Grandeur Nature exhibition at the Château de Fontainebleau: Contemporary Art in the Gardens

This summer, until September 17, 2023, take a stroll through the gardens of the Château de Fontainebleau and discover the works on display. For the very first time, the château is presenting a special exhibition of contemporary art in the Jardin Anglais. 18 artists and some 40 unusual works await your discovery.

The gardens of the Château de Fontainebleau provide a charming backdrop for a stroll in fine weather. But the stroll is even more enchanting when you come across works by contemporary artists along the way.

The Château de Fontainebleau, in collaboration with the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, invites us to discover the exhibition Grandeur nature, organized from May 14 to September 17 2023. This open-air exhibition adds a touch of fantasy to the English garden bordering the carp pond.

For this exhibition, 18 contemporary artists have created and imagined amusing and magical creatures and animals, giving us the impression of being in a fairytale world. These artists all have a strong connection with nature, which is reflected in their works: the installation is not there to obscure the beauty of the environment around us, but on the contrary to highlight it, to draw our attention to the thousand details that make up this little patch of greenery.

This open-air trail is home to some forty works, including a duo of topiary rhinoceroses, cheerful monsters, giant gnomes, flying chairs, curlers topping a tree... These mischievous and whimsical creations highlight the garden's finest assets, but also the fragility of nature, which must be preserved.

Let's discover this extraordinary exhibition, which brings contemporary art and nature into dialogue. The installations, as ephemeral as they are whimsical, reveal the beauty of the English garden, encourage us to rediscover its perspectives and underline its fragility.

Here's a sneak preview of what's in store:

The installation "La baraque à frites" by artist Philémon Vanorlé, takes an ironic and humorous look at the future of French fry shops as the waters rise. This structure, evoking both the trivial and the derisory, transforms itself into a lighthouse at nightfall. Positioned on the Etang aux Carpes, it embodies a reflection on the impact of global warming, often considered an "above-ground" subject.

Emerging from a bush of azaleas and rhododendrons, Françoise Petrovitch 's sculptures create a captivating scene. Two young girls, a lemur, a character dressed as a rabbit and a mysterious llama-like creature, all charming and slightly monstrous, are the actors in a story open to the viewer's imagination. These stoneware beings, glazed in shades of blue and green, seem to have stepped out of a plant-based thriller or fantasy tale.

The work "Dwarf!Dwarf!" by the Bordeaux-based artist collective Présence Panchounette, humorously and derisively displays a giant garden gnome, an emblem of kitsch, dressed in summer attire. This incongruous element, looking as if it had won a sandcastle contest, stands in the heart of the refined Jardin Anglais, under the protective shade of a large sequoia, in a silent joust for grandeur.

"L'immortelle", an aluminum work by Martine Feipel and Jean Bechameil, explores a deconstructed, unbalanced universe that defies logic but changes perception. Evoking both tree and flower, this sculpture is an intersection between species and worlds, fusing the organic and the unreal. Named after an endemic French coastal plant threatened with extinction, it questions man's impact on climate and the disruption of natural cycles.

Inspired by the ocean, Elsa Guillaume created "Embruns", a work that celebrates marine biodiversity while denouncing the ravages of intensive fishing. Reminiscent of a Baroque capital or a waterless fountain, this sandstone sculpture reveals the fragile natural balance of the seabed. Accompanied by Salamander Riders specially designed for the exhibition and scattered throughout the garden, it blends harmoniously into the verdant landscape.

"Les Hybrides" - A singular exhibition by Jean-François Fourtou. In 2023, French artist Jean-François Fourtou, known for his unusual sculptures of bewildering animals and architecture, presents a collection of new works entitled "Les Hybrides". This artistic composition blends the human and the vegetal, disrupting our reference points and taking us back to our childhood eyes.

"À tous les vents" is a poetic installation by artist Carole Chebron, made up of 300 plastic windmills. This ephemeral work, dating from 2016, highlights the fragility of things and emotions. Activated by the wind, these small windmills produce an enchanting sound, adding a sonic dimension to the artistic experience. Placed on a rock, they create a delicate, captivating atmosphere.

Julien Berthier 's mischievous pigeons: the artist invited pigeons to settle on three classic sculptures in the Jardin Anglais. The result is as surprising as it is funny.

This ephemeral contemporary trail, designed by Christine Germain-Donnat and Jean-Marc Dimanche, offers a unique and playful experience, where you become an art explorer. It's an invitation to get lost in the twists and turns of the Jardin Anglais, to marvel at the creativity of the artists and see nature from a new angle.

Don't forget to pick up a game book at the exhibition entrance for a fun family exploration! If you prefer, you can download it directly from this link.

Don't miss this beautiful and unusual outdoor exhibition, the perfect outing with friends or family this summer!