The Maurice and Paul Marciano Collection makes its Californian debut with « Unpacking », an inaugural exhibition which will take place in Los Angeles, from May 25th to December 24th, 2017. Make sure to seize this opportunity to discover some of the Foundation’s most creative masterpieces in an exceptional location – the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, turned into an art forum!
Conceived and organized by guest curator Philipp Kaiser, the event is indeed meant to both introduce the American audience to over 1500 of the contemporary artworks part of the collection, and to present an artistic meditation born from the collision between those creations and the location of the Foundation. It thus intends to bring together some of the main leading and creative voices of the contemporary art scene in order to stimulate a reflexion on a city which, in the last years, has become one of the main global centers for artistic practice.
Drawing its title from an essay of the German philosopher Walter Benjamin – « Unpacking my library : A Talk About Book Collecting » - the exhibition is a reflexion on the precariousness of order meant to point at a multilayred, multifaced meaning. It follows two main threads: one focusing on the artist’s archeological impulses, questioning the relationship between an artistic creation and its site and temporality, and the other on the process of creation itself, which is illustrated by the constant interplay between the artworks and the location.
Born in a Moroccan Jewish family, the Marciano brothers -Paul and Maurice- spent their childhood in Marseille, France, before moving to the United States, where they became leading figures of the design and business world by founding the iconic denim lifestyle brand GUESS? Their commitment to contemporary art began around the same time, and led them to begin in 2006 a personal collection which grew increasinly throughout the years. The creation of the Marciano Art Foundation, in 2012, and the exposition that takes place this year in Los Angeles, are for them an opportunity to return to this lifelong passion, and to share their love for art with a large audience.
