TREASURE HUNT THE ART PROJECT

Transcription

1 THE ART PROJECT TREASURE HUNT 60 Le Pouce, or The Thumb located in La Défense Paris, built in 1965 by sculptor César Baldaccini. Photo by Ali Khadra) Paris, the City of Art, is home to some of the world s most famous museums and galleries. But why step indoors when the capital s landscape has a trove of precious art pieces dotted around its public spaces? Some, unlike César Baldaccini s sculpture of a 40-foot thumb, aren t so obvious. You just need to know where to find them, which is where we come in. Judith Souriau 61

2 Public art has long been a part of the French landscape, especially in the cosmopolitan capital. Since the late 1950s and Charles de Gaulle s Ministry of Culture André Malraux, it has been a widespread idea that the art of its time must benefit the people and that equally, the public must be aware of its presence. Let s not forget that Malraux famously commissioned impressionist Marc Chagall to paint the magnificent ceiling in Paris s Opéra Garnier. Still today, one per cent of the government s budget for every public building must be dedicated to an art or design commission to a living artist. This not only encourages debate and opinion within the Parisian dialogue, it nurtures France s art scene like no other nation s in the world. Which is why, when you re in the French capital, you must slip into comfy shoes and explore all the free art Paris has to offer. You can easily walk past a Picasso (in the gardens of Church of Saint-Germain-des- Pres), or not realize the statue you re staring at is by the progenitor of modern sculpture Auguste Rodin it s just knowing where to look (Photo by Ali Khadra) POL BURY SPHÉRADES

3 64 ALEXANDER CALDER L ARAIGNÉE ROUGE (Left: Photo by Jean Marc CHARLES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images. Right: (Photo by Ali Khadra) WANG DU LA TOUR D EXERCICE 65

4 66 PABLO PICASSO LA POÉSIE (Photos by Ali Khadra) CÉSAR BALDACCINI LE CENTAURE 67

5 68 SPY I M NOT A REAL ARTIST (Left: I m not a real artist by SpY. Photo by Marc Verhille, Right: Photo by Ali Khadra) LANG/BAUMANN STREET PAINTING #4 69

6 70 DANIEL BUREN LES DEUX PLATEAUX (Photos by Ali Khadra) JEAN TINGUELY & NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE STRAVINSKY FOUNTAIN 71

7 72 JOAN MIRÓ DEUX PERSONNAGES FANTASTIQUES Photos by Ali Khadra) JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL LE KIOSQUE DES NOCTAMBULES 73

8 PUBLIC SPACE IN PARIS ACTS AS A GALLERY FOR SOME OF THE WORLD S MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS. HERE S WHAT, WHERE AND WHY... SPY, I M NOT A REAL ARTIST 73 Rue du Chevaleret, (13th district) This enormous piece of graffiti was originally commissioned for Nuit Blanche 2014, a nightlong event when the public enjoy ephemeral contemporary art installations around the city. But this one piece, created using phosphorescent paint, was so popular it remained as a permanent artwork and still stands today. Barely visible during the day, the piece only reveals its message at night once the sun goes down. Quoting a 1972 performance by Keith Arnatt, the Spanish street artist aims to question the role of urban artists in the art world in an ironic way. POL BURY, SPHÉRADES Jardin du Palais-Royal (1st district) Opposite the straight lines of Buren s columns in the Palais-Royal gardens, in an open-air gallery, stand a pair of circular twin fountains by Pol Bury, each made of 14 stainless steel spheres on a plate. It s hard to tell if the kinetic Belgian artist s work was commissioned for its own formal characteristics independently of its visual relation to Buren s piece, but the two (both dating from ) complement each other brilliantly in dialogue. The shiny surface highlights the architecture of the gardens, and not only reflects but provides a soft contrast to Buren s contemporary black-and-white pillars. LANG/BAUMANN, STREET PAINTING #4 Place Martin-Nadaud (20th district) The work of Swiss-American duo Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann, who have worked together since 1990, is intrinsically linked to the city and environment. Their pieces consist of street paintings, outdoor sculptures and unusual building elongations, always created on an ambitious scale and aiming to challenge context while blending with the urban space. Street Painting #4 was installed in 2013, bringing color to the trendy 20th district as a positive statement about street art and the appropriation of the city. While a bit tatty now, it s still worth a wander down to Place Martin-Nadaud for a look. ALEXANDER CALDER, L ARAIGNÉE ROUGE Place de la Défense (Paris La-Défense district) Joan Miró s colorful Deux Personnages Fantastiques face a 75-ton, 15 meter-high red stabile L Araignée Rouge ( red spider ), created by American sculptor Alexander Calder. While Miró s piece is curvy and swinging, Calder s construction is steady, strong and outlined. The contrasting two pieces of art act as a beautiful metaphor of work and pleasure. Calder chose the site of this piece, which mimics another of his works, Spider (located in Chicago), himself. It s a powerful tribute to the artist and sculptor, no less because it was built in 1976, the same year of the artist s death, aged 78. DANIEL BUREN, LES DEUX PLATEAUX Jardins du Palais-Royal, (1st district) If a contemporary art project ever gave rise to debate, it has to be Buren s columns. Erected in 1986 as part of a wider program, the project was found to be too modern and intellectual, despite being made of traditional Carrare marble and bearing referencing board games of antiquity. A group of conservative intellectuals and residents stood up against the project, and at one point there was even talk of it being demolished. Despite Buren suing the City in 2007 for poor maintenance and asking for an overdue renovation, 20 years later it s still standing and the piece is generally deemed a great success. (Photo of Joan Miro sculpture by Seitz/ullstein bild. Photo of Calder sculpture by Bernard Derenne/Gamma-Rapho. Photo of César statue by Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor. All via Getty Images) WANG DU, LA TOUR D EXERCICE Place Jules-Renard (17th district) At night, Wang Du s La Tour D Exercice ( The Practice Tower ) strangely evokes Tatlin s 1919 Monument and bears an authoritarian and fascinating vision. It seems almost out of place in a quiet square of a residential Paris. The 11-meter-high sculpture is a reference to a firemen s training structure, as it stands outside of a fire station. It was commissioned in 2008 to Chinese-born artist Wang Du (who has been living in Paris for 20 years) as a tribute to Paris firefighters, and its stainless-steel structure, polished like a firefighter s helmet, reflects the surrounding buildings. JEAN TINGUELY & NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE, STRAVINSKY FOUNTAIN Rue Saint-Merri (4th district) The colorful, playful creatures wave their hinged metal arms in a basin nearby the Centre Pompidou are not part of the national museum collection, as often thought the fountain was commissioned by the city a few years later, and delivered by the French-Swiss duo in Faithful to Saint Phalle s mythology, each of the 16 sculptures that make up the Stravinsky Fountain have a symbolic role in the theater of life: fox, firebird, mermaid, death The artists wanted the fountain to mirror the museum forecourt s street life and enter into dialogue with the street performers that often gather nearby. PABLO PICASSO, LA POÉSIE Square Laurent Prache (6th district) Although Saint-Germain-des-Prés is a well known spot for shoppers and Café de Florediners, this hidden treasure is one of its bestkept secrets. Just a few steps behind the church is a tiny park with a few benches placed in the shade of the gothic side wall. Here you ll find a sculpture of Piccasso s lover and muse, Dora Maar, with a bronze face, round eyes and puffed cheeks in his distinctive style. The artist gave the sculpture to the city as a tribute to his poet friend Guillaume Apollinaire in You can see the church from the terrace of Les Deux Magots café, where Picasso and Dora Maar first met. JOAN MIRÓ DEUX PERSONNAGES FANTASTIQUES Place de la Défense (Paris La-Défense district) La Défense is a typical business district in the western suburban extension of the Champs- Elysées, where there aren t too many reasons for a tourist to wander through. But the bankers and office staff who sit on the esplanade for lunch can enjoy a baguette with a view. Joan Miró s colorful 1976 sculpture Deux Personnages Fantastiques ( two fancy figures ) sensuously undulate before the concrete and glass buildings like a hint of joy brightening up the somber business mood. They are made of light polyester resin and face a 15 meter-high red piece by American sculptor Alexander Calder, L Araignée Rouge. CÉSAR BALDACCINI, LE CENTAURE Place Michel Debré (6th district) If you find yourself in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, shopping between the windows of Bon Marché and Hermès, do not miss the majestic five-meter -high statue, Centaur standing in the middle of the Place Michel Debré. Half-man, half-horse, the Centaur is a mythological figure representing the savagery of manhood and created by French sculptor César Baldaccini in While you may find the items pointing out of his buttocks give him quite an absurd allure, César carved the man as his own self-portrait. If you look closely, the face is intentionally wearing a mask that bares an uncanny resemblance to Picasso. JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL, KIOSQUE DES NOCTAMBULES Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre subway station (1st district) Kiosque des Noctambules ( night owls stand ), ornamenting the Place Colette subway station, gained the little-known artist unprecedented recognition shortly after it was installed in Othoniel was commissioned by the city to create the piece in celebration of the Millennium, and this one piece led to many other private commissions. Its Murano baroque glass spheres filter light to create colorful reflections projected onto the surrounding trees. The arch is composed of six aluminum columns and two domes; one in yellow, white and red beads for day, and one in blue, purple and white for night