Patrick Mimran (born 1956 in Paris, France) is a contemporary French multimedia artist, composer, and the former CEO of Lamborghini. He is most widely known for Lamborghini's turn-around in the early 1980s and his art exhibit, "The Billboard Project".
Biography
Business
Lamborghini: 1978-1987 Before becoming an artist, Patrick Mimran was the owner and CEO of Lamborghini. In 1981, at the age of 24, Mimran and his brother, Jean Claude, purchased the company's failing assets for US$3 million. The brothers had purchased the company out of receivership by 1984 and began investing heavily in the company's expansion, developing a comprehensive restructuring program. Under the Mimrans' management, Lamborghini's model line was expanded from the Countach to include the Jalpa sports car and the LM002 off-road vehicle. Patrick served as CEO until 1987 when he sold the company to Chrysler.
Art
Multimedia artist: 1990-present After years as a successful businessman, Mimran turned to art. Mimran's artwork has ranged through media including painting, photography, video art, sculpture, and installations. Mimran's work has been exhibited in museums including the Leonardo da Vinci Museum for Science and Technology, Palazzo Venezia and Kunstpalais Erlangen, as well as festivals including the Venice Architecture Biennale, Art Cologne, Art Paris and Art Karlsruhe.
Musical composition He also works in electronic music, composing the score for Maurice Béjart’s ballet Kurozuka (performed at the Bunkan Kalkan Theatre, Tokyo) and collaborating with Peter Greenaway. Mimran composed scores for Greenaway projects including the multidisciplinary film and art installation "Stairs 1 Geneva", the 1996 film, The Pillow Book, the 1996 public art event "La Cosmologia di Piazza del Popolo Roma", and the art installation, "In the Dark", which was featured in the 1996 exhibition, "Spellbound: Art and Film" at the Hayward Gallery of London. In addition to musical scores, Mimran has released four albums. Novels For The Moons (1981), his first album, was heavily influenced by German electronic pioneers and released on the imprint Lamborghini Records. He subsequently released Back to Earth (1983), Honni Soit – Qui Mal Y Pense (1987) with vocalist James Bowman, and Service Entrance (2017), a collection of soft piano music.
Sculpture Mimran's "Jet Set Giraffe" sculpture, standing at 7.5 meters, is considered the tallest giraffe sculpture in the world. It was installed in the Monte Carlo's Grand Casino Garden from 2009 to 2013, when it was moved to its permanent home at the Colchester Zoo in Essex, England. The giraffe, made of glass fiber and steel, appears to be solid metallic silver but transforms into a silhouette lit by 214 colorful lights at night.
The Billboard Project: 2000-2012 Patrick Mimran is best known in the United States for his Billboard Project, a comprehensive series of billboards which he initiated in 2000 in London and later expanded to New York, Miami, Venice, and Tokyo. For the project, Mimran used advertisement billboards as a platform for short aphorisms that provided commentary about art and the relationships between artists, critics, curators and art dealers. The billboards attracted a fan base.
Wearable art In 2015, Mimran turned 25 of his paintings into wearable art by developing the cashmere scarf line, Allezzou Fashion.
Digital art Around 2017 Mimran developed the Aphos App, a digital rendition of his "Billboard Project" which allows users anywhere in the world to create their own boards with quotes, aphorisms, and comments about art, politics, news, fashion, music, or any subject related to their daily lives and interests.
Exhibits 2013 L'art prend la ville !, DeFacto Gallery, La defense, Paris, France Billboard Project, Istituto degli Innocenti, Mudi, Piazza SS Annunziata 12, Florence, Italy GHOSTS, Recent paintings, Palazzo Malipiero, Ramo Malipiero, Venice, Italy IN THE MIROR OF REALITY, La galleria, Venice, Italy 2012 iRonic, Bietigheim-Bissingen Trash Can Project, Campo san manuele, Venice, Italy After, New Photographs, Palazzo Malipiero, Venice, Italy 2011 Ironic. Die feinsinnige Ironie der Kunst, Kunstpalais Patrick Mimran billboard, Palais Stutterheim, Erlangen, Germany Patrick Mimran, Group Show, Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen Art in movimento, La Galeria Venezia After, New Photographs, Palazzo Malipiero, Venice, Italy Patrick Mimran, Photographs, Art Paris 2011 Paul Ardenne, Realite revisitee, Analix Forever Patrick Mimran, Billboard Project, Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen, Art Cologne Patrick Mimran, Billboard Project, Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen, Art Karlsruhe 2010 Nuit Blanche, Billboard project, Toronto, Canada La Galleria, Photos of my billboard project, Dorothea van der Koelen, Venice, Italy 2009 Trash Can Project, Campo san manuele, Venice, Italy, Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci Patrick Mimran, Billboard project, Milan, Italy Patrick Mimran, Billboard project, Galerie Dorothea Van der koelen, Italy Les Photaumnales, Musee departemental de la haute-garonne, Beauvais oise France Patrick Mimran, car park in New York 2008 11th Mostra internazionale di architecttura La biennale di Venezia, Billboards in the city, Venice, Italy Patrick Mimran Billboard Project, Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan, Italy Prelevements Urbains, Le mois de la photo à Paris, Passage de Retz, Paris, France Patrick Mimran “Temple Steps” recent photographs, Bay 100, Miami, USA 2007 Billboard project, 24th 25th 26th street, 31, Chelsea, New York, USA Recent Paintings Muramatsu Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Billboard Project Tokyo, Japan New York Parkings, Palazzo Malipiero, Venice, Italy Trash Can Project, Campo san manuele, Venice, Italy Lyon Billboard Project, Lyon, France Brahmatic A video Installation, National Museum Leonardo da vinci, Milan, Italy Recent paintings, video and photographs, Palazzo Venezia, Rome, Italy Vertigo revisited a Video Installation, Kent Gallery, Miami, USA Biennale de Florence, Florence, Italy 2006 Installation video paintings and photographs Brahmatic, Solo show, Moscow world fine art fair, Moscow, Russia Billboard project, 20 billboards in Moscow, Moscow, Russia Billboard project, 24th 25th 26th street, Chelsea, New York, USA Billboard project, Bridge of the Academia, Venice, Italy Billboard project, Piazza del Popolo, Roma, Italy Billboard project, Museo d’arte moderna, Bologna, Italy 2005 Billboard project, Bridge of the Academia, Venice, Italy Billboard project 24th 25th 26th street, Chelsea, New York, USA 2004 Brahmâtic, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, Italy Altered states, The Milk Studio, New York, USA Billboard project, Bridge of the Academia, Venice, Italy Billboard project, 24th 25th 26th street, Chelsea, New York, USA L’oeuf” 2nd international biennale of sculpture of Monte-Carlo, Montecarlo, Monaco 2003 The Tower of Babel, Eggenberg Palace, Graz, Austria Babel.TV" Group exhibition displaying, Graz, Austria Discomatic, Espace Bellevue, Biarritz, France Discomatic, Museo Valenciano de la Ilustracion y la Modernidad, Valencia, Spain Billboard project Museo di Ca' Pesaro, Venice, Italy Billboard project, 24th 25th 26th street, Chelsea, New York, USA Paintings, Museo Nacional De Artes Visuales, Parque Rodó, Montevideo, Uruguay Vertigo, Circulo de Bellas Artes Alcala 42, Madrid, Spain 2002 Vertigo, The Game in 20th Century Art, Palacio de Montemuzo, Zaragoza Spain Billboard project, 24th 25th 26th street, Chelsea, New York, USA Jet Set Giraffe, The Parade of Animals Second edition of the International Sculpture, Festival of Monte-Carlo Jardins du Casino, Monte Carlo, Monaco Vertigo, Games in the Art of the 20th century, Espace Bellevue, Biarritz, France 2001 Babel.TV, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, USA Babel.TV, Orangerie de Bagatelle, Paris, France Billboard Project, West 24th and West 26th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, Chelsea, New York, USA 2000 Paintings for billboard, Cromwell Road, London, Great Britain First Baby, Walking Man, From Rodin to Mimran, Jardin du Palais Royal, Paris, France Walking Man, From Rodin to Mimran, Lange Voorhoot, The Hague, The Netherlands 1999 Recent Paintings, Marlborough Gallery, New York, USA The rhythm of time, The Almodin, Valencia, Spain 1996 Paintings, Marlborough Gallery New York, NY 1971 Sweet Murder, Galerie Laudann, Lausanne, Switzerland Sweet Murder, Maison des jeunes et de la culture, Thonon les bains, France
Bibliography Paul Ardenne, Patrick Mimran, partage des correspondances, Editions du Regard, Paris, 2001. Paul Ardenne, Babel/TV, Editions du Regard, 2001. Urban Samples/Prélèvements urbains (photographies), Editions Monografik, 2008. Beate Reifenscheid and Dorothea van der Koelen; Arte in Movimento – Kunst in Bewegung, Dokumente unserer Zeit XXXIV; Chorus-Verlag; Mainz 2011;
References
External links
Patrick Mimran sur actuphoto.com