The Paris dealer Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand has opened a vast public sculpture park in the south of France, which doubles as an alfresco commercial gallery. More than 30 works by artists such as Subodh Gupta, Andrea Zittel, Carsten Höller and Sarah Morris are on show in the Domaine du Muy estate, near Nice, which launched in early July.
The first exhibition, covering a winding two-kilometre trail through a “secluded valley, lakes and untamed nature” has been co-organised by the Swiss curator Simon Lamunière, the former curator of the Unlimited section at Art Basel, and Edward Mitterrand, the son of Jean-Gabriel.
The artists Claudia Comte, Vidya Gastaldon, Gianni Motti, David Saltiel, Tomás Saraceno and Roman Signer have all made new, site-specific works of art for the park.
“The works will change whenever they have to be returned or if some are sold. Also the park will be extended when new works are installed,” says Edward Mitterrand. They will be drawn from the inventory of Galerie Mitterrand, supplied by other galleries, or commissioned directly from the artists. “Proceeds will be split with everyone involved, including Galerie Mitterrand, which runs the park, although the park is not an extension of the gallery,” says Edward Mitterrand.
The park is part of a new cultural hub in the south of France, with the artist Bernar Venet’s art foundation and four-hectare estate, known as Le Muy, located nearby. Meanwhile, the private collector Édouard Carmignac will unveil his new sculpture park in 2016 on Porquerolles, an island around 50km from St Tropez.