Les Magasins Généraux, a cultural hotspot in Pantin (93), is giving Valentine Gardiennet carte blanche for a free exhibition-residency from March 22 to May 18, 2025. With It Takes a Village, the artist completely reinvents the space, transforming it into a fantasized, immersive and surprisingly strange village. A merry bazaar to explore.
Here, everything shifts into another dimension. Giant dolls with enigmatic looks, a papier-mâché theater troupe in the midst of imaginary rehearsals, ghosts watching over an XXL metal bed, from which an intriguing soundtrack emanates... The walls, scrawled with colored pencils, sketch out a dream house. Halfway between an overgrown theater set, a deserted amusement park and an oversized nursery, this universe plays on contrasts, oscillating between wonder and delicious unease.
The title of the exhibition, certainly a nod to the proverb "It takes a village to raise a child", takes on its full meaning here. In this zany, poetic microcosm, the characters are like us: shy, awkward, jealous, funny, enthusiastic, dented... but they move forward together. An ironic and critical reflection on theimportance of social ties and those figures - real or fictional - who guide and carry us.
A graduate of Villa Arson (Nice) in 2020, Valentine Gardiennet plays with scale and perception. Using drawings, ceramics, papier-mâché and plaster, she deploys her sketches in space, creating life-size interactive scenarios where anything can happen. Inspired by pop culture, fantasy and childhood, she hijacks everyday elements with mischief and a touch of malice.
With this exhibition at Les Magasins Généraux, the largest of her career, she plunges us into a crazy, immersive artistic universe that's not to be missed!
Dates and Opening Time
From March 22, 2025 to May 18, 2025
Location
General stores - BETC
Rue de l'Ancien Canal
93500 Pantin
Route planner
Access
Église de Pantin metro station
Prices
Free
Official website
magasinsgeneraux.com
