ERRE follows Chefs-d’œuvre ?, ERRE, Variations labyrinthiques as the second major thematic exhibition at the Centre Pompidou-Metz. This multidisciplinary group show develops the theme of the labyrinth to address questions of loss, drifting and deambulation, and their portrayal in contemporary art.

Two ancient, universal forms, the maze and the labyrinth are shown here as expressions of complexity and duality, symbols of both logic and chaos.

The subject is considered in its architectural, physical and mental dimensions, exploring the labyrinth as an architectural form and a metaphor: from meandering thoughts to wandering in modern urban landscapes to physical boundaries.

The exhibition centres on the concepts of crossings and experience. The theme will be examined through conceptual as well as sensory means. It will be part initiation and part immersion and will be divided into eight sub-sections:

- The labyrinth in architecture:

The paradox of the labyrinth is that of being a precise and complex construction that induces chaos and disorientation. This part of the exhibition focuses on radical architecture from the second half of the twentieth century.

- Space – time:

The labyrinth is literally and metaphorically a space that engenders time. This section examines art whose fundamentals are intentional drift and return to the same.

- The urban landscape – the modern labyrinth:

In this modern age, urban spread is the most obvious expression of the labyrinthine model. Cities have inspired new subjective practices such as mental mapping and solitary urban drifting.

- Memory – the mental maze:

The labyrinth can be a metaphor for knowledge and meandering thought. This section presents artists’ attempts to organise thought; to give logical form to mental wanderings and chaos.

- Dislocated perception:

This section re-examines kinetic experimentation.

- Restraint – prison as protection:

The labyrinth is a place of imprisonment and physical restraint. This section explores experimental research into stress and physical reaction to confinement.

- Initiation – enlightenment:

This chapter presents documented performances and installations as metaphors for the initiatory quest.

- The maze as artistic metaphor:

This section considers twentieth-century art and literature that was no longer fundamentally linear but, on the contrary, based on an explosion of perspective and meaning.

Extending over 2,000 square metres in two of the gallery spaces at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, ERRE presents works by different generations of French and international artists, together with major figures from the collection of the Centre Pompidou – Musée National d’Art Moderne. It will also feature specially commissioned works.