THE young European artists NETWORK.

The JCE has been weaving its web in the European community since its creation in 2000. The 2009/2011 biennial gathers together eight partner countries and one invited country. This time, Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, and Portugal, the partner countries of the biennial’s previous edition, are being joined by Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland. This growing community is lending an unparalleled new vision to the young artistic creation that is currently taking place within Europe.
Backed by an urban partnership (comprising one city per each represented country) is a partnership made of diverse cultural institutions and contemporary art experts, whose main goal is to search for and discover new talents. Each partner acts within its own territory to present an overview of the emerging artistic creation, and to select a group of approximately 10 artists that best represent their generation.
The project’s dynamic revolves entirely around the question of how to support the young artists, who, for the most part, are recent art school graduates and have not yet been exposed to institutional and commercial art networks.
The Biennial is the main expression of this project: a traveling exhibition presented at the eight partner sites, providing a unique means of artistic diffusion, and offering the artists increased exposure to the general public as well as to arts professionals.
The scope of support, however, extends much further than the exhibition alone.
As of now, the JCE website (www.jceforum.eu) allows each of the selected artists to keep a virtual gallery of their work in progress, to inform the users of their current projects and exhibitions, and to encourage forum discussions with all the other artists within the network. This constitutes an exceptional database for both art lovers and art professionals.
Residencies are yet another concrete form of support aimed at helping young artists, giving them an opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture of one of the partner countries and to work on a creative project. The JCE encourages the circulation of artists within the European community, with Austria, France, Lithuania and Portugal representing the possible residency destinations for the current biennial.
Among our goals is to offer these young artists the means of enriching their knowledge base, their capacity for creative reflection, and the means to support their projects. We also seek to help them encounter the major figures of today’s contemporary art scene, institutional representatives and art dealers, as well as the art-loving public. For this reason, we are always eager to organize gatherings, round-tables, auctions, and other events that might stimulate such fertile encounters and connections.
The JCE is built around a growing number of major art professionals and experts who all share a passion for discovering young talents, and who are convinced by the necessity of artistic exchanges within the European community. Their involvement, their initiative, and demand for quality are among the major strengths of the JCE project.

Jean-Loup METTON
Mayor of Montrouge
General counsellor of the Hauts-de-Seine