Le Large, a museum in the new Pointe des Arts complex just outside of Paris, has opened its doors on the Île Seguin, in Boulogne-Billancourt. The island is the former home of a Renault factory, which was active for most of the 20th century and demolished in 2005. Planning for a new cultural hub on the island began in 2009.
The Pointe des Arts complex, which also includes a cinema, a hotel, and other amenities, cost over $500 million to finish. Le Large was designed by the Pritzker Prize–winning RCR Arquitectes. The distinctive building goes from 5,382 square feet at the base to 16,146 square feet on the fifth floor, totaling 26,910 square feet. The edifice is intended to look like a ship, a nod to the double meaning in the museum’s name; “prendre le large” means to head out to sea in French.
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Le Large will focus on presenting temporary exhibitions. Its first show, “Moteur Imaginaire” (Imaginary Engine), opens on October 17 and will be curated by Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art in New York and the curator of the 2022 Venice Biennale. The museum’s annual operating budget is estimated to be $5.6 million a year. Some exhibitions will take over the entire museum, like “Moteur Imaginaire.” Other times, several shows will run simultaneously, as will be the case for the institution’s second season, director Paula Aisemberg told ARTnews.
“Moteur Imaginaire” will include more than 100 works by 55 artists from 23 countries, dating from the 1930s to the present. “Opening a new institution is always rare, and doing it on an island so charged with memory is a real privilege,” said Alemani. “The Renault factory was dismantled long ago, and today a brand-new building rises in its place, open to everyone. Le Large gives this extraordinary site back to the public, and ‘Moteur Imaginaire’ brings its stories back to life.”