living sculpture

The artist Laurent Tixador was living in the cubicle for four days during the FIAC, according to the sign near the sculpture called "Jumping Beans."
I did not detect any sign of life when looking at it in the "Jardin des Tuileries" near "Le Louvre".

The crowd was very interested and made comments like: "How is he going to the bathroom?"
or "How did he get there?"

And I asked myself : "Should we judge a piece of art by the comments it brings from the viewers?" If we did, this sculpture would be an F .

I also asked myself: "What is the purpose of this? Will the artist emerge and be enlighten and produce the most interesting piece of art of his career after meditating four days ?"

What is the statement of this sculpture? The artist places himself above us and from his height judges his viewers. The ironwork makes it appear almost like a prison where the artist isolates himself. Is he trying to protect himself from the world?
The artist is inaccessible.

I read about another artist in Japan who is living a whole year in a cell.
I forgot his name.


The artist was enclosed in his version of an "ivory tower".


I am curious to see what the artist is going to produce next...

photograph by the author

Soulages

During my recent trip to Paris, I went to Centre Pompidou to see the retrospective about Pierre Soulages, opened till March 8th 2010. The paintings were representing a period from 1946 till 2009.

This is an exhibition not to miss if visiting Paris.
(photographs were not allowed, the photograph on the left was made at the FIAC).

Going through the rooms, one can appreciate the artist's different periods. His uniqueness stays as a lasting impression.

Pierre Soulages is known to use the whole range of the color black and I never thought so much could be told with one color and it could become so many colors. (as opposed to Yves Klein who created one color, the "International Klein Blue").

The succession of paintings help us follow the path of the artist.
The first pieces are like an alphabet. He is experimenting. The paintings are flat, strokes of brushes. Then he develops volumes, depth. They become a whole language and send us messages.

Soulages works on the color black till it becomes alive, threatening at times and creates mystery. When using other colors, it is only to underline the color black and make it blacker.


On some of the later paintings, the surface of the canvass is covered with a thick coat of paint which is then sculptured with some tool, most likely a knife. The lines are simple, but the black becomes the light it reflects.

The space is well used and even with the crowd going by, one can sit in the middle of the room and enjoy this very special moment when the viewer can feel totally immersed in the work.

One room is mysterious, like a place where a special event is taking place: the spectator is in the dark and the black painting is shining, light in the dark. This is when we understand the term "outre-noir" (beyond black) created by Soulages.

In the last rooms, black panels are hanging from ceiling to floor and I do not appreciate this period as much: the black is dull, the panels flat...too japanese.

The exhibition is well researched, showing the different periods of the painter. It is on the top floor of the Centre Pompidou, and the view is breathtaking, even when it rains.

This work is emotionally, intellectually, philosophically enlightening. There is before and after this exhibition.

A lot has been written about Soulages and his art, but I will quote him:
"C'est ce que je fais qui m'apprend ce que je cherche." ( "It is what I do which teaches me what I am looking for.")

"The reality of a work is the three way relationship it establishes between the thing that it is, the painter who made it and the viewer who sees it."

I felt privileged to be the viewer in this three way relationship.

Day three, four and after

Day three was spent at the "Cour Carre du Louvre' to visit younger artists. The "prix Duchamp" was announced that day. Art was political, philosophical, vigorous at times in its statement, but not enough. War of course was the subject for a few artists. None of these works took my breath away: not strong enough, not engaged enough, not violent enough.
They were more photographs which may reflect the market for these, younger and cheaper?

Day 4, I walked in the "Jardin des Tuileries" and went by the sculptures presented outdoors.
I used my camera. I had to read the artists statements to understand the presentations. Usually, it is not a good sign for me.

Saturation may be part of feeling somewhat deflated today. I will have the length of a trip back to the States to digest all of this.

photograph by the author

FIAC day two

By day 2, I was fully oriented and was able to go back to special paintings or sculptures I wanted to see again. I made photographs.
I took my time to look at paintings from Soulages, Nicolas de Stael, Miro, Kandinski, Tanguy to name a few, sculptures from Tinguely, Brancusi...I wanted to remember each of these, they will be most likely bought by a private collector, and I will not be able to see them for a long time.
I enjoyed that day even more.

I spent a lot of time looking at these pieces of art. Why? I will not forget these. They are now in my visual bank. These encounters are thought provoking or create an aesthetic emotion which follows me like a perfume or a tune.

photograph by the author

FIAC day one

It is my first visit to the FIAC (Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain). Its location is perfect, on one side "Le Grand Palais" and the other side "La Cour Carree du Louvre" with a walk from one location to the other through the "Jardins des Tuileries".
I chose to start with a visit to " Le Grand Palais". I walked through the galleries first to "get the feel" and of course bought the catalogue which is worth its price in content and ...weight.

I was amazed to see so many high quality works, paintings, sculptures that I did expect to find in museums. They could be bought. It was a real pleasure and I was like a child in a candy shop. I decided to stay till saturated and come back the following day. The gallerists were pretty relaxed (or appeared so) and it was a different experience than visiting a gallery. I felt no pressure to buy (it was obvious I was not a buyer) and was able to appreciate all these beautiful pieces at my own pace. Photographs were permitted.

I will not go in details about all the pieces I saw, they were so many , I may come back in other blogs about a few of them. But the galleries brought their best collections and made this event memorable.

photograph by the author

Waiting for the FIAC

Today, I visited Soulages at "Centre Pompidou", I will need more time to talk about this visit. I convinced myself to visit the temporary exhibition called Elles@Pompidou.

Nikky de Saint-Phalle greeted us at the entrance of the exhibition, as pictured left.

I find it sexist to have a show of female artists only.
Most of works presented females and their sexuality. Very few works if any, brought up subjects like spirituality, politics, childbearing. The closest reference I found about motherhood was the work from Annette Messager. She knits covers for dead birds, and aligns the dead birds in little boxes. She also embalms some of them and wraps them like mommies. The artists explains that one time in Paris she walked on a dead bird, and following this experience, she started this work.

Cindy Sherman tries to make herself look ugly on a self-portrait. She makes us reflect about beauty and ugliness and confirms my previous thoughts: it is all in the heart.
The walk through this exhibit reinforced my dyslike for such presentation.

The view from "Centre Pompidou" is always great, rain or sun.

photograph from the author

Deadline

I could not miss the exhibition called "Deadline" at Musee d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris.
From Martin Kippenberger to Joan Mitchell, Robert Mapplethorpe and others, the message is moving. The exhibition is presenting pieces they created after being diagnosed with terminal illnesses.

Starting with Kippenberger, in the first room, are the portraits for "Das Floss der Medusa". This is the boat he chose to cross from life to death. Poignant self-portraits with expressions of great suffering are lining up one side of the room while on the other side, the portraits are showing the back of the artist who already left us.

The exhibition also presents Absalon with one of his cell- like apartment, all white, small, like a cocoon.

Hans Artung is showing great energy and appears taken by a colorful frenzy to produce , like Wilhem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell.

Robert Mappelthorpe's room is chilling: a parade of black and white photographs including a skull. Presiding over these, a photograph of the artist's face and a hand holding a cane with a skull, floating on a black background. He is looking intensely at ...me. The other photographs are Greek statues from Apollo, Hermes and other young gods, glowing in their eternal beauty and helping us reflect on our own mortality.

Several works from Chen Zhen are presented, one of them is quite unnerving with sounds of women giving birth, sick people moaning, coughing, vomiting.These sounds are coming from a coffin made with two hospital beds wrapped with bandages , pieces of torn hospital gowns.
More artists can be found on the website.

This exhibition is of great quality and is opened till January the 10Th.

On the beaten paths in Montmartre

Today I chose to visit l'Espace Dali , near Place du Tertre in Montmartre... just because it is Dali. It is described on numerous websites.

The temporary exhibition is presenting Gala's jewels (which were created to be unwearable). It appears to be a way to promote Dali's jewels and ... more business. Maybe the tourists are not buying copies of lithographs anymore and the melted clocks are "passe" now. What is new? Small reproductions of the melted clocks but with shiny diamonds or of "Alice" with hundreds of small diamonds, turning on a pedestal.
Dali created these jewels to be looked at:"Without a public, without the presence of spectators these pieces of jewelry would not fulfill the purpose for which they were created. Therefore, the spectator is the final artist. His sight, his head,his spirit -with more or less an ability to understand the creator's intend- give life to these pieces of jewelry." This is a quote from Dali himself.
The problem is that his work has been misused in so many occasions that I can hardly get the message anymore.

However, it is a great adventure to visit "Espace Dali" . The presentations include paintings, drawings, lithographs and of course sculptures. Hanging on the walls are real jewels to look at.

On my way back, I stopped by the gallery 3 F ( 58, rue des 3 Freres 75018) and visited the temporary exhibition of a photographer who shows flamenco dancers swirl like dervishes. His name is Andre Rigaud.

photograph from the author