Interview with Arnaud Faure Beaulieu

Hello Arnaud Faure,

On the occasion of Daniel Buren’s exhibition "Ah! les belles Italiennes", which will take place from September 9, 2022 at the Faure Beaulieu gallery in Luxembourg, we wanted to ask you a few questions.

After founding a first gallery in Paris, you wished to extend this activity outside France; why did you choose Luxembourg?

I chose Luxembourg first because it seemed to me that this country has been determined, for several years, to organize more and more high-quality events around contemporary art. I saw it as a real rise of this country on the contemporary art scene and a response to a genuine wish on the part of residents and local artistic and cultural players. For me, Luxembourg has the advantage of being geographically close to France, which makes things easier logistically, and many major international artists with whom I wish to collaborate are not yet represented by galleries.

For the opening of this gallery you are collaborating with the famous Daniel Buren, on his works "Ah! les belles Italiennes". Can you tell us how the idea of this exhibition came about?

I met Daniel Buren a little less than two years ago through Frédéric Galliano, one of the artists I represent. The idea of our collaboration was simply raised afterwards over lunch. Daniel Buren not being represented in Luxembourg at that time, that is when we discussed the possibility of an exhibition around a series of previously unseen works and of representation in this territory with which he already had a history. Indeed, Daniel Buren had already exhibited at the Mudam and had installed permanent in-situ works in the city of Luxembourg in 2001 (D’un Cercle à l’Autre: le Paysage emprunté)

Are other collaborations in progress?

Other collaborations and ideas for collaborations are always in the works! With Daniel Buren, but also with other major international artists whom I would like to present in Luxembourg later on. I am also taking this interview as an opportunity to announce to IESA, as a preview, some great news: the opening in Paris, next November, of See Galerie: a new gallery, a place of exchange and conviviality linked to art, located in the heart of the Marais, 5 minutes from the Centre Pompidou, which will cover 300 square meters and bring together in a single space an art gallery, a bookstore dedicated to art and culture, a tea room and a museum-style shop where, among other things, previously unseen works in limited editions will be presented exclusively.

You were a student in the Master’s in Contemporary Art at IESA, you also teach at IESA, and today you are the subject of an article in the online magazine "Paper Jam", the most followed magazine in Luxembourg! Did the teaching at IESA contribute to this brilliant professional career?

When I arrived at IESA, I had passion, curiosity and drive. But I had neither the knowledge (my culture leaned toward older and more classical periods), nor the experience, nor the network. IESA’s teaching, if combined with a minimum of autonomy, curiosity and resourcefulness, is a fantastic springboard for all students wishing to become players in the contemporary art world. While the École du Louvre trains curators and art historians, I think I can say that IESA is the school whose students you most frequently find in the market: in galleries, with foundations and other institutions, auction houses, with artists, exhibition curators and so on. As a professor, I often have the opportunity to meet former students again later in the professional world and sometimes even to work with them. It is therefore very useful for everyone! IESA’s international dimension, and I am thinking in particular of its openness to Chinese students, is also a fantastic opportunity to create links and bridges between different countries and different cultures.

What advice would you give to young students who want to get started?

I advise them to observe the profession carefully before getting started, to make the right internship choices in order to gain a fairly broad view of the market and a fairly precise view of the sector they wish to move toward. Internships help you know both what you want and what you do not want. This therefore saves a great deal of time and experience! Upon leaving IESA, I would tend to advise those who want to get started to begin with an experience, even a limited one, in the sector that interests them. It is also better to have a sufficient network (which can be built from the moment you enter IESA). Finally, when it comes to entrepreneurship, whatever sector you are heading toward, it is better to be armed with willpower, patience and tenacity.

We thank you for answering these questions and wish you every possible success in this new adventure!

Thank you, and I look forward to meeting my new students!

Exhibition "Ah! les belles Italiennes", Daniel Buren

From 09.09 to 24.09

Wednesday to Saturday

From 13:30 to 19:30

Malt Innovative Factory

1 Tour Jacob Street

L-1831 Luxembourg

Opening Thursday, September 8 from 18:00

Photo by Kristina Mariinskaya