Paris/Munich. For over 50 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and been engaged in hundreds of cultural cooperations worldwide, supporting hundreds of projects worldwide. In all the activities the company is involved in, the BMW Group guarantees absolute creative freedom. The BMW Group contributes to deepening the knowledge about the arts through long-term partnerships, such as the one concluded with Paris Photo two decades ago. The 2024 edition marks the return of Paris Photo to the historic Grand Palais following extensive renovations. For this occasion, artist Mustapha Azeroual and curator Marjolaine Lévy have created a new immersive scenography for‘The Green Ray’, enriched by new photographic works on large-scale panels and circular mobiles. BMW France supports the VIP programme by providing Paris Photo collectors, artists, curators and VIPs with an electric car service for more sustainable mobility in the capital during the fair.
For each edition of Paris Photo, BMW presents an artistic project led by the winning duo of the BMW ART MAKERS. This programme offers a grant of 10,000 euros to the artist and 8,000 euros to the curator, a research and production budget of 15,000 euros and solo exhibitions at emblematic events for culture and the visual arts in France, such as Paris Photo.
‘The Green Ray’: an immersive and unique exhibition at Paris PhotoWho has not dreamed of seeing what the eye cannot grasp? This is the ambition of ‘The Green Ray’, conceived by artist Mustapha Azeroual and curator Marjolaine Lévy.
The project is an extension of Mustapha Azeroual’s photographic practice, the core of which is the production of abstract images that seek to give form to light and colour. The new panels and circular mobiles, on display at Paris Photo, reflect a protocol consisting first and foremost of recording the colour of the sky at sunrise and sunset on the high seas, in the Arctic, Indian and Pacific oceans, and in the Mediterranean Sea – territories that the artist has never explored before.
Mustapha Azeroual works in close collaboration with sailors, who are responsible for shooting sunrises and sunsets according to a procedure defined by him. He selects the most appropriate colours from these images to produce abstractions that are then set up as a lenticular panopticon – an installation of images with a pattern that changes according to the angle of view.
These abstract images, as rich and varied as they are, subtly denounce human overactivity since the colour of the sky, even in the ocean, is intrinsically linked to our presence on Earth. The poetics of blur and the visual vertigo of the infinite colour variations produced by the lenticular medium plunge the audience into celestial reveries that, behind their pure beauty, hide a very different reality.
‘The Green Ray’ was exhibited for the first time at this year’s Rencontres d’Arles in the summer of 2024. The installation has now been redesigned for Paris Photo with a completely new scenography. The two monumental panopticons are presented in such a way as to create a sinuous path where the lenticular panels, now scattered throughout the space, create an even more destabilised perception for the public. The works on the wall interact with three lenticular mobiles floating in the space, like a nod to their celestial source, which is constantly changing under the effect of the air. The further you go, the more your eye is stimulated by the multiplication of effects produced by these extremely vibrant works.
Practical informationParis Photo at the Grand Palais7 to 10 November 2024THE GREEN RAY exhibitionBooth C01
On the occasion of Paris Photo, BMW France is launching its 4th call for entries for the BMW ART MAKERS programme. Further information can be found here and via @bmwgroupculture_fr .