Foundation d'Entreprise Ricard

For more than twenty years, the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard for contemporary art, presided by Philippe Savinel and managed by Colette Barbier, has carried on the sponsorship of the Ricard corporation in support of young creation in the domain of plastic arts.
 
This commitment to the young French art scene, initiated by Paul Ricard, a precursor in terms of cultural patronage, has just been distinguished with the medal of “Grand Mécène du Ministère de la Culture.” The distinction honors the support of the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard to a whole generation of emerging artists to whom it has given the means to produce and show their projects in a suitable exhibition space, redesigned in 2007 by architects Jakob+MacFarlane. “Our project for the exhibition space was inspired by the values that characterize the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard: showcasing the work of artists by creating a separate world for them,” Jakob+MacFarlane insisted.
 
This space, located at 12, rue Boissy d’Anglas in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, can accommodate the diversity of activities organized by the Fondation in support of the young contemporary creation: exhibitions, lectures, Fondation d’entreprise Ricard Award.

The Foundation organizes between 6 and 7 exhibitions or so every year and regularly gives young curators a carte blanche to put on collective shows. It is also a place of exchange and discussion: every month the public is invited to take part in debates in a spontaneous and convivial atmosphere, be it with the program Conversations on Art hosted by Patrick Javault, the Invitations to the imagination programmed by Michel Maffesoli and , and Poetry platform proposed by writer Jérôme Mauche. Besides, Partitions (Performances), which translates as Scores (Performances)in English, has been designed as an open seminar on artistic practices drawing its references and/or methodologies in knowledge related to art.

One of the highlights of the year is the Prize Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, which acknowledges the significance of the work of a young artist. The award involves the purchase of a work, which is then presented as a gift to the Centre Pompidou and featured in the permanent collections of the Musée National d'Art Moderne.

The Foundation also has a partnership with the FIAC (the International Fair of Contemporary Art) for an original program : the "Young Curators Invitational" (YCI), in which young international art critics are invited to establish contacts with all the parties involved in contemporary art (artists, gallery owners, collectors...). The goal of this initiative by the Ricard Foundation is to promote the young French art scene abroad.

The Fondation d'entreprise Ricard also helps to fund the publication of artists' monographs and collective works.

The website of the Foundation features all its activities, information on current exhibits, books supported by the Foundation and a link to the galleries associated in the Paris collective "Galeries mode d'emploi" ("Galleries - a user's manual"). The Foundation also commissions an opinion column on the young French art scene by an art critic in the "curator" part.