Art Of The Day Weekly
#84 - from 3 April 2008 to 9 April 2008
IN THE AIR
The Eiffel Tower's collaret
PARIS - We all know that she was on borrowed time for quite a while and that great writers of the XIXth century – Dumas son and Maupassant - had petitioned for the steel monster to be pulled down before the end of its 20 year concession. Today the situation is turned around and the «300 metre tall tower» has become the emblem of Paris and of France - and probably the most famous monument in the world - and we are now in the situation in which any mention of messing around with its anatomy is very badly looked upon. That is the case for the project recently unveiled by the SETE (the Eiffel Tower's operating company) of bestowing on it, for its 120th anniversary in 2009, on the last floor, a sort of choker-necklace. The objective of this addition is to increase the number of tourists (they are already nearly 7 million a year), by doubling the area to 580 m2. The Anglo-saxon newspapers have already targeted this intervention, that seems mainly directed by commercial concerns. Serero, the architects of the project that won, already talk about it but the website of the Eiffel Tower has remained strangely silent. There must be a lot of internal discussions regarding this plastic surgery…
EXHIBITIONS
The Renaissance, the medical side
ECOUEN - There is a lot to criticize in progress, but when one goes through this exhibition we can only feel that there is also a lot of good in it. Who would ever want to be treated with these clysters, the pallets for bleeding or the cauteries? Or to undergo «heavy» surgery with an amputation saw, a trephine or bullet pliers? The history of medecine in the XVIth century is explained through some one hundred pieces lent by French collections (librairies and academies). One of course sees surgery instruments as well as the famous journal by Héroard, Louis XIII's doctor, as well as pionneering manuals. The good artists at the time were not unhappy to illustrate them, as we can see in Vesalius' treaty on anatomy, with drawings signed by van Calcar, one of the Titian's students, or that of Vidius, enriched with drawings by Salviati.
Italian snapshots
ROME – The Bilotti museum, in the exquisite setting of the orange garden in Villa Borghese, hosts an important collection of Italian photographs that was already shown in 2006 at the Maison européenne de la photographie in Paris, but that took the time to reinforce itself since. Built by the heir to an industrial dynasty and his wife, Giovanni and Anna Rosa Cotroneo, the collection ideally starts from Michelangelo Pistoletto's mirrors. It then goes through Mimmo Jodice's ideal landscapes, Gabriele Basilico's empty cities and Franco Fontana's colourful fields. It also deals with thematic approaches like memory (the war atmospheres skilfully recreated by Paolo Ventua), the body (Vettor Pisani and Roberto De Paolis) or the wind, that Mario Giacomelli vividly brings to life by images of drying laundry.
FAIRS
Parisian rendez-vous
PARIS – Art Paris will celebrate its tenth anniversary by bringing together 115 modern and contemporary art galleries, of which 40% come from outside of France. To enhance its new Oriental adventure (Art Paris Abu Dhabi held its first edition in November 2007), the fair offers a themed exhibition on young, Arab artists and some twenty visual artists from Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine or Algeria are set up in a 200 m2 area. On the other side of the place de la Concorde, the former Pavillon des antiquaires has changed name in order to reflect a more contemporary stance. It has been renamed the Pavillon des arts et du design and been reduced to 5 days. It will welcome in its white tent in the Tuileries gardens furniture and art objects from the 1860s (the beginnings of industrial furniture) up to our day. The exhibitors will unveil a wide choice, from glass creation (Clara Scremini) to XXth century paintings, from artists' furniture (Avant-scène) to Scandinavian design (Dansk Mebelkunst), from Art déco (Downtown) to Art déco from Lyons (Marcelpoil), from photography (Armand Lesaffre) to impressionist art (Hopkins-Custot). The organizer of the Pavilion, Patrick Perrin, has the ambition for 2009 to organize the event, Art Paris, the Salon du dessin and the Salon du dessin contemporain in one single «platform».
AUCTIONS
In memory of May 68
Nicolas Sarkozy had probably announced its burial a little too hastily: having reached the ripe age of 40, May 68 is popping up everywhere, with events organized on the souvenirs and unlimited publications, some so heavy they could rival the cobblestones the students threw at the police at the time. Those who fancy the posters of that time will be happy too. Camard & Associés has organized a sale of 350 serigraph posters, mostly produced by the workshop of popular creativity of the Beaux Arts school. Behind the famous «It is forbidden to forbid» and «He is responsible for the havoc», many other original slogans have blossomed. We will rediscover the closed fists, the banners, the xylographic type illustration for «Intoxication hits home», «Once conquests are drowned, profits go up» or «The riot police vote for de Gaulle». Very prudently evaluated between 100 and 500 euros, these pieces of history could easily go way over their estimate.
ARTISTS OF THE WEEK
Fabrique de la mémoire, courtesy galerie JGM
Anne et Patrick Poirier, a couple made to last
They met in the Grande Galerie of the Louvre, more than 40 years ago, in front of a painting by Poussin. Since then their collaboration has never had a single hitch, producing imaginary landscapes, antique dreamt cities such as Ostia antica (1969), or ruins of modern cities. These creatures of the spirit are embodied in large models, placed in a Korean metropolis or a small Tuscan village. Their last installation, at the JGM Galerie, takes the shape of a mirror gallery.
Of course we see a certain analogy with the Hall of mirrors of the Grévin museum or with a recent installation by Kader Attia at the Basel fair. But the Poiriers multiply the image of the spectator to infinity, accompanied by inscriptions on the theme of human memory, their constant obsession.
BOOKS
At Obrist's microphone
HUO loves to live at high speed. HUO is not at all a Chinese intellectual, he is art critic Hans Ulrich Obrist reduced to his initials. Born in Switzerland just 40 years ago, HUO has already organized over 150 exhibitions and interviewed more than 500 well-known persons. This small, tightly written volume presents close to one hundred interviews. HUO likes to catch old giants (Louise Bourgeois, Manoel de Oliveira, Nathalie Sarraute) as well as creators in their first steps (Loris Gréaud, Tatiana Trouvé). While he constantly seems in a hurry («We will finish the interview in the plane») and is everywhere («I know the son, I have read the book, I have seen the movie»), which is a little irritating, his vast culture permits him to combien all types. Consequently he meets comedians (Jamel Debbouze), architects (Parent, Koolhaas), composers (Boulez, Stockhausen), photographers (Cartier-Bresson, Depardon) and artists (Jeff Koons, Dan Graham). His often very simple questions allow us to talk of the zoo in Tirana with Anri Sala, of Golden Gate bridge with Jean Rouch or of football with Niemeyer. An unusual art critic one can read in one sitting.
IN BRIEF
BERLIN - The 5th Biennale of contemporary art of Berlin will open 5 April and will go on until 15 June, with the title "When things cast no shadow".
CHICAGO – Jean Nouvel is the winner of the Pritzker Prize 2008, the non-official «Nobel prize» of architecture, awarded each year by the foundation with the same name. He follows Richard Rogers, among other great names.
MILANO - The MIART contemporary art fair will hold its 13th edition from 4 to 7 April with Latin America as the guest "country".
NEW YORK - Sotheby's will put up for sale on 8 April an exceptional ensemble of 40 photographs by Edward Weston, which his family had kept since the photographer's death.
PARIS – A gouache by Hergé, dating back to 1932, for the cover of Tintin en Amérique, broke the world record for a strip cartoon, and went for 780 000 € at Artcurial on 29 March.
SAUMUR - Natalie Lamotte, the 2008 winner of the Bouvet-Ladubay prize of contemporary creation, will exhibit her work from 5 April to 8 June at the art center of the Saumur wine producer.