Contemporary France: Three Cities, Three Lives for Art
In France, art is not only preserved—it is reimagined. Far from being a country frozen in its classical legacy, today’s France pulses with a network of creative spaces that look boldly toward the future. From the global elegance of Paris, to the monumental industrial reinvention of Bordeaux, and the intimate experimental energy of Lyon, contemporary art thrives in strikingly different forms. This journey brings together three cities and three cultural protagonists shaping the country's new artistic landscape.
Paris: Emmanuel Perrotin and the Global Vision of French Art
Paris has long reigned as the artistic capital of the Western world. In the 21st century, that legacy is revitalized by cultural leaders like Emmanuel Perrotin, who founded his first gallery in 1990 at the age of 21. Today, his name is synonymous with bold artistic ambition and global expansion.
Based in the heart of Le Marais, Perrotin has transformed historic mansions into dynamic stages for contemporary art. With over 3,000 square meters of exhibition space in Paris alone—and galleries in New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, London, and Dubai—Perrotin has exported a distinctly Parisian artistic sensibility across the globe. His model blends exhibitions with editorial content, education programs, and immersive events, solidifying Paris as a city with international artistic influence.
Perrotin represents a visionary, institutional Paris, where art is sophisticated, global, and meticulously curated.
Bordeaux: Andreas Wagner and the Redemption of Concrete
While Paris looks outward, Bordeaux turns inward. Known for its port and vineyards, Bordeaux has reinvented itself as an emerging hub for large-scale artistic innovation—led in part by Andreas Wagner and his work at La Base Sous-Marine.
This former World War II German submarine base has been reimagined by Wagner into a monumental space for digital and immersive art. Beneath six-meter-high concrete ceilings, light, sound, and movement now take center stage. Wagner doesn’t just transform a space—he redefines its memory. What was once a wartime fortress is now a temple of imagination.
Bordeaux offers aesthetic shock and historical redemption, where the raw power of space meets the softness of artistic vision. In contrast to Parisian refinement, Bordeaux embodies the visceral, urban, and immersive.
Lyon: La Salle de Bains and the Silent Resistance of Experimental Art
If Paris is polished and Bordeaux is grand, Lyon is quietly radical. In 1998, architects Gwenaël Morin, Lionel Mazelaygue, and Olivier Vadrot founded La Salle de Bains, an artist-run space that literally began in a bathroom of a historic apartment. Since then, it has become a beacon of experimental and independent art.
Rooted in the spirit of global artist-run spaces, La Salle de Bains rejects market trends and institutional formats. It champions the emerging, the uncomfortable, the still-undefined. Now under the direction of Pierre-Olivier Arnaud and Julie Portier, it remains a key player in Lyon’s vibrant art scene.
Here, art is lived as a political and intimate act—less about spectacle and more about process. Lyon positions itself as a creative underground, a space for risk, critical thinking, and collaboration.
Three Cities, Three Ecosystems
These three geographies do not compete—they complement. Paris stands for global presence and professional consolidation; Bordeaux, for spatial transformation and sensory experience; Lyon, for grassroots experimentation and artistic resistance. Together, they form a rich and dynamic portrait of contemporary art in France.
In a country that treasures its monuments, these three stories show that today’s cultural legacy is also being written in the margins—in repurposed ruins, intimate workshops, and reimagined bathrooms. Because in France, art doesn’t just live—it questions, adapts, and continually reinvents itself.