Fondation Valmont, Venice
Since 2015, Fondation Valmont has been engaged in collecting art and discovering new talent. The foundation recently acquired part of Palazzo Bonvicini in Venice, which will host a group exhibition during the 58th Biennale. L’Officiel Art met the founder, CEO and collector Didier Guillon.
L’OFFICIEL ART: What was your motivation to bring together a collection of some three hundred works of art at Fondation Valmont?
DIDIER GUILLON: From the moment I took over the reins of the Groupe Valmont, one of my preoccupations was to find a way to differentiate myself from other multinational cosmetics companies. At the same time, I come from a family that is particularly interested in art, and I have inherited that. Whether it’s classical, modern or contemporary, from very early on I was introduced to art and creative activities through visits to museums and exhibitions. For me, art was a way of understanding the world, a means of expression. Little by little the idea took hold of integrating art into the Groupe Valmont through the Fondation. I think that sort of connection is essential for a better understanding, and to develop one’s own approach. Gradually the idea of creating a foundation took hold: rather than simply decorating my own environment, I wanted to get people to think about the art, by sharing it in unaccustomed places—in spas, in our Maison Valmont boutiques, and sometimes in partner department stores as well.
So in the context of your corporate collection, your goal is to offer a unique experience to employees and clients of Valmont spas and stores, through the presence of the art of the Foundation?
Our return customers are very enthusiastic, and they have encouraged us to continue to pursue and develop our program. I don’t think of this as marketing, because when we hang a work of art, we really want to share an emotion. I think, and I hope, that our clientele can see our spontaneity and sincerity. I must also point out that without my wife Sophie, the CEO of Groupe Valmont and the person in charge of product development, this beautiful artistic adventure would never have been possible.
How has the collection evolved?
It grows constantly, as I travel and meet people. Several months ago I was with my family in New Orleans, and while visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Slave, I discovered an artist. I bought a sculpture on the advice of my children, because just as I inherited this interest, I pass it on to my three kids. This sculpture will be shown in the next Maison Valmont opening in the US, either in San Francisco or New York. Sometimes the act of buying a work doesn’t develop through contact with the artist, but by seeing the piece in an exhibition. The contact with the artist is important because it allows me to go beyond the purchase, to think about plans for an exhibition, to lead a collaboration, such as the creation of a line of bags, for example, with a young artist from Hong Kong from
whom I bought some very beautiful drawings… at the moment she is working on a series of drawings that will be produced on bags for sale in 2020 at our Maison Valmont stores.
What image do you set out to give to the Valmont brand, and the Fondation Valmont as well?
To my mind, art brings people together. It allows us to reach a large audience. Valmont is a luxury brand, but our Maison boutiques and spas are also open to different groups, for guided tours of the artwork at a particular location. So in Munich, where we opened the latest Maison Valmont at the beginning of the year, I learned that in the space of several days three classes came to see the exhibition “The Elegant Symmetry of the Gorilla.” This is enormously satisfying. Beyond the cultural and aesthetic interest shown by the school children, it’s also worth thinking about how some of them might in time become clients of Maison Valmont. It is a new way of coming into contact with current and future clients.
The Foundation buys art, but it also organizes exhibitions…
Yes. Since 2015 we have organized shows regularly, at times through my own curation – this was the case, for example, with “The Elegant Symmetry of the Gorilla.”, shown in New York last year, then in Munich, before finding a home at Globus, in Geneva. But we also organize group shows, such as the one during the Venice Biennale this year, whose theme is the reinterpretation of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. All the planning for this show took place in Greece, at Hydra, an inspiring island that I love. I brought together several artists and two curators, Luca Berta, to whom I had given only the title of the show, “Hansel and Gretel,” and the curatorial direction of reinventing the symbolism of the story’s white pebbles for our day and age. A world we have created, and in which unfortunately we have the tendency to get lost: how, now, can we find our way again? After four days of intense discussion, we had a strong grasp on the theme and were able to put the scenario together. Of course the “verdict” will come in the impact this exhibition has on the public. But what I hope is that people will perceive the enthusiasm and energy that has gone into this collective effort.
For the Venice exhibition, you have bought a floor in Palazzo Bonvicini. What are your future plans for this location?
It’s a space dedicated to artistic creation, pure and simple. That is to say, there will be absolutely no connection to any products, though the exhibitions there will be organized and financed by Fondation Valmont. That will be the only context in which you see the name Valmont, to ensure that the initiatives resonate with the commercial side, since we have to sell products in order to finance our events. After the “Hansel & Gretel” exhibition, on view for the duration of the Biennale, we plan to present two shows each year. One will be on Silvano Rubino, a magnificent series of large-format photographs; another will focus on a glassblowing wonder, Aristide Najean. In 2021 there will be a third event, what we call “Our Tales, Without Heads or Tails.” We’ve had “The Beauty and the Beast,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and we’ll finish it off with “Alice in Wonderland.” All of this has taken place without the least thought of having a logic approach, the idea being to lead the visitor along a path of initiation that is entirely reinvented and suffused with the absurd.
Do you plan to pursue collaborations between artists and Maison Valmont?
We have had several collaborations with a glass artist from Murano, Leonardo Cimolin, with whom I developed limited-edition bottles for the launches of new perfumes. We’ll continue along these lines, but always with an eye on exclusivity and excellence: so “limited edition” means 50 to 200 items, never more.
Do you like large international art fairs?
I have gone many times to such fairs, mostly Art Basel. I go less frequently now, though I do go to Hong Kong where there’s a small fair, Art Central, that’s quite cosmopolitan, which I like. I prefer a more intimate approach, since I use my own spaces, and now these spaces are set to multiply: London, New York, San Francisco, Toronto… I’ll take advantage of these locations to organize exhibitions, for specific curatorial ideas… I’m mindful of new models for exhibiting art, such as those that ask for a fixed price in order to show an artist. It’s a sort of collective expression, it isn’t the gallerist who decides: he simply provides the space. This is a reaction against the fairs that are becoming more and more commercial, and that are killing galleries. Many people have stopped going to galleries and simply visit the fairs. It’s important to maintain some “brick and mortar,” durable spaces for galleries.
How do you decide where to do your exhibitions?
Sometimes it’s determined by history itself, as in the exhibition “The Elegant Symmetry of the Gorilla”. Actually, the idea of the gorilla began in Berlin, when I visited the zoo with my youngest child, Valentine. So it was logical for it to return there… At the zoo, my daughter teased me with a challenge: “He’s so magnificent! But he’s sad too. How can we get the gorilla out of his cage?” To which I replied that there was only one solution: to transform the gorilla into a work of art, and to give it a tour of the world. But to do that I had to have spaces that could house it, since it exists in several different media, including sculpture… At Globus, in Geneva, the show will feature castings. So the idea and the space define the possibilities.
What are the sources of inspiration for your own practice?
I was heavily influenced by American Minimalism: Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt… Back then, it was a way of rebelling against a family environment. The extraordinary advantage of American Minimalism is that it doesn’t require any previous academic training. I’m incapable of drawing a human body… And I like the principle of an open cage, because you can put inside it whatever you want, it’s very philosophical. I used it again in the marketing of a line called “L’Elixir des Glaciers,” and it became the central image for its marketing. Otherwise, my Italian heritage from my mother and my passion for Venice led me to think about the concept of the mask, an absolutely fascinating subject because it has such a large range of meanings. I absorb different elements, then I recycle them, use them, transform and manipulate them. Likewise, picking up on the tenet of “all the news that’s fit to print,” I like to take pages from The New York Times and draw on them. This is at the heart of the exhibition “Tell Me the Truth”, which will open in April ath the Maison Valmont in Munich. Why Munich? Because I think it will be amusing to provoke the audience there a little bit – they’re so bourgeois, so aristocratic. And this will be something rather wacky – a way of trying to create a little disorder, to goad them, to attract some attention.
“Hansel & Gretel: White Traces in Search of Your Self.” Fondation Valmont, Palazzo Bonvicini, Venice. May 11 – November 24.