The Petit Palais Museum in Paris presents street art for the very first time

This summer and fall, the Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris, housed in the Petit Palais building, is presenting “We Are Here,” which will run until November 17, 2024. Co-curated by Mehdi Ben Cheikh, Director of Itinerrance Gallery, and Annick Lemoine, Director of Petit Palais, this exhibition brings together the works of renowned street artists such as Shepard Fairey, Invader, D*Face, Seth, Cleon Peterson, Hush, Swoon, Vhils, Inti, Add Fuel, and Conor Harrington. The curatorial vision behind “We Are Here” is to combine the vibrancy of urban art with the classical architecture of the Petit Palais, bridging the gap between traditional fine art and contemporary urban art, demonstrating the cultural and artistic value of the latter in a prestigious institutional setting. The selected pieces not only show the aesthetic diversity and creativity of urban art, but also address themes relevant to today’s society, such as identity, power and resistance. Lemoine takes us behind the scenes of the exhibition.

Can you tell us a little about the genesis and inspiration behind the exhibition “We Are Here” and how it came to be the first urban art exhibition at the Petit Palais and at the same time the first street art exhibition of this magnitude in a public art institution in France?

The Petit Palais has always opened its doors to contemporary art, in a spirit of dialogue with its collections and its architecture. But this is the first time that it has hosted works of street art, at the suggestion of Mehdi Ben Cheikh, director of the Itinerrance Gallery. His idea was to offer visitors to the Petit Palais this first major street art exhibition in a museum, presented in the heart of the historical collections, to multiply the bridges between past and present, highlight formal correspondences and bring them into dialogue with urban art.

What unique aspects or features of the “We Are Here” exhibition do you think will particularly appeal to visitors?

Hanging these monumental street art pieces in our magnificent 1900 building is sure to surprise and amaze our visitors. The artists have played with the particularities of the place: the size of our picture rails, the architectural details of the museum and the works in our collections. They blend harmoniously into the exhibition while providing visual surprises. The immersive space at the end of the tour will be an experience in itself. Never before have so many street art pieces been brought together in a single space, in a spectacular “side-by-side” exhibition reminiscent of the way artworks were displayed in 19.^th-Century salons.

Urban art often deals with social and political issues. How are these issues presented in this exhibition and what message do you want to convey to visitors?

Artists have always dealt with political and social issues. Our Romantic Room, for example, features two monumental paintings: one by Victor Schnetz, which depicts the Revolution of 1830, the other by Paul Delaroche, which evokes the victors of the Bastille in July 1789. In this room, they are in dialogue with a new version of Obey’s Marianne, which he painted on the wall of a house in the 13th century.^th Arrondissement in memory of the victims of the attacks of November 13, 2015. The symbolism is very strong and the work hung in the Petit Palais reflects the struggles of yesterday and today. In a similar way, Conor Harrington has created a canvas for this space, in the perspective of a dialogue with 19^thCentury and with his contemporaries Obey and Seth.

Street art is often associated with transience and the public domain. How did you deal with the transition of this art form into a museum context, where it could be seen as more permanent and institutionalized?

Some artists have chosen to present framed works in monumental formats, adapted to our spaces. Others have taken up the picture rails themselves, while maintaining the monumentality that our spaces allow. Artists like Seth have conceived site-specific installations, adapted to the constraints of the museum. We really wanted to give them total freedom. The museum is not outside of society. To welcome these works is first and foremost to welcome art, even if it has made its presence felt in the street. Our works, those in the collections, also belong to the public! To evoke this relationship, we are presenting an installation on the first floor of the museum in which we contrast the equipment of the plein air painter – easel, palette and box of paint tubes – with the equipment of graffiti artists, in particular spray cans.

Why did you want to pay tribute to the various art salons and art fairs of earlier times, such as the Salon des Refusés and the Salon d’Automne, which illustrated the emergence of an artistic modernity in opposition to the prevailing official taste?

This reference reflects the Petit Palais, its history and its roots in the 8th century.^th Arrondissement of Paris, the historic district for the exhibition of art. The great art salons, including the famous Salon des Refusés, were initially held at the Palais de l’Industrie, located in the gardens between the Petit Palais and the Concorde, and then from 1900 at the Grand Palais. This homage also underlies the large immersive space where the works of street artists are displayed side by side and in several rows, covering the entire surface of each wall, creating a unique experience. Indeed, the curator’s intention is to create a real link with these salons, which were at the origin of many artistic revolutions.

How do you think the exhibition “We Are Here” will influence the perception of street art in the wider art scene and among the general public? How do you see the future development of street art, both in museum spaces such as the Petit Palais and in its usual urban environment?

The exhibition confirms a growing interest in urban art, as evidenced by the many initiatives of recent years, with projects such as “Capitale(s)” at the Hôtel de Ville, “Loading” at the Grand Palais Immersif and the major Invader exhibition in the former premises of the liberation Newspaper. The exhibition at the Petit Palais represents a new step by creating a strong dialogue between street art works and works from the collection of an art museum. This dialogue should allow us to welcome new visitors who would not necessarily have come to see our collections alone. Exchanging perspectives, encouraging surprises and discoveries, showing that the Petit Palais is open to contemporary creation and granting free access to works of art are key principles of the museum’s policy. The “We Are Here” exhibition is part of this shared commitment and I am convinced that it will be a great success with the general public.