The major shifts that took shape in the 1960s—from the civil rights movement and rock and roll to the rise of mass consumerism and the sexual revolution—still echo in contemporary society and throughout the art world. A new show at France’s Pinault Collection explores not just the era’s creative upheaval, but what it represents to us today.
“Forever Sixties: The Spirit of the Sixties in the Pinault Collection,” which marks the third edition of the annual arts and culture Exporama in Rennes, explores the decade’s resounding shifts in art history and beyond through 80 emblematic artworks—many of which have never been on public display. “What did the 1960s represent?” their release reads, citing “tension between conservatism and democratization, dominant culture and alternative countercultures, commercial conformism and dreams of escape.”
The 13-room show spans paintings, photos, and sculptures by names including Barbara Kruger, Martial Raysse, Richard Prince, Sturtevant, and Richard Avedon. Some artists, like Michelangelo Pistoletto, are still actively at work today.
An entire room has been dedicated to an Edward Kienholz installation, while another has been filled with a series of culturally significant album covers, accompanied by a soundtrack of 100 songs selected by French singer Etienne Daho.
The exhibition further coincides with another show at the Pinault Collection on the London-based, Turner Prize-winning contemporary artist Jeremy Deller. His three-venue presentation demonstrates parallel fascinations with contemporary politics, attitudes, and pop culture—against which “Forever Sixties” offers particular historic context.
See more images from the show below.
Duane Hanson, Housepainter I (1984–88). Collection Pinault © Adagp, Paris, 2023.
Richard Prince, Untitled (Fashion) (1982–84). Collection Pinault. © Richard Prince.
Niki de Saint Phalle, Nana noire (1965). Collection Pinault © Niki Charitable Art Foundation / Adagp, Paris, 2023.
Kiki Kogelnik, Outer Space (1964). Collection Pinault. © Kiki Kogelnik.
Martial Raysse, Bien sûr le petit bateau (1963). Collection Pinault. © Adagp, Paris, 2023
Martial Raysse, Belle des nuages (1965). Collection Pinault. © Adagp, Paris, 2023.
Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Forever (2001). Collection Pinault. © Adagp, Paris, 2023
“Forever Sixties: The Spirit of the Sixties in the Pinault Collection” is on view at the Pinault Collection, 2 Rue de Viarmes, 75001 Paris, France, through September 10.