Faits divers : quand l'art contemporain raconte le crime exhibition at MAC-VAL - photos

On TV, in newspapers and magazines, on podcasts: news stories fascinate many people, and can be found everywhere... Even in art! The MAC-VAL 's artists take their own take on the news stories that have marked them, with the major exhibition Faits divers, a hypothesis in 26 letters, 5 equations and no answers, on view from November 15 2024 to April 13 2025.

For this unique exhibition, the MAC-VAL has brought together 80 French and international artists, some of whom have never been shown in France before. Through photographs, paintings, sculptures and installations, newspaper extracts, videos and diverted objects, these artists recount in their own way an old or recent news item, known or unknown. Audio works reinforce the eerie atmosphere that surrounds the exhibition.

The MAC-VAL's artists unveil a wide range of works that touch and challenge us in different ways, depending on our personal history and interest in the news. Some works are poetic and unusual, while others are disturbing. As a result, this exhibition is aimed at an older audience, and is not recommended for the more sensitive.

The exhibition is divided into five sections, each dealing with a different aspect of what constitutes a news item. A case linked to the justice system and the police, a violent event, an unpredictable catastrophe, a violent affair that attracts attention and curiosity... News takes many forms, and takes on new meanings when viewed from new angles. Each chapter also highlights a "piece of evidence": an object that has a direct link with the cases recounted, and which contains a powerful story about a real news item.

News stories fascinate by the mystery that surrounds them. Intimately linked to the world of investigation, police and justice, the news item is a brutal break with everyday life, reminding us of the violence and obscure excesses to which certain individuals are subjected.

The contemporary artists invited by the MAC-VAL play with this element of shock, this break with the banal, and the morbid curiosity that arises in the viewer when confronted with these news items. The works often conceal deeper meanings, stories that we discover in a detail, or in the texts displayed alongside them. The banal becomes tragic. Without passing judgment, the artists encourage us to reflect on society, its problems, and what the violence of human beings and human systems reveals.

With this unique and unexpected theme, the MAC-VAL also pays tribute tocontemporary art and its great diversity. 80 artists, 80 different styles and universes, and hundreds of ways to illustrate a story.

Don't miss this original exhibition, and let yourself be carried away in this great investigation to be found at the MAC-VAL.