Voila l’été – The Station – July 11 to Saturday, August 29, 2020

Opening on Friday, July 10 at 5 p.m.
Exhibition from Saturday, July 11 to Saturday, August 29, 2020

Wednesday and Thursday, 1pm to 7pm
Friday and Saturday from 1pm to 9pm

[port du masque obligatoire pour accéder aux espaces d’exposition]

This exhibition showcases recent work by 109’s resident artists and their guests: more than a hundred artists working in the SUD region, from a wide range of generations and practices, are represented.
The exhibition in the Grande Halle du 109 is curated by artists from the city of Nice’s municipal workshops, while at La Station (a self-managed art space and the first association to set up on the site in 2009) the hanging is designed by its residents.
The rules of the game are the same for everyone: each resident invites an outside artist to come and exhibit, creating a panorama of contemporary art. This selection was made naturally, based on elective affinities, whether plastic, aesthetic or simply generational. The works on display are recent, even unpublished (some having been produced during the confinement or shortly afterwards): they provide an opportunity to see, listen to and think about this very special period we are living through.
It’s also an opportunity for these artists to make their practice public in their workplace: an unusual exercise at 109, as this space is, for visual artists, above all dedicated to the specific time of studio creation. The public will be able to discover the inventiveness and dynamism that lies behind the thick walls of the former abattoirs on a daily basis.
For the artists of the municipal studios, this will be an opportunity to confront their practices, which are usually developed in individual studios and then exhibited elsewhere, notably in the galleries Espace à Vendre, Eva Vautier, Catherine Issert… The plastic dialogue between residents, also nourished by the choice of their guests, is unprecedented here.
For La Station, it’s an opportunity to paint a portrait of its complex, polymorphous identity. Both an exhibition space and artists’ residency, this artist-run space currently comprises fourteen artists (two musicians and twelve visual artists). With shared workshops, they organize temporary residencies, exhibitions and events throughout the year. Usually open to the world, La Station rarely allows itself to be exhibited: the Voilà l’été exhibition is an opportunity for these visual artists to make visible the dialogues already taking place daily within its walls. For the occasion, former residents come to exhibit, reminding us that La Station is a moving structure, constantly reinventing itself as its members come and go. Alongside their guests, these artists will paint a dynamic portrait of La Station, revealing the links between it and today’s contemporary art scene.