It will take a detour to Avenue George V, even masked, from mid-October, to admire the monumental bronzes by Manolo Valdes. At the initiative of this exceptional exhibition, Bruno Darde, artistic director of the GV committee.
From October 15, the 8e arrondissement of Paris will be adorned with monumental works of art. At the initiative of this open-air exhibition, the opening of which will take place in early November, the Georges V Committee which brings together the main brands of the famous avenue (Fouquets, Louis Vuitton, Hôtel George V, etc.) chaired by Rémi Makinadjian, real estate developer . And at the maneuver, a man, Bruno Darde, artistic director of the committee. “This is the second time that we have organized this type of event,” explains the businessman.
Due to COVID, the exhibition will only extend over 500 m, from the Champs Elysées to rue François 1is “. The artist who will present six giant sculptures in the heart of the capital’s Golden Triangle is a 77-year-old Spaniard, Manolo Valdes, exhibited in nearly 400 museums around the world and whose works are listed between 500,000 and 2 million d ‘euros. It is thanks to a partnership with the Opera Gallery directed by Gilles Dyan that this event was made possible, the financing of the operation being shared between the George V Committee, the gallery owner, and patrons including Bruno Darde himself. even, which is teeming with projects. “We would like to go even further next year and create a real art village in the 8e arrondissement, he said, which will have a vocation to settle down permanently ”.
Several streets in the neighborhood such as rue Francois 1is or Pierre Charon could welcome sculptures by established artists but also emerging talents. “I love big names like Valdes or Bottero but I find it fascinating to participate in the blossoming of emerging talents, especially when they come from all over the world, bearers of different cultures”, affirms Bruno Darde, who has already helped several painters and sculptors to express their potential. “The international message of art is crucial to me” he adds.
At the same time as he was preparing this art village as part of the program of activities of the George V Committee, Bruno Darde began to work on a more personal but equally ambitious dossier, a Foundation whose dual purpose would be to defend his dear young artists and to develop Vallauris, where he acquired 7 hectares in the area of Pezou. “This land dominates the region, there is a breathtaking view,” he explains. I would like to create an authentic art journey there, for artists to demonstrate their talents in public and for all of this to benefit the future of contemporary art and the influence of Vallauris, which was a world beacon of art. at the time when Pablo Picasso lived there ”. The Spanish master had even embarked on ceramics, the technique that made this city famous, and had encouraged some of his peers to try it.
The Darde Foundation could open its doors in 2022 and enrich the region with a new place dedicated to contemporary art, a region which already has many with, among others, the famous Maeght Foundation, in Saint-Paul de Vence, the Picasso Museum in Antibes or the Fernand Léger Museum, near Biote. For good measure, Bruno Darde intends to enrich his ambitious project of relay exhibitions in his domain of La Patuliere, in Essonne, where events and receptions are organized. “For the artists, it will be great,” he enthuses. Their works will be seen by the public of the Côte d’Azur but also by Parisians and Ile-de-France residents ”.
The dynamic artistic director of the George V Committee did not inherit art. At the start of the 80s, Bruno Darde took over from his father, who owned a few stores for… car spare parts! The young man develops the family business to find himself at the head of 25 stores and automotive centers in France. Then he launched into real estate following a meeting with Serge Dassault. It sets up in Corbeil Essonne, a city of which the industrialist is the mayor, to rehabilitate residential buildings and shopping centers.
Gradually, he let go of the automobile to concentrate on real estate, which led him to invest in the Côte d’Azur where, in the 2000s, he also began to take an interest in art. Of a passionate nature, this autodidact will first of all collect (Bottero, Andy Warhol…), then promote his “favorites”, with certain success. Until a new meeting, this time with an important player in the art market, the gallery owner and dealer Gilles Dyan, who accompanies him in some of his projects. “With Gilles, we have collaborated on several major exhibitions around the world, in Hong Kong, New York, Paris, Monaco, Geneva,” he recalls.
Today, Bruno Darde, 58, travels mainly between Paris and the Côte d’Azur to turn the dream of a lifetime into reality: to set up the Bruno Darde Foundation for Contemporary Art.
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