This year, curator Andy Rankin worked with the 6ème 2 class from Collège Henri Wallon in Aubervilliers to explore the notion of abstraction. How do you approach it, make it tangible and comprehensible, make it felt?
The abstraction revolution that took place throughout the 20th century was an incredible moment in the history of Western art. It was no longer a question of representing the world as it could be seen, but rather of how it could be felt. To immerse yourself in the world of abstraction is to let your imagination run wild, to play with a number of illusions, and to confront possible hallucinations.

Andy Rankin took this opportunity to reflect on his practice as an exhibition curator, so that the pupils could experience the same pleasure he gets from putting on exhibitions. After selecting a corpus of 120 works that might come close to abstraction, the pupils initiated a period of practical research into this subject, observing the world through prisms, looking at the phosphenes that appear when our eyelids are closed, or letting our imaginations speak through drawn dictation. Visits to exhibitions and a show provided food for thought on the theme and inspiration for the young curators.
They then instinctively selected around ten works for each of the themes: imagination, illusion and hallucination. In the manner of an exhibition visit, where our gaze stops on one work rather than another without us really knowing why, we kept certain works rather than others thanks to a majority vote. The class then listened to a number of recordings of artists explaining their work, as dialogue with artists is an important part of curatorial practice.
Finally, we set up groups to explain the works so that everyone could understand them, choose them and defend them, culminating in a concerted selection before putting them on display in the POUSH exhibition space.
The "Nos abstractions sensibles" exhibition retraces the students' journey into the world of abstraction over the course of the school year. The works on display are clues to the path of imagination, hallucination and illusion.

This exhibition is part of Oeuvres en résidence, a programme devised and supported by the Département of Seine-Saint-Denis and run by the Citoyenneté Jeunesse association as part of the Culture and Art at College programme, in partnership with POUSH.

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From April 24 to May 12, 2024 (Except on the following dates: May 9, 10, 11, 12, 19).
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