PARIS.- Mennour announced the success of the second edition of its “Mennour Emergence” program, committed to supporting young artists in the early stages of their careers, as part of the Mennour Institute. Mennour Emergence is a project initiated by Jessy Mansuy, Global Executive Director of Mennour, and curated by Christian Alandete, Scientific Director of Mennour.
This year’s open call, sent out to young graduates of the École des Arts Décoratifs - PSL, the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy, was met with great enthusiasm, with over 100 applications received.
Six artists were selected by a committee made up of professionals recognized for their commitment to emerging creation: Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath from Hamburger Bahnhof-Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Anna Labouze and Keimis Henni from Artagon, Horya Makhlouf from Palais de Tokyo, as well as Jessy Mansuy, Christian Alandete and chaired by Kamel Mennour himself.
Following the meeting of the selection committee, the Mennour Institute is pleased to present the six winning artists, who will benefit from the “Mennour Emergence” program:
Matias Agafonovas (École des Arts Décoratifs - PSL, graduate in Printed Image 2024, b. 1999): Starting from an economy of means, Matias Agafonovas’ work revolves around hybrid works often made from salvaged materials that are unearthed during his haphazard daily wanderings.
Zoé Bernardi (Beaux-Arts de Paris, b. 2000): Exploring the notion of how to form a community, Zoé Bernardi explores intimacy, marginality and identity through her photographic and filmic projects, based on personal encounters and experiences.
Clémence Gbonon (Beaux-Arts de Paris, b. 1994): Through figurative and symbolic painting, Clémence Gbonon creates spaces that act as inner sanctuaries. These places, inhabited by human figures and domestic objects, embody a quest for transgression and transcendence.
Amine Habki (École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy, b. 2000): Amine Habki uses handmade embroidery and painting to develop artifacts and traditional representations of virility in installations. He deploys fragments of intimate narratives crossed with mythologies that he appropriates through supple materials and a palette of acid colors.
Ruoxi Jin (Beaux-Arts de Paris, b. 1997): Born into a family oriented towards Buddhism, shamanism and animism, Ruoxi Jin’s practice unfolds, on the threshold between life and death, as a transcultural, trans-religious, and trans-species quest between the self and the other.
Nicolas Lebeau (École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris- Cergy, b. 1992): Questioning the value, nature and meaning of images today, Nicolas Lebeau subverts the photographic medium to create spaces of intimate, vegetative resistance between the virtual and the material.
These talented young artists will receive a total grant of €15,000 for the production of their works, i.e. €2,500 per artist, as well as full support in all the stages of the exhibition process (curating, production, logistics and communication).
The group exhibition will be held from March 26 to May 10, 2025, at Mennour, 5 rue du Pont de Lodi, Paris. The exhibition will bring together the multidisciplinary practices of these six artists from the three schools’ 2024 graduating classes.
The Mennour Institute thanks all the candidates, the École des Arts Décoratifs - PSL, the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy and the selection committee for their commitment, contributing to make “Mennour Emergence” a promising springboard for young artistic creation.
