BAD+

Exhibition view, Lefebvre & Fils
COURTESY: Lefebvre & Fils

BEST KNOWN FOR pre-eminent wines and elegant, eighteenth-century architecture, the city of Bordeaux has been forging a reputation for a thriving arts scene in the last few years. In 2019, the MÉCA, a multidisciplinary cultural centre designed by Denmark’s Bjarke Ingels Group and Freaks Architecture from Paris, was inaugurated, adding to existing attractions including the contemporary art centre CAPC and the Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design (MADD). As growing numbers of Parisians quit the French capital and relocate to Bordeaux for a higher quality of life, the collector base of the city on the Garonne is expanding too. Against this backdrop, a new art and design fair, BAD+, is launching its first edition this month.

Jorge Zalszupin, ‘Lounge chair’ commissioned by L’Atelier S.A, 1973, Sao Paulo
COURTESY: Galeria Modernista

BAD+ is the brainchild of Jean-Daniel Compain, a former managing director of the Reed fair group who oversaw FIAC and Paris Photo. Hailing from Bordeaux, Compain wished to bring a cultural event to his home city in the wake of the Covid-19 health crisis. After teaming up with Bordeaux’s congress and fairs company, Compain brought on board Jill Silverman van Coenegrachts, a former partner at Thaddaeus Ropac, as artistic director. This summer’s first edition assembles 43 art and design galleries – many from Paris, but also from Bordeaux and abroad – at Hangar 14, an industrial site overlooking the river.

Exhibition view, Galerie Dumonteil
COURTESY: Galerie Dumonteil

Inevitably, convincing galleries to participate in a new summer salon one month after Art Basel and its satellite fairs was not straightforward. “Several galleries that exhibit at PAD in Paris didn’t consider it necessary to come to Bordeaux, whereas others that exhibit at events like Collectible in Brussels didn’t have any budget left,” Adrien de Rochebouët, BAD+’s art adviser, says.

Nonetheless, enthusiasm about Bordeaux – renowned for its châteaux with extensive vineyards, several of which boast esteemed art collections – was enough to attract a significant number of exhibitors, among them contemporary art galleries such as Anne-Sarah Bénichou and Alberta Pane from Paris, Baronian from Brussels/Knokke, and MAGNIN-A and Carole Kvasnevski, also from Paris, both showing African contemporary art, as well as several design galleries.

Jan Ernst, ‘FLUX 02’, 2022
COURTESY: Jan Ernst & Mia Karlova

Mia Karlova from Amsterdam is unveiling Russian designer Vadim Kibardin’s ‘Dolly’ sofa (2022), ingeniously made from cardboard and hundreds of layers of black paper, elevated on a dozen paper-encased feet. Also on view are Jesse Visser’s ‘Beacon of Light’ – a granite stone from which a spherical light is hoisted – and Olga Engel’s furniture.

Exhibition view, Mia Karlova
COURTESY: Mia Karlova / PHOTOGRAPH: @miakarlovagalerie

At Galerie 208 is an eclectic mix of modern and contemporary European design, including Jean Prouvé’s ‘Kangourou’ or ‘Visiteur FV22’ armchair (1948) in oak, steel and plywood, which seemingly glides into the floor; Martin Massé’s curvilinear stools in salvaged wood and pulverised marble-coated concrete, and Gerard Kuijpers’ ‘Coffee Table XXL’, made from a monolithic, jagged slab of marble.

Gerard Kuijpers, ‘Coffee Table XXL’, 2020
COURTESY: Gerard Kuijpers & Gallery 208

Meanwhile, Modernista from Le Bouscat, southwest France, is showing a range of Brazilian furniture including a sideboard by Sergi Rodrigues, leather armchairs by Jorge Zalszupin, and stools and a console by José Zanine Caldas.

Armchair, Brazilian, circa 1960
COURTESY: Galeria Modernista

Elsewhere, Dumonteil from Paris is presenting artworks such as Wang Keping’s bronze ‘Bird’ sculpture (1992) with furniture such as Jean-Marie Fiori’s ‘Grand Cabinet ‘Sumer’’ (2019) in tinted ash adorned with nine bronze animals including an elephant and an ox.

Jean-Marie Fiori, ‘Sumer’ great cabinet, 2019
COURTESY: Jean-Marie Fiori & Galerie Dumonteil / PHOTOGRAPH: ©Antoine_Duhamel

Brightly coloured ceramics can be found at Lefebvre et Fils from Paris, while Émeric Chantier’s broken vases teeming with flora are on display at fellow Parisian exhibitor A2Z Gallery.

Emeric Chantier, ‘Vase #1’, 2019
COURTESY: Emeric Chantier & A2Z Gallery

Textile works are also among the highlights. Kazakh artist Gulnur Mukazhanova’s multi-media work ‘Moment of the Present #7/4/22’ (2022) – in deep blue velvet bordered with collaged floral brocade – mesmerises at Michael Janssen from Berlin, while Angolan artist Ana Silva’s embroidered works on raffia bags depicting African women and children steal the show at MAGNIN-A.

Ana Silva, ‘Agua 042’, 2021
COURTESY: Ana Silva / PHOTOGRAPH: Studio Louis Delbaere