Modern Art's Most Modern Couple You wouldn’t know it, with the number of galleries around these days, but becoming a gallery owner is much more than just a fashionable trend–it requires intuition, method, and discipline. Not to mention courage!
Photo: zVg
Meet Thomas and Marie Tournemine
BY JA NUA RI A PIROM A L LO
Thomas Tournemine and his wife Marie are lucky enough to have all this, and more. Owners of Gstaad’s Galerie Tatiana Tournemine, they relocated here from Paris, where they had already made quite a name for themselves. The history of the gallery begins with Tatiana, Thomas’ mother, who was not content to remain idly at home while her three children were at school. So she combined her independent nature and thirst for knowledge by opening her own galleries in the French coastal villages of La Baule and Carnac. As her passion for the arts grew, Tatiana opened a sister gallery in Paris … the same gallery in which her son Thomas would became passionate about art and eventually follow in her footsteps. Thomas Tournemine and his wife, Marie at their Gstaad gallery. But Thomas and Marie were anxious to branch out on their own, and set up shop further abroad in Switzerland, Belgium, or perhaps England. With a serendipitous invitation to visit a gallery space for rent in Gstaad via a long-lost contact, the couple headed to Gstaad for a visit. "Just a glimpse with my wife and five months later we were here on the Promenade, opening our space,” recalls Thomas, tall, dark and handsome. “We knew absolutely no one when we arrived, but soon, the people of Gstaad opened their arms and helped forge a circle of knowledge around us.” They moved into the former Apple Pie, and began the next stage of their professional adventure with the opening of Galerie Tatiana Tournemine. Here, they act as talent scouts for the many young artists in Switzerland and beyond, who the Tournemines teach how to remain at the top of the wave. The purpose of the gallery has been evident since its conception: to elevate Gstaad
in the international network of festivals and exhibitions like ParisPhoto, MIA Photo in Milan, and of course, Art Basel. At the latter, a “cult classic”, the Tournemines meet with collectors from all over the world. Last year, they presented a multi-faceted South Korean artist named Ahn Sun Mi, who recreates surreal, stunning self portraits, featuring bizarre poses and powerful facial expressions. Keeping things local, the gallery has also shown the stunning photographs of Rosey alumnus and frequent guest Marshall Vernet, whose black and white images of the Saanenland are both striking and powerful. With one foot in the world of classic photography and the other in a contemporary world of computerized stylings, Vernet’s photographs have a look that combines charcoal drawings with classic film noir that has always been his inspiration. The well-known Swiss visual artist, Alexis Reynaud, is also featured at the gallery. Reynaud is, naturally, connected with his
pieces of mountains and crowds of skiers on the chairlift, however, he always manages to capture a poetic view. Thomas and Marie love contrast, so it’s fitting that they have just brought Thomas Jorion’s work to Gstaad’s lap of luxury. A French artist depicting urban decay, who is already a celebrity in the nouveau riche Chinese market, Jorion’s work develops neglected buildings or ruins now deprived of their use and their function. At best, it induces reflection on the materiality and temporality of our world. Galerie Tatiana Tournemine, however, is anything but temporary; after two and a half years in the region, they are more committed than ever to bringing us the best contemporary young artists have to offer. While that’s not to say Thomas and Marie won’t eventually stretch their legs, for the moment they are settled cosily in the Saanenland, in Chalet Apple Pie.
www.tournemine.com
LIFESTYLE // GSTAADLIFE // ISSUE 3 // JUNE 24, 2016
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