Exhibition curating – Lux. a romanian energy at Société Générale Paris-La Défense

In October 2018, Societé Générale entrusts Estelle Francès with the commissioning of an exhibition from three collections: the Collection of Société Générale, the Francès Collection, the artists of the Valérie Delaunay Gallery. Estelle Francès proposes a statement of intent in the view of the Romanian contemporary scene, with the exhibition «Lux. A Romanian energy.» An artistic event that is seeking light, aesthetic, social and historical necessity in the artworks of the seven Romanian artists.

The artworks of this exhibition come from the Francès collection, which hosted Mircea Cantor in 2016 for a solo show at the eponymous Foundation whose interest in the Romanian scene has been put in practice for more than 15 years with the discovery of All the directions created in 2000 by Mircea Cantor, following the paintings of Adrian Ghenie in 2006, of Oana Farcas in 2010 and the drawings of Mircea Suciu in 2011. There is a creative energy that can be found in the works of artists represented by the Valérie Delaunay Gallery and which are lent for the occasion. Flavia Pitis and Radu Belcin, whose works were noticed and exhibited by Societe Generale in 2012 in Generation of Sacrifice (Génération de sacrifice), but also Bogdan Vladuta whose inspirations originate from the architecture and history of French and Italian art.

Taking into consideration the framework imposed by the artworks and the place of the exhibition, it is necessary to focus on the singular energy deployed by these Romanian artists and strengthen the exhibition by the invitation of the artist Mircea Cantor (Prix Marcel Duchamp 2011) with a consequent amount of artwork loan.

The intention of the exhibition calls for openness: to intersect populations, to renew the perceptions about different cultures.  

Visual : Adrian Ghenie, Hunger, 2015, oil on canvas, unique piece © Estelle and Hervé Francès collection