The Louvre as seen by twenty contemporary artists under 40. The museum celebrates 230 years in this way


The Louvre is 230 years old, and to celebrate the anniversary it has involved twenty contemporary artists all under the age of 40 in a special visual art project.

On the occasion of its 230th birthday, the Louvre has invited 20 contemporary artists, all under 40 and with ties to the city of Paris, to create their personal visions of the famous museum. Each contribution will take the form of a 3:30-minute video that is part of a visual art project associating the Louvre and its partner institution, Louvre-Lens. The Louvre Looks project will premiere on January 26, 2023 at the Michel Laclotte Auditorium.

The twenty protagonists come from all fields, from painting to poetry, from literature to fashion to experimental music, from film to installation or video: Ivan Argote, Hicham Berrada, Anton Bialas and Kamilya Kuspanova, Mykki Blanco and Dachi-Giorgi Garuchava, Bianca Bondi, Guillaume Bresson, Jacob Bromberg, Théo Casciani, Pan Daijing, David Douard, Eliza Douglas, Jennifer Douzenel, Mimosa Echard, Miles Greenberg, Rafik Greiss, Marie Jacotey, Christelle Oyiri, Ariana Papademetropoulos, Edgar Sarin and Marine Serre.

“The visions of these twenty artists reflect the personal and original but also universal ways of responding to our collections,” said Louvre director Laurence des Cars. “They show us different ways of looking at the Louvre and new and contemporary ways of creating for the museum, confirming its role as a place of art in the present.”

The project will take shape in twenty videos, and each will give the artists an opportunity to define their personal perceptions of the Louvre: from the splendid staircases to the marble floors, from the Cour Khorsabad to the galleries of Flemish paintings, from the Caryatid Hall to the galleries of medieval French sculpture. Together, the artists, working with film crews or their own cell phones, at night or during visiting hours, using digital resources or focusing on their personal connection to the works, created a polyphonic portrait of the Louvre.

The museum will present the videos of the 20 artists in a public screening on Jan. 26, during the International Art Film Festival. The artists’ creations will also be presented at the Louvre-Lens, strengthening the collaboration between the two museums. The project will also be presented to the public through weekly videos posted on the Louvre’s digital platforms.

Louvre Looks follows an invitation to a number of contemporary artists (such as Candida Höfer, Jenny Holzer, Anselm Kiefer, Martin Szekely, and Yan Pei-Ming), who have collaborated with the Louvre in the past, to choose and comment on a work of art on the Louvre’s Instagram account.

Photo © Ariana Papademetropoulos

The Louvre as seen by twenty contemporary artists under 40. The museum celebrates 230 years in this way
The Louvre as seen by twenty contemporary artists under 40. The museum celebrates 230 years in this way


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