All-Female ‘Patronnes’ Circle Emerges at Centre Pompidou-Metz

Tania Mouraud, One More Night (1969-1970), installation view.

At the Brooklyn Museum, chairwoman Elizabeth Sackler has made waves with her campaign to establish “matron of the arts” as the default female counterpart to “patron” (see “If Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth Sackler Has Her Way, Matrons Will Soon Join Patrons“).

“People don’t stop to think about what the implications are for women in that women aren’t being recognized for their accomplishments in their own right,” she explained. “It’s not just semantics, it’s power.”

In France, a similar line of thinking is taking hold: a group of “patronnes” have established an all-female circle to help fund a major retrospective at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, the northern France outpost of Paris’s contemporary art destination.

The Art Newspaper reports that the circle is seeking to help fund a solo exhibition for March 2015 of work by French artist Tania Mouraud. The artist has been active since the 1960s in a variety of media, including painting, installation, photo, sound, video, and performance.

Capital raised by the benefactors will go towards funding a recreation of Mouraud’s 1969–70 installation “One More Night,” which features an all-white room with white stairs and speakers that diffuse sound. The effect approximates that of a meditation chamber.

Depending upon the success of this endeavor, the group may also back other exhibitions. “Its extension will depend on our future programming and on the will of its members to support other projects,” a Centre Pompidou-Metz spokeswoman told the Art Newspaper.


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