Uncertain times call for unorthodox ideas. Perrotin Gallery is collaborating with the Grand Palais in Paris for a giant scavenger hunt that will take place Oct. 24 and 25. The rules are simple: participants have to locate 20 artworks by contemporary artists that have been hidden around the empty nave of the Palais. Even more surprising, they can take home any artwork they have found.
Participants will go on the hunt for works 20 international artists on Perrotin’s rooster have donated for the event. Among them are Takashi Murakami, JR, Daniel Arsham, Emily Mae Smith, Laurent Grasso, Iván Argote, Aya Takano and Bharti Kher.
“Since we don’t know where we are going, it is almost as if anything is possible: immense, adventurous, and unapologetic projects make us feel connected to the world in this moment… Works of art are more precious than ever, which is why it is important to offer them to as many people as possible,” art dealer Emmanuel Perrotin said in a statement.
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The idea for “Wanted!” stems from a project by Elmgreen & Dragset organized in September 2016 by Perrotin. The Berlin-based artist duo staged an art fair booth in the empty nave of the Grand Palais a month before the opening of the FIAC contemporary art fair.
The 2020 edition of the Parisian event was recently canceled in reaction to a surge in COVID-19 cases in France.
In order to comply with physical distancing guidelines, the 13,500-square-meter nave of the glass-roofed Grand Palais, which is also known as a venue for Chanel runway shows, will be filled to 20% capacity. Face masks will be compulsory during the entire scavenger hunt.
“Like many… works of art are usually not within my grasp, and I cannot have everything that I see,” Chris Dercon, president of the Grand Palais, said in a statement. “With ‘WANTED!’, the value of the work depends on the effort made by the visitors. Indeed, the true love of art is often a matter of chance: you often find what you were not really looking for. And it’s also true that in many public and private collections, works of art are hidden.” CC
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