Emmanuel Perrotin is not just a contemporary art gallery in Le Marais and a handful of others around the world: New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai. Above all, it is a trajectory that we like, a success story. In two decades, this Montreuil-born son of a bank employee and a stay-at-home mother has become one of the most prominent gallery owners on the world contemporary art scene. And that without a network, without fortune, without any diploma.
It all began when this young man born in May 1968, who parties non-stop, takes on odd jobs, from courier to wedding videographer. He dreams of being a screenwriter but a night owl friend who, like him, assiduously frequents Bains Douches, takes him to her father's gallery. This is the revelation.
Perrotin, whose artistic culture stops at the Impressionists, learns that the galleries are usually open between 14 and 19 p.m. Schedules perfectly compatible with the life of a bambochard who wakes up late. So, when a few months later, he met a SciencesPo student who opened a gallery in the Marais, he became its assistant, then the communicator.
But, in 1990, our daring self-taught artist set out on his own: he opened his own gallery. It fits him like a glove: he has nose, optimism and energy to spare. Between him and his artists, relationships of trust are established. Among those he helped to flourish, some became global stars: Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, Marina Abramovic, John Arleder, and still others. Today, the Perrotin gallery represents around fifty big names including Pierre Soulages, Sophie Calle, Takashi Murakami, Xavier Veilhan and Pharrel Williams. Just that !
D’OTHER LOVERS OF THE MARAIS
A meeting with the philosopher Charles Pépin
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Librairie 0fr., the temple of “cool”
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Emily in Paris… and Bruno in the Marais!
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THE MOOD MARSH
The best tattoo parlors in Marais
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Juliette Drouet actress, muse and mistress of Victor Hugo
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Piccola Mia, the pizzas of the Republic
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