Rockbund Art Museum

Post-gratuated in Art History, Larys Frogier was also a researcher at the Archives for Art Criticism (Rennes) and at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS Paris).

For many years, he has taught contemporary art history and curatorial studies in different academies.

From 2000 to 2010, he was the Director of the contemporary art centre La Criée France.

In 2010-2011, he has been selected by the British Council as Cultural Leader inside their “Cultural Leadership International” program.

In 2011, he made successful the funding for Culture from the European Commission for conceiving and unfolding the researches, residencies, exhibitions programs  Art Cooperation Transmission (A.C.T.)  Democ(k)racy in Belgrade (Serbia), Eindhoven (Netherlands),  Rennes (France), Cluj-Napoca (Romania).  

He has been the Director of Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) in Shanghai since 2012.

Since 2013, he has been the Chair of the HUGO BOSS ASIA ART jury and he conceived this new award, exhibition and research program as an evolving platform to question Asia as a construction to investigate rather than a monolithic area or fixed identities.

In 2020, he engaged Rockbund Art Museum in the long term research program conceived by the independent curator Biljana Ciric As you go... roads under your feet, towards a new future.

He facilitated multiple partnerships with international institutions such as Berardo Foundation Lisbon, Dancing Museum-Boris Charmatz Rennes, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Torino, Department of Chalcography Louvre Museum Paris, NTU CCA Singapore, Maumaus School of Visual Arts Lisbon, Palais de Tokyo Paris, Para Site Hong Kong, Tramway Glasgow, Portikus Frankfurt...

Around the international Atlantic arc, Larys Frogier has curated long term artistic projects (residencies, exhibitions, publications) exploring the links and ruptures between Africa, Europe, and the Americas: Just A Walk (2006), Pipedream (2007-2009), Social Landscape (2010), Allan Sekula (2011-2012), Algerian openings (2003).

He (co)curated exhibitions with international artists: Adel Abdessemed (2021, 2003), Felix Gonzalez-Torres (2016 with Li Qi), Paola Pivi (2012, 2007) , Philippe Parreno (2017), Trinh T. Minh-ha (2021-22), Ugo Rondinone (2014, 2003 with Odile Lemée, David Perreau), Tobias Rehberger (2019 with Billy Tang), Barthelemy Toguo (2000), Yang Jiechang (2011)... as well as research projects and group exhibitions such as Curtain (2020-22 with Cosmin Costinas, Celia Ho, Anqi Li, Billy Tang, Xu Tiantian), Walking on the Fade Out Lines (2018 with Hsieh Feng Rong), From Gesture to Language (2013 with Pascal Torres Guardiola), Risk The Real (2009), Campy Vampy Tacky (2002 with Alain Buffard), Ex-Change (1999).

He has organized different symposiums like the following :

. Contemporary art, Curating and Social Engagement in XXth Century China, 2014, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China.

. Asia Art Mutations, Language and Social Practice, 2013, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China.

. Contemporary art and history of the arts : Anachronisms, References & Documents, Archives for Art Criticism, Rennes, France.

. Ex-Tensions, African creations and post-colonialism, 2009, Champs Libres, Rennes, France.

. Acting on AIDS, Cultural and Political Activism in France, 1996, Institute for Contemporary Art, London, United Kingdom.

. Art History and Art Criticism : The task of Description, 1994, Archives de la critique d’art, 1994, University of Rennes, France.

. Images of Disease 1790-1990, 1995, Musée d'art Moderne, Saint-Etienne, France.

In 2020, with Alfie Chua, he founded the duo artists Ocean & Wavz engaged in text, sound and image creation.