Salon de Montrouge 2013: 74 Artists in Matali Crasset's Garden

The 2013 edition of the Salon de Montrouge, held from May 15 to June 12 at Le Beffroi, featured 74 artists selected by a jury chaired by Bice Curiger, curator of the 2011 Venice Biennale. The scenography by Matali Crasset transformed the venue into a French garden with paths and green cartels. Théo Mercier, discovered at the 2009 salon, was guest of honor, presenting a monumental wall of aquarium stones reminiscent of André Breton's studio. The Grand Prix was awarded to video artist Justine Pluvinage for voyeuristic works exploring intimacy. The Prix du Conseil général went to collective Nøne Futbol Club for an inverted police car sculpture. Pierre Seinturier received the Prix spécial du jury for obsessive oil-on-paper paintings in sepia tones featuring 1960s American cars and UFOs. Notable works included Arnaud Dezoteux's intimate videos of bodybuilders, Guillaume Delaperriere's four-screen installation shot in Bombay, Amélie Dubois's non-functional "Machine à composer des livres" inspired by Gulliver's Travels, Stépànd Danesh's hand-copying of Proust's In Search of Lost Time, Jean-Benoit Lallemant's matrix of all possible 4x6 pixel black-and-white images, and Sylvie Bonnot's hybrid photography-drawing landscapes. The Association nationale des écoles supérieures d'art (Andéa) organized roundtable discussions.