With A Constructed World, Boris Achour, Francis Alÿs, Diane Arbus, John Armleder, Richard Baquié, Michel Blazy, Constantin Brancusi, Stéphane Calais, Maurizio Cattelan, Mathis Collins, Clémence de Montgolfier, Marcelline Delbecq, Marcel Duchamp, Harun Farocki, Aurélien Froment, Cyprien Gaillard, Ryan Gander, Félix Gonzalez-Torres, Camille Henrot, Thomas Hirschhorn, Pierre Huyghe, Mike Kelley, Martin Kippenberger, Guillaume Leblon, Pierre Leguillon, Morris Louis, Anthony Marcellini, Christian Marclay, Mathieu Mercier, Jean-Luc Moulène, Roman Ondák, Gabriel Orozco, Gyan Panchal, Clément Rodzielski, Jean Rouch, Anri Sala, Tino Sehgal, Simon Starling, Maxime Thieffine, Xavier Veilhan, Lawrence Weiner, Christopher Wool, Raphael Zarka, Andrea Zittel.

Invited to occupy the space of the Édouard-Manet gallery, artist Aurélien Mole and critic Étienne Bernard decided to respond with a curatorial proposal that adds a more collective logic to the classic selection methods of a group exhibition, operating by ricochet.

The Édouard-Manet gallery is unique in that it is located within the École municipale des Beaux-Arts de Gennevilliers, which hosts a preparatory class for higher art schools alongside its amateur courses. In this way, the space fosters artistic education by example, offering students a palette of references that are sedimented, combined and even contrasted according to the program.

The two curators have chosen to play with the references that would have to be cited to secure entry to a French art school in 2003, 2013 and 2023. How can we determine what structures art today, what is emerging and what will be commonplace tomorrow?

Conceived as an educational experience that unfolds in space, in the encounter with the artist and then in the publication at the end of the project, Les référents thus begins with its present before exploring its past and future. Various artists whose practice is shaping art today have been invited to present a piece and give a reference that they felt - or would have felt - important ten years ago. Finally, the third part of the exhibition postulates the references that will make up the artistic landscape in 2023. It's a gamble on the future, a projection that's conscious of its limits, an attempt.