers us daily. Tuesday 26th of february at 10:30 am Vasarely Foundation Aix-en-Provence
Valentine’s day, do love and creation work together ?
This question makes it possible to explore a wide variety of cases among couples of artists, ranging from complicity to rivalry, from partnership to ego warfare, and reveals the evolution of manners and society over the course of the year. Twentieth century as to the look at creative women. Thursday the14th of February 2019 at 18:00 pm Vasarely Foundation,1 avenue Marcel PagnolAix-en-Provence 13090
The art work in motion, conference of the 15th of January 2019
In 1955, Victor Vasarely organized with Denise René a historical collective exhibition entitled "the movement", which dedicated the notion of kinetic art. Whether the movement is an optical illusion or it is caused by a motor, the field of experimentation opened by these pioneering artists continues to be reinvented by our contemporary visual artists: today the expanded field of the sculpture includes movement, space and sound. Tuesday 15th of January 2019 at 10:30 am Vasarely Foundation Aix-en-Provence
Valentine’s Day, do art and love mix ?
This question makes it possible to explore a wide variety of cases among couples of artists, ranging from complicity to rivalry, from partnership to ego warfare, and reveals the evolution of manners and society over the course of the year. Twentieth century as to the look at creative women. Thursday the14th of February 2019 at 18:00 pm Vasarely Foundation,1 avenue Marcel PagnolAix-en-Provence 13090