Foundation for Violent Religious Art

ARTINFO
March 14, 2011

"INRI, portfolio 6" by Bettina Rheims's

FRANCE -- Within the medieval walls of Senlis, just outside Paris, in an old building that once housed priests, an unusual contemporary art collection has taken shape. The Francès Foundation is organized around themes of religious persecution and intolerance. The foundation's collection numbers 300 works, and it puts on shows four times a year, centered on the work of a particular artist. The newest exhibition, the ironically named "Pax," which runs through June 4, is a contemporary reflection on "violent acts done in the name of religions and done to religions," according to the foundation's Web site, and draws on imagery from the world's three great monotheistic religions. The disturbing figurative paintings of Ronald Ophuls are shown alongside the more conceptual work of Mounir Fatmi, Kader Attia, and Adel Abdessemed. [link]