The latest of the major contemporary arts events, Force de l'art took up its quarters in the Grand Palais in 2006. Like similar events in the UK or the USA, its aim is to address a burning issue: what is the state of creativity in the world of art today?
For its maiden edition in 2006, Force de l'art gave carte blanche to fifteen personalities to design their own journey through contemporary art. In addition to works by 200 artists exhibited in an area of 75,000 square feet, the superb setting of the Grand Palais offered an outstanding showcase. The itineraries through the exhibition helped the general public, particularly young people, to discover and enjoy the wealth of works on show.
Initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the show was attended by 130,000 visitors in 41 days, establishing Force de l'Art among the highlights of the world's contemporary art calendar.
For the second edition of La Force de l'art, the exhibition's three renowned commissioners — Didier Ottinger, Jean-Louis Froment and Jean-Yves Jouannet — commissioned architect Philippe Rahm to design a project in keeping with the immense volume offered by the Nave of the Grand Palais.
The result was a platform installed in the centre of the Nave. Like a landscape with a geology into which forty works of art were embedded, this white rectangle covering 4,000 m2 offered different artistic environments, some closed and intimate, others wide open, forming a "white geology" of caves, towers, courtyards and small town squares
