Galerie Boquet is delighted to present its new group exhibition, LOOK INTO THE BOX. This exhibition brings together a collection of rare works centered around a motif as fascinating as it is versatile: the box.

The exhibition features the interpretations of some twenty artists, emblematic of the successive shifts in artistic practices throughout the last century.

An everyday object par excellence, the box is deeply embedded in our lives and modern consumption habits, its use so ubiquitous as to go unnoticed. Yet, the box can be magical—serving as a casket or hiding place, a boundary between an inner world and the outside, a cabinet of curiosities, a secret, or a game. It also evokes the myth of Pandora, symbolizing a curiosity that is both irresistible and perilous for those who dare to open it.

Powerful and multifaceted, the box has captivated generations of artists, beginning with the Dada and Surrealist, masters of assemblage. The exhibition will showcase a rare collection of boxes by Man Ray. In the Dada tradition, these boxes repurpose everyday objects, transforming them into poetic works that engage the viewer in a playful dialogue with the artwork.

For the Surrealist artists Yves Tanguy, Marcel Jean, and Georges Hugnet, the box primarily functions as a separation between the dream—a poetic and inner world composed of strange juxtapositions and assemblages—and reality, where the viewer stands.

The revolutionary Boîte-en-Valise by Marcel Duchamp, a version of which will be presented in the exhibition, is a portable museum in which the artist presents a miniaturized version of his works, an impossible collection of his entire oeuvre.

In the 1960s, socio-economic changes led to a proliferation of boxes, prompting artists to explore the reuse and nesting of objects. These shifts gave rise to diverse artistic strategies. Arman played with the accumulation of manufactured goods to critique consumer society, while Jean Tinguely repurposed cardboard, metal, and industrial scraps to create new creatures. Ben, meanwhile, crafted Boîtes-Mystères—boxes that must never be opened—teasing the viewer’s curiosity.

The artists associated with Galerie Daniel Cordier, close to the Art Informel movement, took a different approach. Yolande Fièvre created assemblage boxes filled with natural objects (driftwood, stones) collected from the beaches of Vendée, lending them a mystical and spiritual quality. We will present a 1961 example, one of her largest works ever made.

Similarly, Dado uses the box as a reliquary, blending animal or insect remains, waste, and fragments of his own works. The box becomes a vessel for his memories, fears, and anxieties, laid bare for the viewer to see.

LOOK INTO THE BOX invites viewers to delve into each of these boxes, each offering a unique interpretation of this iconic motif. The supreme irony of the exhibition is, of course, that all these boxes are displayed in vitrines (which act as new boxes) within an even larger box: the gallery’s white cube.

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