Contemporary Art History
As an art historian with a specialization in contemporary art history, I studied at the University of Geneva and at Columbia University in New York NY. For my dissertation, I was fascinated by the paintings of the American artist Cy Twombly, whose history and collections have been traced back to Basel and Zurich, due to the privileged relationship between the artist and the German historian and curator Harald Szeemann.
As a collaborator of several museums and a contemporary art festival in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, I was involved in the Triennale de l'art imprimé contemporain, where the works presented included those of Olivier Mosset, John Armleder and Fabrice Gygi. It was at the Musée des beaux-arts du Locle that I discovered the work of the Geneva artist Philippe Grosclaude, who had been the subject of a monographic exhibition there.
Philippe Grosclaude
This is how I became interested in Philippe Grosclaude's work and conducted my first research with various institutions. This research naturally led me to contact him, as he still works and we live in the same region. One thing leading to another, our relationship grew and it was as an art historian and on an exclusively voluntary basis that he invited me to join his newly created foundation for contemporary art as a member of the foundation board.
The Fondation Atelier Philippe Grosclaude is a non-profit philanthropic foundation under Swiss law. Its current aim is to encourage contemporary creation, in particular young artists in all disciplines, notably by commissioning new works.
Given the scope of Philippe Grosclaude's work, particularly during the 80s and 90s, it was only natural that I thought it interesting and important to create an article about him on Wikipedia. An article which could also be a first experience for me and whose approach interested me a lot.
The article Philippe Grosclaude is my first contribution to Wikipedia.