Artist Jean-Marc Bustamante to open a foundation in Arles
Fonds Bustamante, a new cultural institution founded by French artist Jean-Marc Bustamante, will formally open in Arles, France, on July 9. The foundation will operate out of the 12th-century Église Sainte-Croix church which has been restored by architect Charles Zana. Through the restoration, the architects sought to celebrate Arles’ history, and the church’s location in the heart of the city. Zana has divided the structure into two sections: La Nef, containing the primary exhibition spaces, and Les Collatéraux, which hosts a research center and cafe.
A major figure in European contemporary art, Bustamante was born in Toulouse in 1952. His body of work includes photography, sculptures, paintings, installations, and drawings that reflect on space, the image, the gaze, and presence. Bustamante has exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the São Paulo Biennial, and Documenta in Kassel, Germany.
He has also taught at Amsterdam’s Rijksakademie, Munich’s Kunstakademie, and the Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he served as director from 2015-2018. [...] In a statement on the foundation’s website, Bustamante said that he established Fonds Bustamante because his “path as an artist, teacher and institutional director” has led him “to create a place where experiences intersect, where works unfold in all their diversity, and where artists remain at the heart of the project.”
The foundation’s inaugural exhibition titled “En Miroirs,” will be on view until October 30 this year, featuring Bustamante’s work alongside artists whose work and journeys parallel his own, such as Gerhard Merz, René Daniëls, Cristina Iglesias, Jan Vercruysse, Reinhard Mucha, Thomas Schütte, Franz West, Rodney Graham, Clément Rodzielski, Tatiana Trouvé, Michael Buthe, Alice Anderson, Shervin/e Sheikh Rezaei, and Federico González, among others. The exhibition’s opening also coincides with the annual Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles festival, as part of the city’s varied cultural landscape, which already includes esteemed institutions such as LUMA Arles, Lee Ufan Arles, and the Fondation Vincent van Gogh.
