As usual, this month I’m taking you to discover exhibitions all over France, and I’m also looking back at the Jeff Koons exhibition that just ended yesterday at the Centre Pompidou (a bit of a catch-up if you missed it).
I’m also announcing a free exhibition in Saint-Nazaire featuring a comic book author I’ve adored for years, Marc-Antoine Mathieu, whose creation I will be going to discover in a few days. Then we will take a little trip to the Château de Pierrefonds in the Oise region and end with a free exhibition related to street art and the Berlin Wall in Paris, for a little return to square one, starting from Paris to finish in Paris…
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Jeff Koons at the Centre Pompidou
After causing controversy by exhibiting his works at the Château de Versailles, American artist Jeff Koons was the prestigious guest of the Centre Pompidou. It was a major event, as it was the artist’s first retrospective in Europe.
His world, criticized and booed, scandalizes as much as it fascinates. Elevated to the rank of “genius,” Jeff Koons defies the laws of good taste and modesty in art to offer the world the playful gigantism of popular figures. The Centre Pompidou therefore celebrated the evolution of an artist who plays with the paradoxes of a consumer society that abuses preconceptions.
The exhibition invited visitors to appreciate the artistic progression of a body of work that constantly reinvents itself. From early childlike objects taken out of their context, to advertising posters denouncing social disparities, up to the gigantic “Balloon Dogs,” the iconic personality of Jeff Koons finds its apotheosis in mythological figures and other modern divas (Lady Gaga) sublimated into utopia.
Jeff Koons’ pop excessiveness has the merit of concealing real personal intentions where all the frustrations and ghosts of the past materialize in raw materials with aggressive colors. Crowned with success, this retrospective made us want to meet a celebrity who transcends the codes of popular culture.
Jeff Koons: the retrospective Until April 27, 2015 Centre Pompidou Place Georges-Pompidou, 75004 Paris from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm / late openings until 11:00 pm (last entry at 10:00 pm) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings Price: 14€, Reduced rate 11€ / Package giving access to all temporary exhibitions and the museum's permanent collections
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Marc-Antoine Mathieu at the LiFE in Saint-Nazaire
The LiFE is preparing to host an exhibition by comic book author Marc-Antoine Mathieu, who has imagined a unique creation, adapted to this extraordinary space housed within the submarine base of Saint-Nazaire.
For this carte blanche, Marc-Antoine Mathieu proposes an installation inspired by his latest work S.E.N.S., published by Delcourt in late 2014, in which he tells the wanderings and the destiny of an anonymous walker grappling with the absurdity of existence. This narrative in the form of wandering is a poetic adventure essay that takes place in a minimalist landscape.
Following in the footsteps of a character whose only guide is the horizon, the exhibition visitors also become heroes who get lost amidst questions and non-answers. The deep and limitless space of the LiFE then reveals itself to be rich in sudden occurrences that are as uncertain as they are random.
Throughout this contemplative and dizzying stroll, facing the immensity of the world and the infinity of possibilities, the soul of the labyrinth gently drifts. A spatio-temporal experience that I will live intensely in May and about which I will return to give you my impressions.
LiFE - Submarine Base Hall
14 Boulevard de la Légion d’Honneur Saint-Nazaire
from May 22 to October 11, 2015
from May 22 to June 30 and from September 1 to October 11: Wednesday to Sunday, from 2:00 pm
to 7:00 pm
from July 1 to August 31: Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm
Free admission_
Exhibition “Armor, hennins, and crinolines” at the Château de Pierrefonds
The Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN) presents a major exhibition of stage costumes (30 historical theater costumes and accessories), which echoes an idealized Middle Ages within the château de Pierrefonds, a true dream of stone built in the 19th century during its reconstruction by Viollet-le-Duc.
This exhibition invites us to discover this magical world in the famous Hall of the Worthies (Salle des Preuses), as well as in the two large newly restored keep rooms, one of which will be exceptionally open for the occasion of the exhibition.
Exhibition "Armor, hennins, and crinolines, stage costumes"
Château de Pierrefonds
Rue Viollet-Le-Duc 60350 Pierrefonds
from April 15 to October 18, 2015
the castle is open from May 2 to September 4, every day, 9:30 am to 6:00 pm and from September 5 to April 30, every day except Monday, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Closed: January 1st, May 1st, and December 25th
Prices: 7.50 € / reduced 6 €
The tip: free for those under 25 (from the European Union) and for job seekers_
Exhibition of the first artists of the Berlin Wall at Gare de L’Est
“Art Liberté – from the Berlin Wall to Street Art” is a project supported by the SNCF in partnership with the City Hall of Paris, and the City Hall of the 10th arrondissement. This exhibition is set up by Sylvestre Verger Art Organisation (SVO Art), owner of an extraordinary collection of pieces of the Berlin Wall. It is the first act of a joint project aimed at improving the connection between the Gare de Paris-Est and Paris-Nord / Magenta neighborhoods.
This exhibition also allows a wide audience to discover the emblematic painters of the Berlin Wall inspired by the movement of freedom that followed the destruction of the wall, as well as great international street art artists.
Art Liberté – from the Berlin Wall to Street Art
forecourt of the Gare de L’Est
until July 8, 2015
free exhibitionarticle written by Julie Brando, Sandrine and Melle Bon Plan
