Finders, Keepers! Join This Scavenger Hunt at the Grand Palais in Paris and If You Find the Murakami, It’s Yours

Twenty Perrotin Gallery artists have each hidden an artwork in the famed Paris landmark. Happy hunting!

Elmgreen & Dragset's booth at the Grand Palais. Image courtesy of Perrotin.

Picture this: it’s a crisp weekend morning in October, and you’re at the Grand Palais, the ornate Beaux-Arts exhibition hall in the heart of Paris, for a scavenger hunt.

Beneath the vaunted glass and iron nave, you are let loose with one goal: find—and keep—whatever artworks you can spot.

“Wanted!” a collaborative project between Perrotin Gallery and the Grand Palais, will take place between October 24 and 25.

The rules are simple: 20 artworks by 20 artists on Perrotin’s roster—including Takashi Murakami, JR, Emily Mae Smith, Daniel Arsham, and Bharti Kher—are hidden in the empty nave, and registered visitors are welcome into the arena for a treasure hunt. Free reservations are available online.

Art dealer Emmanuel Perrotin said the “unorthodox idea” for the show was inspired by the uncertainty of the time.

“Since we don’t know where we are going, it is almost as if anything is possible: immense, adventurous, and unapologetic projects make us feel connected to the world in this moment,” Perrotin said in a statement.

In keeping with social-distancing rules, the venue will only be filled at 20 percent capacity, which in this case is about 500 individuals. If you find an artwork, it’s yours to take home.

“These experiments are part of the history of avant-garde art, and it’s truly astonishing how some of the participating artists have inventively hidden their work within the Grand Palais,” Chris Dercon, president the Grand Palais, said in a statement.

According to a press release, the idea stems from a 2016 Elmgreen & Dragset project in which the playful duo erected an art-fair booth in the Grand Palais a month before FIAC’s opening.

The project is part of a broader city-wide initiative to promote arts and culture during a radically reduced October art week, which usually revolves around the now-cancelled FIAC art fair.

The Grand Palais is set to undergo a renovation ahead of the 2024 Olympics, though plans have been dramatically scaled down in the face of financial constraints.


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