effractions — Zoo galerie — Exhibition — Slash Paris

In 20 days: April 8 → July 8, 2026

In partnership with the Frac des Pays de la Loire

With Saâdane Afif, Lara Almarcegui, Leonor Antunes, Julien Creuzet, Carole Douillard, Hoël Duret, Teresa Margolles, Otobong Nkanga, Bruno Peinado, Denicolai & Ivo Provoost, Marie Voignier.

effractions presents a selection of works from the Frac des Pays de la Loire collection in close relation to the history of the journal 02, the editorial body of the Zoo Galerie association. Indeed, the journal 02 (founded in 1998) has devoted numerous articles to artists whose works have been acquired by the Fonds régional d’art contemporain, thus demonstrating a convergence of perspectives on contemporary artistic practices.

Contrary to what the title might suggest, there has been no actual break-in, no broken door or anything reprehensible. However, one might imagine that the Frac des Pays de la Loire, by accepting this invitation, commits a slight intrusion into an art center with which it has maintained friendly and collaborative ties for many years. Conversely, Zoo centre d’art contemporain, by selecting works for this exhibition, has entered the confidential reserves of the Frac, borrowing a few treasures from its collection.

Teresa Margolles, El Dorado Sinaloa, 2013 — Tirage couleur, parpaings, 270 x 170 x 14 cm

From this standpoint, the exhibition effractions was initiated from the work of Ivo Provoost, a Flemish artist from the duo Denicolai & Provoost, invited to the 2024 Venice Biennale by Wallonia to occupy the Belgian Pavilion, shared equally between Flemish and Walloon participants. During his postgraduate residency in 1997–1998 at the Nantes School of Fine Arts, the journal 02 asked the artist to entirely produce its ninth issue by hand… which required the agreement of advertisers, all of whom embraced the project. This work (composed of the original drawings prior to scanning) was acquired by the Frac des Pays de la Loire in 2009.

The theme—or absence of a theme—was self-evident: the aim was to present works acquired by the Frac by artists who had received particular attention from the journal 02. The selection thus focused on around a dozen artists and does not stem from formal or intentional convergences, as might be the case in a “true” thematic exhibition. Rather, it reflects a significant presence in the journal, as was the case with Bruno Peinado, to whom 02 devoted an entire issue in 2004, or more recently Julien Creuzet, who appeared on the cover of issue 108 in 2024 at the time of the 2024 Venice Biennale, where he was the laureate of the French Pavilion.

Carole Douillard, Dog Life — Unfolded Pictures, 2014 — 2017 — Tirages couleur recto-verso sur papier, boite en plexiglas, certificat — Dimensions variables

This is not an exhaustive selection of works acquired by the Frac or connected to reviews published in the journal—which would have required several similar exhibitions—but rather a deliberate choice drawn from the Frac’s reserves to create a singular parcours with artists who, at a given moment, left a mark on both structures. This includes the Spanish artist Lara Almarcegui, whose early use of reuse was discovered in her installation at the Grand-Café in Saint-Nazaire in the 2000s; Saâdane Afif, author of a memorable exhibition at this same Frac des Pays de la Loire in 2008; Marie Voignier and her incisive documentaries on the question of labor; Hoël Duret, who studied at the Nantes School of Fine Arts and carried out a nomadic exhibition between Zoo Galerie and the Frac des Pays de la Loire in 2014–2015; Carole Douillard, a well-known Nantes-based artist with a demanding and non-spectacular performance practice; Leonor Antunes, whose installations made of metal filaments and cables fill space with openwork drawings; Teresa Margolles, whose uncompromising radicality allows no exception when it comes to defending minorities; and also, taking into account current national events, Otobong Nkanga, who occupied the walls of the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris until February of this year with her sharp reflections on the damage caused by Western multinationals to African populations.