ENCORE !

ENCORE ! marked the relaunch of Galerie Chabannes Vallé in Clermont-Ferrand with a group exhibition announced for October 2 to 31, 2026. Shepard Fairey appeared in a selection spanning modern art, narrative figuration and urban art. The gallery used the occasion to connect its history with the direction of its current program.

The new name joined two strands of a family history. The gallery’s own Artsy profile traces its founding to René Chabannes and Christiane Vallé in 1967. Local reporting on the 2026 reopening describes the change from Christiane Vallé to Chabannes Vallé as a continuation across generations, accompanied by substantial renovation. Against that background, the exhibition’s title suggests both a return and an invitation to continue.

Fairey’s documented contribution was Rise Above Flower 2, dated 2022. The gallery’s artist catalogue identifies the work as mixed media on canvas and gives dimensions of 150 by 110 centimetres. Those details establish a substantial canvas object, rather than a paper edition inferred from a familiar image. The title and year should remain attached to this particular work; similar floral compositions elsewhere do not establish its materials or history.

The published roster also included Bernard Buffet, Blek le Rat, JonOne, Swoon, Mist, Invader, Futura 2000, Arman and Damien Hirst. These names describe a broad field of reference rather than a single school or shared artistic method. In a relaunch exhibition, that breadth can function as a statement about the gallery itself: continuity is expressed through the range of artists it brings into conversation.

A viewer approaching Fairey’s contribution within that selection can ask how recognition operates across generations. An artist’s signature visual language may offer an immediate point of entry, but a group presentation also changes the comparisons available. Scale, support and the difference between a unique material surface and a circulating graphic image become useful questions. The gallery’s canvas description gives those questions a concrete basis without requiring an invented account of where the work hung or what surrounded it.

The opening reception was announced for October 2 at 6:30 p.m. As of October 8, ENCORE ! remained within its published run. The exhibition’s most distinctive context is the gallery’s own transition: a new public name accompanied by a selection designed to carry an existing history forward.