MARCIANO ART FOUNDATION

This recent contemporary art center was opened in the spring of 2017 by Paul and Maurice Marciano, the French brothers of the brand Guess. The Marciano Art Foundation is located in the former premises of a Masonic temple, the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple. Built in 1961, the grandiose and austere building with mystical symbols (compass, eye, scales, key) is a true discovery. During the move of the contemporary art foundation, relics of this masonic past were discovered: gigantic decorations for theatrical performances of rituals, wig, busts representing human types of the whole world… On the mezzanine, a small piece is devoted to these Masonic objects, useful to understand the nature of the rite and its strange implications. The Marciano Art Foundation hosts temporary exhibitions of renowned contemporary artists, such as Oliafur Eliasson or Jim Shaw. The permanent collection competes with that of the Broad, located Downtown, another gigantic project of richissious patrons, with works by Murakami, Orozco, or Koons.