Les Prairies: Third Edition of Ateliers de Rennes Biennial

The third edition of the Ateliers de Rennes biennial, titled Les Prairies, runs from September 15 to December 9, 2012, across multiple venues in Rennes. Curator Anne Bonnin replaces Raphaële Jeune, shifting the event from spring to autumn. The theme references the prairie as a flat, open expanse associated with the pioneer figure. The biennial is uniquely funded by local public authorities and an agri-food industrialist who sought an art event tied to economic realities. The exhibition focuses on the artwork and its museum and urban context, emphasizing architectural settings in two main venues: the Newway Mabilais, a 1970s building by Louis Arretche, and the recently built Frac-Bretagne by Odile Decq. The show features around sixty artists, including Francisco Tropa, Fernanda Gomez, Vincent-Victor Jouffe, Judith Scott, Jorge Satorre, Jochen Lempert, Yann Sérandour, Pierre Leguillon, and Mathieu K. Abonnenc. Solo exhibitions are spread across the city: Marion Verboom and Aglaia Konrad at 40m cube, André Guedes at Phakt, Manfred Pernice and Carla Filipe at the Musée des beaux-arts, Pratchaya Phinthong at La Criée, and Fréderic Moser & Philippe Schwinger at Galerie Art & Essai. The critic notes that while many exhibitions are compelling, the pioneer figure struggles to assert itself, and a nostalgia for the 1960s-70s pervades the works.