PARIS.- PIASA announced the auction of the private collection of the artistic director, designer and scenographer of the fashion industry’s most innovative shows: Alexandre De Betak. Over the years, Alexandre De Betak has built an important collection of kinetic art, an ensemble of design furniture, contemporary art and a remarkable number of collectible robots that are integrated into the design of his Paris apartment. The sale is a celebration of Alexandre De Betak as a collector, but also as a designer, as it includes a selection of pieces that he himself designed.

Always passionate about art and design, the aesthete has entrusted PIASA with the sale of approximately 200 works, and in so doing invites the public into his world, where art, design and fashion are intimately intertwined.

Known in industry circles as the “Fellini of Fashion”, Alexandre De Betak juggles many roles, among them art director, producer, scenographer and designer. He founded his event production company Bureau Betak while still a teen and has produced over the last 25 years more than 1,000 events.

Alexandre de Betak has created ground-breaking luxury-related creations and scenography productions.

Bureau Betak’s clients list include many of the most renowned companies in the world, among them Christian Dior, Celine, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Fendi, Tiffany, Rodarte, Hussein Chalayan and Nike.

In recent years, Alexandre De Betak has broadened his creative profile by designing light installations and limited edition furniture for exclusive houses such as Domeau & Peres, Artcurial and Swarovski. Among his interior décor projects are his so-called ‘Salon de Joie’ for AD Intérieurs exhibition (2015), and a unique Disco Bedroom for Hotel Amour in Paris. Among his personal projects are unique pieces made of raw stone, clay and technology, which he designs for his private home in Mallorca, Spain. His house in the Soho neighborhood of New York City, designed by him, was featured in the February 2018 issue of AD (US edition), shot by François Halard.

In 2017, Alexandre De Betak launched his first retrospective, Betak: Fashion Show Revolution, with Phaidon (London). In it, the multi-talented impresario retraces 25 years of design in the worlds of fashion and luxury. The book was presented exclusively at Colette in Paris and Dover Street Market in London, New York and Tokyo and completed with interactive installations and a collection of original, limited edition pieces signed “Betak: Fashion Show Tools and Survival Gear”. Sold Worldwide, the book soon became the winter 2017 bestseller.

With offices in New York, Paris and Shanghai, Bureau Betak accompanies luxury brand all over the world.

A COLLECTION OF KINETIC ART
A major artistic movement in 20th-century art, Op-Art and Kinetic works have been enjoying a renaissance for more than a decade thanks to the success of international exhibitions such as “Force Fields. Phases of the Kinectic” (MACBA, Barcelona, 2000), “L’oeil moteur. Art optique et cinétique, 1950-1975” (Strasbourg, France, Musée d’Art moderne et contemporain, 2005), “Optic nerve: Perceptual Art of the 1960’s” (Columbia Museum of Art, Columbus, 2007), “Los cinéticos » (Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2007) and, most recently, “Dynamo: un siècle de lumière et de mouvement dans l’art, 1913-2013” (Paris, Grand Palais, 2013).

The Op-Kinetic trend came to international attention in the early 1960s. By pushing the traditional boundaries of art and placing the viewer at its center, Op-Art and kinetic artists revolutionized the art world. They reconsidered the viewer’s usual time-space relationship in aesthetic terms that are still very of-the-moment, as seen in the works of contemporary artists including Antonio Asis, Gianfranco Fini, Martha Botto, Gregorio Vardanega, Yvaral and Julio Le Parc.

A POP AND FUTURISTIC WORLD OF ART AND DESIGN
Alexandre De Betak’s collection, spanning the decades from the 1930s to the 1980s, resembles its owner: dazzling and off-the-cuff, reflecting his dream-like vision of the future. The ensemble features several kinetic works and derives its coherence from light and movement. Connoisseurs and collectors will be enchanted by an auction that establishes a veritable dialogue between collection pieces, curios and De Betak’s own designs: a Jacques Adnet ensemble rubs shoulders with pieces from the ‘Salon de Joie’ created by Alexandre De Betak for AD Intérieurs in 2015; an array of toy robots, acquired in Japan, line up alongside furniture by Ettore Sottsass, paintings by Michel Deverne and seating by Pierre Paulin.

From March 23-28, PIASA will be proposing a voyage of discovery through Alexandre De Betak’s rich, dense, Pop-inspired world – culminating in an auction tribute to one of France’s most creative spirits.