Oniris 40 ans: group exhibition
Opened in September 1986 in Rennes with an exhibition by François Morellet, the Oniris gallery will celebrate forty years of activity dedicated to the dissemination and promotion of contemporary art in the summer of 2026. To mark the occasion, the gallery will present an anniversary exhibition bringing together a selection of works by artists who have left their mark on these four decades of collaboration.
Since its creation, the gallery has developed an artistic project based on loyalty to the artists it supports and constant attention to developments in contemporary art. Initiated by Yvonne Paumelle, the program has been built around painting, abstraction, and conceptual research, favoring approaches where formal rigor dialogues with experimentation.
Since 2012, under the direction of Florent Paumelle, the gallery has continued and developed this orientation, maintaining a balance between established artists and a new emerging generation. This continuity allows for dialogue between different generations of artists who share common artistic and conceptual concerns.
Over the years, the gallery has built up a program bringing together some thirty artists, whose recent work it regularly presents in solo exhibitions. Among the notable figures associated with its history are Vera Molnar, Norman Dilworth, Aurelie Nemours, Geneviève Asse, Christian Bonnefoi, Alain Clément, Philippe Cognée, Jean-Pierre Pincemin, and Claude Viallat.
In addition to its exhibition activities in Rennes, the gallery has participated in numerous international contemporary art fairs in France and internationally for over thirty years, contributing to the visibility and dissemination of its artists' work on the international scene.
Since the late 1990s, the gallery has also developed an active presence on the Internet and digital platforms in order to broaden its reach and strengthen dialogue with collectors, institutions, and art lovers.
In 2024, the main space located at 38 rue d'Antrain in Rennes underwent a complete renovation. Entirely redesigned, brighter, and more refined, this space now offers a renewed setting for presenting works and welcoming the public.
Forty years after its creation, the Oniris gallery continues to pursue its initial ambition: to offer Rennes a venue dedicated to the discovery of contemporary art, open to all, with a demanding program of six to eight exhibitions per year and an ongoing commitment to the artists it represents.