Marina Abramović y Ulay, Caroline Achaintre, Josef Albers, Ghada Amer, Alice Anderson, Sonia Andrade, Giovanni Anselmo, Leonor Antunes, Gae Aulenti, Piero Castiglioni, Mario Bellini, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Breuer, Huguette Caland, Rosemarie Castoro, Pierre Chareau, Judy Chicago, René Coulon, Parvine Curie, Christian Dell, Marcel Duchamp, Mimosa Echard, Claire Falkenstein, Jean Fautrier, Dan Flavin, Mathias Goeritz, Aneta Grzeszykowska, SimonHantaï, Hans Hartung, Michael Heizer, Joan Jonas, Donald Judd, Paul Klee, Yves Klein, Kiki Kogelnik, František Kupka, Ugo La Pietra, Jacques Le Chevallier, Marcelle Loubchansky, Sarah Lucas, André Lurçat, Piero Manzoni, Gordon Matta-Clark, Paul Maymont, Julie Mehretu, Caroline Mesquita, Myriam Mihindou, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Vera Molnar, Olivier Mourgue, George Nelson, Joshua Neustein, Louise Nevelson, Claes Oldenburg, Verner Panton, Claude Parent, Pierre Paulin, Charlotte Perriand, Marc Petitjean, Friederike Pezold, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jackson Pollock, Judit Reigl, Germaine Richier, Juliette Roche, Aldo Loris Rossi, Robert Ryman, Gino Sarfatti, CaroleeSchneemann, Nicolas Schöffer, Robert Smithson, Pierre Soulages, Superstudio, Tunga, Cy Twombly, Paul Virilio, Haegue Yang.
The title of this exhibition echoes the famous phrase used by Josef Albers to define his educational mission. The German artist and teacher saw art as above all an experience, inseparable from life. In that sense, he stated that the meaning of art is to “learn to see and feel life.” “To open eyes” is a guiding principle that applies as much to his approach to teaching as to his artistic practice.
Contrary to the myth of the genius or avantgarde artist, this exhibition looks at how artists view art, society and the world. It brings together and contrasts a range of perspectives, from Marcel Duchamp to Julie Mehretu, Joseph Beuys, Judy Chicago, Nicolas Schöffer, Louise Bourgeois and Donald Judd. Featuring 150 works selected from the collections of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, “To Open Eyes. Miradas de artista” (To Open Eyes. Artist’s Gaze) demonstrates the richness and diversity of these works in terms of medium, period and creative context.
“To Open Eyes” invites visitors to travel freely through an open and nonexhaustive overview of major movements and ruptures in the history of 20th and 21st century art, including recent works reflecting contemporary issues. Neither chronological nor narrative, the exhibition is structured around plastic, formal or thematic connections and unfolds in six polyphonic and trans disciplinary chapters. These works offer insights into our relationship to history and spirituality, the place of the body in art and societies, and the way in which utopias shape our imaginations. They all contribute, as a whole and independently, to the ongoing redefinition of art and
our relationship with the world.