About us
Theme 2024 : Drawing worlds
Up to the 17th century, drawing was inherently considered a study, sketch or a preparatory work for an artwork, an architectural design or a machine. Drawings are fragile in nature, turning yellow on exposure to light, gathering dirt and crumpling easily – they were therefore considered fleeting, or lessor works. Drawings were not preserved and even less exhibited than paintings, for example. Yet drawing is the first form of human artistic expression. The animal drawings in the Palaeolithic caves of Lascaux dating back around 15,000 years bear witness.
In the 20th, and even more so in the 21st century, drawing became an art form in its own right. It is no longer exclusively a technique of visual representation on a flat surface. It is developing alongside visual arts through history towards an independent art form. Artists seek to broaden drawing possibilities through different mediums (coloured pencils, biros, pastels, felt tips and charcoal among others), different techniques (writing, typography, sketching, collage, engraving, etching, photography, imprints and more) and on new material (card, plastic, wood, textile, concrete, photographic paper, tracing paper and others) for artistic, industrial and commercial aims.
Drawing is shifting away from the traditional fine arts field and broadening into graphic arts, such as architectural and machine designs, textile patterns, ceramics studies, fashion sketches and comic strips. Since the end of the 20th century, artists have been drawing with computers on tactile screens with stylus pens. Material lines make way for smooth lines as the new, digital art transpires. Today, drawing has naturally left the framework of the medium. It occupies space and animates it: see Jean Michel Alberola’s neon light drawing; Bernard Moninot’s spacial drawing with textile partitions; and Jonathan Lasker’s thick, pattern-forming pastes.
Both artists and public demonstrate growing enthusiasm for this artistic discipline, reminding us that drawing is an aspiration that allows us to express a narrative line, material physicality, fantastic landscapes, mysterious architecture, experimental graphics and imaginary beings.
Consult the Lille Art Up! 2024 catalog (only available in French):
Lille Art Up! 2025
From 13 to 16 March at Lille Grand Palais
Lille Art Up! in a few words
Lille Art Up! is a contemporary art fair created in 2008 by Lille Grand Palais. Every year, it welcomes about a hundred contemporary art galleries and 30,000 visitors during the four-days event.
As a must-see artistic event, Lille Art Up! is the first regional contemporary art fair with art galleries from Lille, Hauts-de-France, but also from France and abroad, all selected by an artistic committee.
A contemporary art gallery is an exhibition space specifically designed to showcase works of art and present them to the public. The art gallery selects the artists it wishes to exhibit and provides them not only with a space but also with special support to make their work known.
Like art galleries, the Lille art fair is also a privileged place for the works of contemporary artists. The artwork exhibited is various : paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, videos… Contemporary art is represented in all forms and styles.
To discover all the artists and their artwork presented during the fair, you can browse our pages dedicated to the galleries and artists and enjoy the experience of visiting an online art gallery. Lille Art Up! is also an epicenter of the art market in the region. Thus, collectors benefit from a privileged moment during the opening of the fair to discover contemporary artists and their work.
As a true cultural event, the fair also welcomes partners such as museums in Lille and its area, art schools, art centers and other cultural structures, thus creating a real dynamic between the various players from the art world.
In parallel with the art galleries, Lille Art Up! also hosts contemporary art exhibitions around a different theme each year. Some of these exhibitions are presented by museums or cultural structures, others highlight new artists. The contemporary art fair of Lille is also revealing talents by hosting each year the Revelation by Lille Art Up! event which presents the works of young student artists from the Euroregion.
The artistic committee
The artistic committee of Lille Art Up! studies each gallery's application on the basis of an iconographic file presenting the selection of works that the gallery owner wishes to exhibit during the fair.
Anne-Cécile
HERVÉ
Director of Lille Art Up! President of the committee
Marie-Françoise
BOUTTEMY
Lille Art Up! artistic director
Jean-Luc
MOREAU
President of the association Lille Art Galleries
Samantha
DEMAN
Les Echos editor-in-chief
Annuschka
LEUNG
Off Course Brussels co-director
Richard
SKRYZAK
Videomaker, writer, videoart professor at the Tourcoing ESA and Valenciennes University
Eddy
NEBEL
Art collector
Maxime
DUFOUR
Photographer
Emmanuel
PROVOST
Art collector
