LILLE.- Mounting an exhibition from 4,000 works distributed among 18 collectors is the latest challenge taken on by lille3000. It has been possible to undertake this complex exercise thanks to the support, genuine enthusiasm and unfailing cooperation of these collectors. How can we reflect the passions of the collectors and procure real discoveries for an increasingly knowledgeable and demanding public?

With its 6000 square meters of exhibition space, the Tripostal has become a dream machine, a place where the real and the imaginary intertwine, at the heart of a network of invisible connections, woven together like the web of a Louise Bourgeois spider, the discrete epicentre of the exhibition.

Which threads should be followed to design a coherent and exciting itinerary?

After visiting fabulous collections, studying inventories, identifying sets, possible convergences and interesting dialogues between works, the form of the exhibition was sketched out. The next step was to link the pieces through a system of correspondences, both visually and conceptually.

Several thematic itineraries emerged: An itinerary centred on the representation of woman: by turns Mother, Lover and Seductress, woman has always been a topic of inspiration for artists, whether through the exaltation of the body, the evocation of maternity or as a fantasised figure.

From a “feminine” aesthetic to an asserted feminist awareness or even a male sublimation, the works of Louise Bourgeois, Sergey Bratkov, Lili Dujourie, Anselm Kiefer, Annette Messager, Mimmo Rotella, Thomas Ruff, Andres Serrano and Francesca Woodman demonstrate the diversity of this representation charged with sensitivity, emotions and emancipation. The expression of the intimate and life experience is very strong in these works.

The mirror, again a strong theme in the history of art, will be the focus of another itinerary. By imposing and playing with the process of transforming the image, the mirror crystallises issues of identity and difference, making visitors look inwards but also to others, with works by Robert Barry, Daniel Buren, Olafur Eliasson, Dan Graham, Jim Hodges, Ann Veronica Janssens, Kris Martin and Michelangelo Pistoletto.

Finally, a third path guides the visitor into the heart of a particular America. This title is a reference to frequently political visions of the American dream or to a critical view of an America synonymous with imperialism and hegemony going back to the movements of the 60s and 70s in New York when the struggle against racism and the Vietnam War were the topics of the day. These visions are expressed here by artists as varied as Joseph Beuys, Matthew Day Jackson, Sam Durant and Danh Vo.

This itinerary associates American artists of all generations from the New York and California scenes, namely Wade Guyton & Kelley Walker, Rashid Johnson, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Elizabeth Peyton and Dash Snow. It features the subjects of research and the desires of a majority of the col- lectors.

Finally, part of the exhibition pays homage to Belgian artists such as Michaël Borremans, Dirk Braeckman, Ruben Bellinkx, Thierry De Cordier, Jan Fabre, Luc Tuymans, Jan Van Oost and Jacques Verduyn.

Some come to revive the ghosts of irony and self-mockery or even the symbolism and surrealism that characterised the work of the artists who preceded them.

A few rooms of the Tripostal gather works by the same artist present in several collections. This is the case for Elmgreen & Dragset, Kris Martin, Juan Muñoz, Panamarenko or Thomas Schütte. Some are striking pieces that immediately catch the eye while others are more silent but all are the reflection of an era.

In order to half open the doors of the discreet locations in which these collections are held and to reveal their atmospheres, lille3000 has commissioned a series of photographs from the artist Gautier Deblonde, who gives us a glimpse into the private worlds of these passionate, fascinating and secret collectors...