by Redazione 22/10/2026
Categories: Exhibitions / Disclaimer
In Paris, on Île Seguin—the site of the historic automobile factories—a new contemporary art center called Large is opening, featuring “Imaginary Engine,” an exhibition (on view from October 17, 2026, to March 7, 2027) curated by Cecilia Alemani that brings together works from the Renault collection and new artistic creations, exploring the relationship between industry and machines
On Île Seguin, on the Seine just outside Paris, where Renault’s historic automobile factories once stood, the industrial legacy serves as the starting point for a new project dedicated to contemporary art. On October 17, 2026, Large opened its doors—an art center inaugurating its spaces with *Moteur Imaginaire*, an exhibition curated byCecilia Alemani, organized in collaboration with the Fonds Renault pour l’art et la culture, and on view through March 7, 2027.
The exhibition brings together over one hundred works created from the 1930s to the present, creating a dialogue between 50 modern masterpieces from the Renault collection and works by contemporary artists. Fifty-five artists are involved, hailing from 23 countries, nearly half of whom live or work in France. Seventeen were invited to create new works specifically for the exhibition.
The exhibition takes its starting point in the island’s history and the relationship that has developed over time between industrial production, innovation, artistic creation, and social transformations.The automobile, the engine, and the assembly line become tools for examining the role of machines in society and the consequences of industrial processes on people, work, and the cultural environment.
“The selection of artists and works explores the complex relationship between people and the machines we create, with a particular focus, of course, on the automobile,” says curator Cecilia Alemani.
The exhibition is divided into five sections. “Fabbrixa dei miei pensieri” traces the “Recherche, Art et Industrie” program, launched by Renault in the late 1960s, which allowed artists to work inside the factory, utilizing its material and human resources. Among the leading figures of that era were Simon Hantaï, Julio Le Parc, Jean Tinguely, Jean Dubuffet, Victor Vasarely, Arman, and Robert Doisneau.
“Driving Forces,” on the other hand, examines the automobile and the assembly line as metaphors for 20th-century social systems, through works that challenge the rigidity of industrial production. “Social Bodies” focuses on the experiences of workers, with particular attention to women and migrant workers, exploring solidarity, memory, and forms of resistance.
The fourth section, “Objects of Desire,” examines the automobile as an object of desire, a symbol of identity, and a tool for critique, while also focusing on its life cycle and the transformations it undergoes after being decommissioned. The exhibition concludes with *The Human Machine*, dedicated to the increasingly blurred boundary between humans and machines, algorithmic systems, and issues related to posthumanism.
The opening of “Large” thus brings back into focus an issue that also concerns urban transformation: what role can industrial memory play when industrial spaces are converted into cultural venues? The project on Île Seguin presents a case worth examining in relation to the accessibility of spaces, admission costs, and the dynamics of real estate regeneration that accompany the conversion of industrial areas. The island’s new purpose therefore raises a question that extends beyond the museum’s boundaries: to whom does the city belong when the functions of its spaces change?
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| Where Renaults were once built, art is now on display: in Paris, the factory has become an art center |
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