Attention Collection Augusta Lardy Micheli Jonathan Llense Cercle scolaire du Locle 12th April - 14th September 2025 This spring, the MBAL is going behind the scenes of its collection and offering a sensitive and plural tribute to the landscapes of the Neuchâtel region through the lively hymns of contemporary artists Augusta Lardy Micheli and Jonathan Llense and the creations of pupils from the Cercle scolaire du Locle. ATTENTION, COLLECTION This spring, the MBAL opens the doors to its permanent collection and reveals its behind-the-scenes process: what challenges does its conservation present? How does it interact with contemporary creation? Attention, Collection will shed new light on its works by taking us behind the scenes of how a collection is managed. Organized by thematic keywords, like archive labels (Abstraction, Helvetica), the exhibition highlights the management of a collection in all its complexity, sometimes ironically diverging from it by playing with traditional art history terms and introducing new classifications (Nature morte/vivante, Fe/male gaze). To explore its current resonances, three artists – Plonk et Replonk-Bébert, Ufuoma Essi, and Virginie Delannoy – will present original works interspersed throughout the exhibition, two of which were created as a direct response to pieces from the collection. AUGUSTA LARDY MICHELI Metaxu, Les rives où vivent mes songes The MBAL presents Metaxu (les rives où vivent mes songes), the first institutional exhibition of Swiss artist Augusta Lardy Micheli in her home country. Metaxu represents the link between objects and the physical world, where painting becomes an intermediary between dreams and places, between the inner and the outer, between internal images and those perceived through experience. The artist draws inspiration from the shores that have nourished her imagination, those of Lake Neuchâtel, deeply ingrained since her childhood. JONATHAN LLENSE Par le biais A photographer with a sculptor's eye, Jonathan Llense creates playful, unexpected images from found objects, transformed into precarious compositions that take on their full meaning in the instantaneous. Rather than a simple representation of reality, he creates serious jokes in which photography and sculpture merge. With Par le biais, Llense draws on his archives and, commissioned by the museum, composes an original portrait of the town of Le Locle, combining photographs, local stories and busts from the collection. Water becomes a common thread, structuring a trail of 28 ‘fountains’. Between purity and confusion, it invites a fresh look, oscillating between humour and absurdity, reviving a free and irreverent spirit. Curated by Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo. LE CERCLE SCOLAIRE DU LOCLE Bien vivre ensemble The Commune of Le Locle places quality of life at the heart of its concerns. As part of a collaborative project involving several local institutions, pupils from the Cercle Scolaire have been reflecting on ‘living well together’ - an essential value for learning, growing and interacting in harmony. Working in classes with their teachers, the children identified key principles - respect, politeness, fair play, etc. - and illustrated them in paintings, posters, crafts and sound effects. For the first time, the creations of pupils in Years 9 to 11 will be exhibited at the MBAL in the Salle Marie-Anne Calame and the adjacent space as genuine works of art, while entering into dialogue with a selection of works from the museum's collection. This project is being run by the CSLL's Youth Health Promotion Department and Socio-Educational Department, with the support of the school management.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION Musée des Beaux-Arts de Locle Musée des Beaux-Arts – Marie-Anne-Calame 6, CH – 2400 Le Locle +41 (0)32 933 89 50 – mbal@ne.ch – www.mbal.ch – @mbalelocle Wednesday- Sunday: 11:00 - 17:00 First Sunday of the month: Free entrance Visual credits 1- Détail de Marguerite Sandoz-Jeanneret, Le Printemps (sans date), Huile sur toile, 35.5 x 44 cm © Collection Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle. Graphisme : Maria Gallardo 2- Félix Edouard Vallotton, Le Mont Rose, 1897. Xylogravure, 14 x 25,5 cm. © Collection Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle 3- Augusta Lardy, Le temps n’a point de rive, 2022. Courtesy Galeria Belmonte, Madrid, Espagne © Augusta Lardy 4- Clementine (with statue), Le Locle 2024 © Jonathan Llense =