AVIGNON / (RE)BIRTH
Collection Lambert, opening July 3rd, 5, rue Violette, 84000 Avignon, T +33(0)4 90 16 56 20. “Andres Serrano, Ainsi soit-il”, Fondation Emile Hugues, 2, Place du Frêne, 06140 Vence, T + 33(0)4 93 58 15 78.
The museum of the Collection Lambert, originally located in the Hôtel de Caumont, has now taken over the Hôtel de Montfaucon, and doubled its exhibition floor space (from 1800 to 3600 sq. m). The Hôtel de Caumont will be reserved for temporary exhibitions while the Hôtel de Montfaucon just beside the latter will be used to display the permanent collection. The new complex will feature an auditorium, a reception room, two outside courtyards, a project room to show artists' videos and films, to organize performances, concerts and to welcome theatre and dance companies. There will also be a new area devoted to the restoration of artworks. Last but not least an apartment will allow the reborn institution to accommodate artists in residence. With 556 major artworks, the donation by Yvon Lambert is the most important in France since the Louvre received the Moreau-Nélaton donation in 1906! The list is rather impressive: 36 works by Cy Twombly, 10 by Robert Ryman, 120 photographs offered by Andres Serrano in 2006, 35 works by Sol LeWitt, 70 photographs by Nan Goldin… + Donald Judd, Brice Marden, Daniel Buren, Dennis Oppenheim, Gordon Matta-Clark, Anselm Kiefer, Miquel Barcelo, Julian Schnabel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Douglas Gordon ou Bertrand Lavier. The inaugural exhibition will feature some of these masterpieces and pay a tribute to Patrice Chéreau. This tribute is also a first collaboration with the Avignon festival. Worth mentioning: some of the pictures by Andres Serrano are on show in Vence until June 10.