On 9 July 2026, the Fonds Bustamante will open its doors in Arles. Founded at the initiative of Jean-Marc Bustamante, this new space for creation, reflection and transmission will be devoted to contemporary art in all its forms. Exhibitions, new commissions and public programmes will bring together works, artists and audiences through an open approach grounded in affinities, resonances and dialogue between works rather than established categories.
The Fonds Bustamante was born from Jean-Marc Bustamante's desire to create a place where works can be looked at, considered and brought into relation freely. Rooted in more than forty years of artistic practice, teaching and engagement with the art world, the project extends a sustained reflection on form, image and space. Exhibitions are conceived as spaces of encounter in which works from different periods, origins and generations come together, held by the affinities and invisible connections that form between them.
Through its programme, the Fonds upholds a rigorous approach, attentive both to the singularity of individual artists and to what passes silently from one work to another: photography, painting, sculpture, drawing and installation, each a distinct way of questioning our perception of the world and of space.
Born in Toulouse in 1952, Jean-Marc Bustamante is one of the leading figures of European contemporary art. Since the late 1970s, his work has spanned photography, sculpture, painting, drawing and installation, developing a sustained inquiry into space, image, gaze and presence.
He has participated in Documenta in Kassel, the São Paulo Biennial and the Venice Biennale. Alongside his artistic practice, he has taught at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich.
My path as an artist, teacher and institutional director has led me, out of a commitment to independence, to create a place where experiences intersect, where works unfold in all their diversity, and where artists remain at the heart of the project. Jean-Marc Bustamante
Jean-Marc Bustamante
Artist
Adriana Bustamante
Artistic Coordination Manager, Hermès Drawing and Graphic Design Studio
Penelope Curtis
Art historian, former Director of the Tate Britain
Hervé Digne
President of Manifesto, Poush and Post Media
Corinne Hershkovitch
Art Lawyer
Katia Baudin
Director of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Éric de Chassey
Director of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris
Jean-Pierre Criqui
Curator of contemporary art at the Centre Pompidou
Alexis Fabry
Director and Co-Founder of Toluca Éditions
Olivier Gabet
Director of the Department of Decorative Arts at the Musée du Louvre
Thierry Leviez
Director of Pavillon Bosio, Monaco's École supérieure d'arts plastiques
Camille Morineau
Co-Founder and Director of Aware (Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions)
For more than forty years, Jean-Marc Bustamante has developed a body of work that interrogates the relationships between image, space, object and gaze. Refusing the traditional boundaries between disciplines, he explores photography, sculpture, painting, drawing and installation in turn, and often simultaneously, in a sustained inquiry into the conditions of perception and presence of works. This attention to the viewer's experience, to the materiality of forms and to the way works inhabit space is one of the founding principles of the Fonds Bustamante and informs its programme.
More than a transformation, the intervention seeks to reveal what was already there, to restore a fitting presence, without demonstrative effect, in a form of restrained poetry. Charles Zana
Located in the former Église Sainte-Croix, in the heart of the Roquette district, the Fonds Bustamante occupies a building whose history mirrors the successive transformations of the city. Parish church, place of worship, ballroom, artistic friche, then exhibition space and hotel, Sainte-Croix has known many lives before becoming, today, a space devoted to contemporary art.
The restoration carried out by Charles Zana accompanies this history without erasing it. It reveals the successive layers of the building and sets heritage, contemporary architecture and artistic creation in dialogue.
9 July – 30 October 2026
EN MIROIRS
JEAN-MARC BUSTAMANTE
BAZILEBUSTAMANTe
Gerhard Merz
René Daniëls
Cristina Iglesias
Jan Vercruysse
Reinhard Mucha
Mariella Simoni
Thomas Schütte
Günther Förg
Franz West
Rodney Graham
Rémy Zaugg
Nicolas Schneider
Anne-Marie Schneider
Clément Rodzielski
Tatiana Trouvé
Michael Buthe
Alice Anderson
Shervin/e Sheikh Rezaei
Federico González
The inaugural exhibition, entitled "En miroirs", brings together artists who have accompanied Jean-Marc Bustamante's journey or whose work shares particular affinities with his own. Painters, photographers, sculptors and artists from different generations compose a sensitive narrative of encounters, admiration and creative kinship. Through these presences, a cartography of the relationships that have nourished his work comes into view: a lived history of art, made of echoes, shared perspectives and correspondences. En miroirs », réunit des artistes qui ont accompagné le parcours de Jean-Marc Bustamante ou dont les œuvres entretiennent avec la sienne des affinités particulières. Peintres, photographes, sculpteurs et artistes de différentes générations y composent un récit sensible de rencontres, d’admirations et de complicités. À travers ces présences se dessine une cartographie des relations qui ont nourri son travail : une histoire de l’art vécue, faite d’échos, de regards partagés et de correspondances.
"En miroirs" revisits in its own way the genre of the group portrait, disseminated here across an entire space rather than contained within the surface of a single image. En miroirs » relance à sa façon le genre du portrait de groupe, disséminé cette fois à l’échelle de tout un lieu et non plus à la surface d’une seule et même image. Jean-Pierre Criqui
Jean-Marc Bustamante
Lumière 1, 1987
Screen printing on Plexiglas
175 x 145 x 4.5 cm
Private Collection
Lumière 1, 1987
Screen printing on Plexiglas
175 x 145 x 4.5 cm
Private Collection
Günther Förg
Untitled (la maison sans escalier), 1988
Black & white photography
281 x 131,3 x 3 cm
Untitled (la maison sans escalier), 1988
Black & white photography
281 x 131,3 x 3 cm
Michael Buthe
Der Haus, 1987-1988
Collage and oil on canvas
175 × 204 × 4 cm
Der Haus, 1987-1988
Collage and oil on canvas
175 × 204 × 4 cm
Nicolas Schneider
Rio Grande 1, 2023
Aluminium frame, ink and watercolour on paper
20 × 29 cm
© Munhoven & Rif
Rio Grande 1, 2023
Aluminium frame, ink and watercolour on paper
20 × 29 cm
© Munhoven & Rif
Jan Vercruysse
ATOPIE, 1986
250 × 390 × 35 cm
© Mu.ZEE Ostend Collection
Private Collection
Photograph by Cedric Verhelst
ATOPIE, 1986
250 × 390 × 35 cm
© Mu.ZEE Ostend Collection
Private Collection
Photograph by Cedric Verhelst
Thomas Schütte
Tricolor, 2017
Glazed ceramic
(1/3) 92,5 × 64 × 3 cm
(2/3) 92,5 × 64 × 3 cm
(3/3) 92,5 × 64 × 3 cm
Tricolor, 2017
Glazed ceramic
(1/3) 92,5 × 64 × 3 cm
(2/3) 92,5 × 64 × 3 cm
(3/3) 92,5 × 64 × 3 cm
Nicolas Schneider
Rain Again 025, 2025
Patinated bronze, engraved signature, 1/1
15 x 10 x 0.5 cm
Resin plaster frame
33 x 22 x 4 cm
© Munhoven & Riff
Rain Again 025, 2025
Patinated bronze, engraved signature, 1/1
15 x 10 x 0.5 cm
Resin plaster frame
33 x 22 x 4 cm
© Munhoven & Riff
Rodney Graham
César Lighthouse Park, Vancouver #8, 1991
Colour print, plexiglas, wood
282 × 198 × 4 cm
César Lighthouse Park, Vancouver #8, 1991
Colour print, plexiglas, wood
282 × 198 × 4 cm
Jean-Marc Bustamante
Regrets, 1991
Peinture sur acier
16 × 125,7 × 30 cm
Regrets, 1991
Peinture sur acier
16 × 125,7 × 30 cm
Tatiana Trouvé
I tempi doppi, 2014
Coppered metal, paint, patinated bronze, light bulb, 146 x 162 x 102 cm
Photo credit: Laurent Edeline
Private Collection
I tempi doppi, 2014
Coppered metal, paint, patinated bronze, light bulb, 146 x 162 x 102 cm
Photo credit: Laurent Edeline
Private Collection
Transmission is one of the founding principles of the Fonds Bustamante. Open throughout the year, the Fonds aims to contribute actively to the cultural life of Arles while fostering exchange at an international scale. Masterclasses, workshops and talks will be organised regularly around the themes developed in the exhibitions as well as around the practices of invited artists. These privileged occasions will bring together artists, students, researchers, professionals and enthusiasts in a setting conducive to reflection, experimentation and the sharing of knowledge. By extending Jean-Marc Bustamante's commitment to pedagogy, these programmes are intended to make the Fonds a place of dialogue and transmission open to all audiences.
Throughout the year, the Fonds Bustamante offers a programme of lectures, round tables and talks devoted to questions of contemporary art, creation, architecture and photography. Developed in partnership with cultural institutions, universities and invited artists, these events accompany the exhibitions and open broader perspectives on the themes they address. The Fonds also offers a programme of activities for all audiences: guided tours, workshops, holiday courses and educational trails. These gatherings are intended to make the Fonds a space for exchange accessible to all, encouraging the circulation of ideas between specialists, students, artists and families.
During your visit, to ensure the best possible experience:
- please do not bring large items (suitcases, tripods, etc.) into the gallery;
- smoking is not permitted on the premises;
- the use of mobile phones is not permitted on the premises;
- visitors are not permitted to eat or drink within the gallery spaces;
As a precautionary measure, the galleries are maintained at low temperature conditions. Thank you for your understanding.
The Fonds Bustamante is:
- Open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 7pm h à 19 h
- Closed on Tuesdays
- From 5 October to 5 July, open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm h à 18 h
- Opens 9 July 2026
- Closes 30 October 2026
- From 5 October to 5 July, open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm h à 18 h
The exhibition "En miroirs": En miroirs » :
The Fonds Bustamante is open for self-guided visits:
Last admission 30 minutes before closing min avant la fermeture
- Full price
- Reduced price
- Free
€9
€7
ligible visitors:
A place for rest and conversation, Casa Jill offers a simple, fresh and seasonal menu, before an exhibition, between visits or at the end of the day.
- open from July to October 2026
- Wednesday to Monday, from 11am to 9pm h à 21 h
- closed on Tuesdays
Casa Jill café is:
Opening soon.