BREAKING BREAD WITH LA BOULANGERIE
Photography by Loïc Rodrigues
Gallery Manager: Valeria Diaz Granada
Artist in Residence: Anna Gonzalez Noguchi
Clothing: Haotong Eleonor Zheng
Stylist: Katherine Sinner
Makeup Artist: Ilona Guihou Dhumez
Words by Tori Nergaard
As capitalism slowly dies off, we watch as it takes many pursuits along with it. Art, design, fashion; countless creative industries are being taken victim by late-stage capitalism, struggling to survive against heightened cost of living and desperate drives for profit. However, Valeria Diaz Granada and La Boulangerie! Gallery stand to ensure its survival.
Nestled in the rolling hills of the ninth arrondisement of Paris, La Boulangerie! looks exactly as it sounds. The petite gallery has found its home in a historic, early 20th century bakery boasting art nouveau décor that recalls the much more artistically inclined Belle Époque of the city. It’s mirrored walls and intricate ceiling, as well as modern, and prominently featured, coffee bar differentiates La Boulangerie! from most white box galleries—and intentionally so—but Valeria’s curated selection of artworks blends intricately with the characterized space.
La Boulangerie! isn’t like any other gallery in Paris in more ways than one. It’s meant to boast the warmth and comfort of a fresh, homemade baguette, it’s meant to welcome in each resident artist as their home for a time. The residency program promoted by La Boulangerie! is crucial in creating this home for art. The non-profit gallery, supported by rossogranada, selects a different artist each month with their own unique discipline, and houses them in the heart of Paris, encouraging its guests to indulge in their creative pursuits while connecting with other artists and galleries in the city. Beyond the main vitrine space at La Boulangerie! is a cozy loft that houses monthly residents, a welcome shelter from the stormy economy that punishes creation.
But no artist can survive alone. It’s through the fostering of community and formation of a shared artistic space that truly allows creation to thrive. This perspective is at the soul of Valeria’s intentional hosting, throwing dinner parties for the artistically inclined in the gallery space to encourage the intermingling of artists and welcome new spectators to view each exhibition. These dinner parties are meant to feel as though the artist is welcoming guests into their temporary home, to break bread over creation and the proliferation of the Parisian art community.
The work by June 2023 artist-in-residence Anna Gonzalez Noguchi engages in dialogue with this idea of finding home. The British-born, Spanish Japanese artist exhibited a new body of work at the gallery throughout the month titled Kazuko Splendor. Her work primarily features sculpture made from collected and found objects, relocating bits and pieces from her grandparents’ home in Japan to create new narratives in different cultural spaces. Featuring her signature precision engraved metals, Anna’s exhibition reflects on her own conflicting identity and has found a welcome home at La Boulangerie!.
Of the exhibition, Anna’s two latest pieces, Comfort cavity I & II, are lit in the front window of the space, welcoming guests into Anna’s own private world. The repurposed Japanese biscuit tins, which host a collection of buttons, engravings, and more, speak to the idea of survival. Seemingly random objects are given new life in the form of art, and illuminate the Paris streets, signaling a way forward for emerging artists to continue in spite of adversity. The objective of both Valeria as the keeper of La Boulangerie! and Anna as its resident are clear—to ensure a safe place always exists for personal expression no matter the cultural conditions.
