ART CITIES:Paris-Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac 30 Years In Paris

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac celebrates the 30th anniversary of its Parisian galleries with a transformative exhibition entitled “30 Years in Paris” that brings together new and historical works by over 60 artists at its Pantin space. Organized in three parts, the exhibition will be unveiled over the course of seven months. The first part opens on Sunday 9th December, thirty years after the inauguration of Thaddaeus Ropac’s first gallery in Paris in 1990.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac was founded 1981 as “Galerie Thaddäus J. Ropač/ Edition Rotha” in Lienz, Austria. It opened a gallery in Salzburg in 1983, first located at the Kaigasse 40, and then moved to Villa Kast in 1989. In 1992, the inaugural exhibition “​Vertigo” curated by Christian Leigh presented to an European audience cutting-edge American art, reflecting the gallery’s focus since its foundation in Salzburg in 1983. This conceptual exhibition comprising works by Peter Halley, Jeff Koons and Sturtevant among others, was described by critic Jerry Saltz as ‘a loss of faith in your own eye, in your own sense of reality’ and charted the course for the gallery’s program in Paris, which has broadened its scope since.  As Thaddaeus Ropac  says “The last 30 years in Paris have been incredibly inspiring, challenging, rewarding and, most importantly, particularly stimulating for the artists. I feel very privileged to have been working with many great artists, and I am deeply grateful to them for offering us exhibitions that have become legendary”. Over the last 30 years, the gallery in the Marais has gradually grown to span four floors. In the wake of an increasingly dynamic Parisian art scene, the gallery decided to open a second, large-scale space just outside Paris, in a former boiler factory in Pantin. Inaugurated in 2012 with exhibitions by Anselm Kiefer and Joseph Beuys the space allows for site-specific exhibitions on an expansive scale. The anniversary exhibition ​30 Years in Paris​ opens a dialogue between artists from different generations, artistic movements and cultural backgrounds, reflecting the development and the diversity of the gallery’s programme. Historical works by Joseph Beuys, Rosemarie Castoro, Gilbert & George, Donald Judd, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sigmar Polke, Arnulf Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Sturtevant, Emilio Vedova and Andy Warhol will be shown alongside recent paintings, installation and sculptures of Oliver Beer, Jean-Marc Bustamante, Tony Cragg, Sylvie Fleury, Wolfgang Laib, Robert Longo, Jack Pierson, Not Vital and Yan Pei-Ming, among others. Important historical installations such as ​“Geburtenbett [Birth Bed]” by VALIE EXPORT, first presented in the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1980 which has never been shown in Paris. New works are being created or selected especially for the exhibition ​ by Cory Arcangel, Ali Banisadr, Alvaro Barrington, Jules de Balincourt, Georg Baselitz, Adrian Ghenie, Antony Gormley, Alex Katz, Anselm Kiefer, Imi Knoebel, Elizabeth Peyton, Daniel Richter, David Salle, Sean Scully and Erwin Wurm.

Photo: Joseph Beuys, Badewanne, 1961-1985, Bronze, lead, copper, double-walled cast, 1400 kg, 90 x 165 x 340 cm, Ed. 1 of 3 + 1 AP, Photo: Ulrich Gehzzi, Courtesy Gallerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Info: Gallerie Thaddaeus Ropac, 69, Avenue Du Général Leclerc, Pantin, Duration 9/12/2020-26/7/2021, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-19:00, https://ropac.net