Les étoiles refroidissent aussi

its collection of modern, contemporary and outsider art, and exceptional loans, LaM offers a unique immersion into the world of the party. Between bursts of intoxication and a return to reason, this major exhibition invites us to look beyond the mere appearances of celebration. Like a deceptive mirror, the party rises in a whirlwind of euphoria, reaching its climax before a gentle return to reality. Playing with the limits of the bodies that venture beyond the night-time boundaries and into the public space, the artists invite us to question the ephemeral aspect of the party.

The ambivalence of the party fascinates the artists, who often associate it with the world of childhood. The practice of pretence, omnipresent in children’s games, is characteristic of carnival and its derivatives. By seizing on and revisiting the codes of parades, artists are also creating or recreating social links as part of a more egalitarian approach.

Far from the white walls of museums, the large Hall B of the Condition Publique creates an unusual space, characteristic of the marvellous and unstable nature of the festival. Les étoiles refroidissent aussi brings together 13 artists from the LaM collection, in a transgenerational way, as well as several specific invitations, such as to the artist Benoît Piéron.

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With works by:
Davide Baluda, Alighiero e Boetti , Mohamed Bourouissa, Daniel Buren, René Guisset, Petrit Halilaj, Arthur Van Hecke, Annette Messager, Helmut N., Michel Nedjar, Benoît Piéron and André Robillard.

Curatorship:
Marie-Amélie Senot, Head of the contemporary art collection at the LaM

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↑ Benoît Piéron, Slumber party et Radical Softness, 2023 – Photo : Grégory Copitet