On the upcoming 29th and 30th of September, the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and the Villa Arson will host a conference organized within the framework of the event Contemporary Art and the Côte d’Azur – A Territory for Experimentation, 1951-2011.
Implemented by the initiators of the event and five university laboratories, this conference aims to open debates and reflections on various subjects raised by the entire range of exhibitions or events produced for this occasion.
Each presentation is the result of research work produced by around twenty-five speakers selected by the scientific committee following an international call for papers.
The candidates come mostly from very different realms of thought and action. The developed topics may address artists in a monographic way (Jean Dubuffet, Robert Malaval, Agnès Varda, Georges Brecht…), structures as entities (Galerie Chave in Vence, Espace d’Art Concret in Mouans-Sartoux…), or aesthetic experiences around performance, music, analytical painting. All will be approached through perspectives incorporating philosophy, sociology, or anthropology.
Organized over two days, this conference offers four thematic sessions.
It is open to everyone, with free access upon prior registration.
Thursday, September 29 – University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Campus Valrose (Theatre)
9:30 am – Participant reception
10:00 am – Conference opening
11:00 am – 1:00 pm – Session 1 – Experiments in Thought
Moderators: Maurice Fréchuret (Director of the National Museums of the 20th Century in the Alpes-Maritimes) and Carole Talon-Hugon (Director of the Philosophy Laboratory (CRHI) at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis).
Clément Rosset: a posteriori figure of art on the Côte d’Azur, Ondine Bréaud-Holland (School of Visual Arts of Monaco / University of Nice Sophia Antipolis).
The -buissonière- School of Nice, Charlie Galibert (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis).
Dubuffet in Vence: Birth of a Nomadic Aesthetic in Post-War France, Kent Minturn (Columbia University, New York / SUNY Stony Brook University, New York).
The INterVENTION Group – 1967-1973, Raphaël Monticelli (Art Critic).
2:30 pm – 6:30 pm – Session 2 – Places, Territory, and Identities
Moderators: Michèle Brun (Heritage Conservation Officer at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice) and Eric Gaspérini (Vice-President of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in Charge of Culture).
The Côte d’Azur 1951-2011: An Anastomosis Territory, a Source of Artistic Kinetics, Marie-Nathalie Jauffret-Cervetti (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis).
Agnès Varda’s Du Côté de la Côte: A Place as a “Sociological Phenomenon”, Rosemary O’Neill (Parsons The New School for Design in New York).
The Marc Chagall National Museum in Nice: Reflections on an Artistic and Architectural Genesis, Nathalie Simonnot (Ministry of Culture and Communication / National School of Architecture in Versailles).
The Espace d’Art Concret in Mouans-Sartoux as a Key to Understanding the Contemporary Art System, Paul Rasse (University of Nice – Sophia Antipolis) & Magali Passoni-Cartier (Lecturer).
Galerie Chave in Vence, A New History of Painting, Anne Sauvagnargues (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon).
The Villa Arson in Nice, A Unique Center. A Look Back at the Beginnings of an Art School-Center in 1980s France, Hélène Trespeuch (University of Montpellier 3 – Paul Valéry)
The Carnival of Malaval, or Cosmetology of Painting, Thomas Golsenne (Teacher at the National School of Art of the Villa Arson).
Friday, September 30 – Villa Arson
9:30 am – 1:00 pm – Session 3 – Out-Of-Frame Experimentations
Moderators: Eric Mangion (Director of the National Contemporary Art Center of the Villa Arson) and Annick Fiaschi-Dubois (Lecturer, Arts Department (Musicology), Researcher at CTEL).
The MANCA – A Musical and Multimedia Center, Concerts, and World Creations on the Côte d’Azur: When Nice and its Region Become the Epicenter of a Territory Devoted to Sound Experimentation, Michel Redolfi (Composer and Director of the MANCA from 1985 to 1998).
George Brecht: Taking Notes in Villefranche, Rosemary O’Neill (Parsons The New School for Design, New York).
Creating 21st Century Jazz Music in Relation to Matisse, Alex Benvenuto (Institute of Business Administration of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis).
Playing Life, Art, and the Moment – A Look at Fluxus and the Exhibition The Time of Action, Jean-Pierre Triffaux (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, RITM Laboratory).
Robert Malaval: A Visual and Musical Art, Pascal Terrien (Catholic University of the West, Angers / National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris).
The Musical Games of Lukas Foss at the Maeght Foundation, Gaël Navard (Regional Conservatory of Nice / University of Nice – Sophia Antipolis).
2:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Session 4 – Images and Materials
Moderators: Zia Mirabdolbaghi (Director of Château de Villeneuve / Emile Hugues Foundation, in Vence) and Céline Lacroix (Lecturer in Information and Communication Sciences, Researcher at the I3M Laboratory of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis).
From New Realism to Supports/Surfaces: Materials as Legacy, Déborah Laks (Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris).
The Reception of Matisse Among the Artists of Supports/Surfaces, Luisa Giacobbe (University of Florence)
The Work in the Clear Light of Sacha Sosno, Jean-Baptiste Pisano (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis)
The Image as a Manifesto for Contemporary Art on the Côte d’Azur: The Case of “the School of Nice”, Ghislaine Del Rey (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis).
Ceramics, Matisse and a Fiat 500: The First Experimentations of Alighiero Boetti (1962-1964), Silvia Bottinelli (Tufts University, Boston)
Analytical Painting on the Côte d’Azur: The Role of Noël Dolla, Claude Viallat, and the Artists of the Côte d’Azur on the Supports/Surfaces Group, Leo Lecci (University of Genoa).
