Art / Research 2000 Program
 
Icar-Paris on the Canal St. Martin

The Icar-Paris space at 159 Quai de Valmy, 75010 Paris was designed by Dutch artist Rens Lipsius, who was inspired by the range of materials and architectural elements of an old industrial building on the Canal Saint Marten in Paris.  Icar's cross-disciplinary program in arts and sciences - painting; sculpture; photography; installation; video and digital art; design; architecture; music; performance; writing and discourse - demanded an innovative architectural solution that would accommodate these multi-media requirements and would also correspond to Icar's identity as an organization designed to promote experimentation.

Conceived by Rens Lipsius as "an ideal artist's studio," the space was redesigned to contain the main exhibition space and auxiliary underground/overground spaces opening to the inner courtyard.  The open-plan layout maximizes the flow of natural light and creates a sense of transparency and of ambiguity between the interior and exterior.  The idea of an art and research center operating within the framework of the artist's workspace subverts studio vs. gallery conventions, structurally and metaphorically, and creates the conditions for new synergies to emerge. The effect is one of both intimacy and accessibility; an atmosphere evocative of a work-in-progress that aims to inspire and illuminate, define the cutting-edge, and transform itself with the passage of time and events.  This environment helps bring into focus one of ICAR's principal goals - to educate by supporting art as a form of research, analogous to the study of natural phenomena undertaken by science.

Click to read about Rens Lipsius' exhibition
Click to see Rens Lipsius' work