Mécènes du sud, Marseille
After the major gathering celebrating its creation, Mécènes du Sud is continuing its “20 ans ça se fête!” program in the context of the new season of contemporary art in the Arles-Aix-Marseille region.
In 2024, Art-o-Rama, the international contemporary art fair, Paréidolie, the international contemporary drawing fair, and Polyptyque Photography Art Fair, which welcome international galleries, mobilize the local scene and attract a national audience, invite Mécènes du Sud to present in these spaces former prize-winners, respectively: Yann Serandour, 2015 prize-winner, Madison Bycroft, 2022 prize-winner, Emmanuelle Lainé, 2021 prize-winner.
Creating Mécènes du Sud in 2003 in Aix-Marseille, meant for the founders, who were company directors, contributing to the emergence of new artistic projects in a region that needed to be reclaimed in every respect. The long-lasting ties forged by supporting the projects of cultural operators and artists now enable Mécènes du Sud to play an active role in one of France’s most active and stimulating artistic scenes.
Yann Serandour
[FR, 1974] Winner of the 2015 call for projects
Yann Serandour is interested in questions of transmission and reproduction in the field of art; his recent projects deal with botany, more specifically cacti, the history of music through the harpsichord, and cynology. He is interested in how the content we inherit has been selected and prioritized by others, by which authoritative paths this information has been sifted, and which has been lost.
The work with Mécènes du Sud took the form of an exchange to understand the “parameters of the invitation”, as he puts it. The celebration of the association’s 20th anniversary, the one that distributes the money, and the context of a contemporary art fair, a symbol of spending, laid the groundwork. The sponsorship relationship raised the question of the stereotypical representations it conveys. But what are we talking about? Is patronage a status, a profile, a practice? What does corporate philanthropy make possible?
This introspection into the mechanics of Mécènes du Sud highlights its fundamentals over the past 20 years: raising financial resources, the strength of the collective, shared objectives, disinterestedness, and the desire to create links.
At the same time, the patrons had been hatching a plan for several months to make a spectacular appearance at the Friche Belle de Mai, on the Art-O-Rama site. By throwing the ball back in our direction, Yann Serandour has opened up a space where visitors are invited to meet the patrons.
Yann Serandour’s work has been exhibited at Parc Saint Léger in Pougues-les-Eaux, CNEAI in Chatou, Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, Arts Santa Mònica in Barcelona, Palais de Tokyo in Paris and CCA Wattis in San Francisco, among others. Nominated for the Prix Ricard in 2006, the Prix Meurice in 2018 and the Prix Bob Calle du livre d’artiste in 2023.
