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The Grand Palais newsletter |
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n°11, April 2009 |
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Front pageT.A.G. at the Grand Palais 300 works on show in the South-East gallery. © Coll. Grand Palais / François Tomasi A bombshell has just hit the South-East gallery of the Grand Palais. You have till April 26 to make up your own mind about the tags and graffiti displayed over 700 m2 by 150 street artists. So waste no time! In its first three days, the biggest collection of tags to be organised in three generations, put together by Alain-Dominique Gallizia, drew 7,000 visitors. In addition to an opportunity to come face-to-face with this untamed art form, you get a unique insight into the South-East gallery before its upcoming facelift. Formerly used as an exhibition area at the start of the twentieth century, before seeing service as a classroom for the Sorbonne University's department of Slavic and Germanic studies from the 1960s till 1999, the South-East gallery is due for renovation soon. Starting soonLa Force de l'art For the second time La Force de l'art is to be held in the Nave of the Grand Palais, from April 24 to June 1. The triennial event is an initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, and is co-produced by EPGPCE, the Centre national des arts plastiques and the Réunion des musées nationaux. Its aim is to offer a showcase for France's most creative contemporary artists representing a broad range of origins and approaches. The first edition, held in 2006, drew 130,000 visitors over a period of 41 days. This year's version is just as promising. The task of programming has been shared by three commissioners: Jean Louis Froment, Jean-Yves Jouannais and Didier Ottinger who associated architect Philip Rahm with their project to create a bespoke setting, "White geology". Placed in the centre of the Nave, this world of tectonic plates topped with volumes that seem to surge upwards from the ground covering over 4,000 m2 interacts with the specific characteristics of each work or set of works on show. Throughout the duration of the show, guest artists will take it in turns to produce a non-stop festival of events in the Nave, featuring musical, theatrical and purely verbal performance. Three questions for...Philippe Rahm, creator of the "white geology” for La Force de l'art © Philippe Rahm. Photo Michel Legendre / Center for Canadian Architecture, Montreal. Quadriges: Can you tell us more about White Geology? I could approach this from several starting points. Firstly, the colour: the choice of white is basically the idea of the neutrality of the "white cube", setting off the colours used in the works on show. The second is geology: the Force de l'art commissioners didn't want to impose a theme, preferring to leave the artists freedom and the visitors the chance to interpret the works as they wish. The white landscape is produced by the shapes and dimensions of the works themselves, creating folds of valleys and hillsides. The conventional relationship is to some extent reversed, the museum being built, as it were, around the works. The author Roland Barthes provided us with a reference point when he compared the nouveau roman to white literature. What he meant was that readers could interpret the works freely. Here too, visitors are free to make connections. We aren't forcing their arm. Quadriges: Did the architecture of the Grand Palais have any influence on the choice of the white geology? I was reminded of Edwin A. Abbott's book Flatland, describing a two-dimensional world. For me, the Grand Palais is a terrestrial atmosphere, minus the rain and the wind. In this reduced atmosphere, we have placed a reduced geology because it is stripped of its colour and its mineral quality. I wanted to create a landscape within a landscape: white ground in a crystal atmosphere. Quadriges: Can you suggest a route that visitors should follow? No. The only advice I would give would be to enjoy it like a stroll in the countryside. People can go as and where they like, lose themselves a bit. It's an open experience. FocusThe Grand Palais restoration programme was unveiled at a press conference on March 12 © Coll. Grand Palais / François Tomasi The president of the Grand Palais, Yves Saint-Geours, unveiled this year's scheduled restoration and development programme to the press. The occasion was made all the more momentous by the first hammer blows dealt to the bricked-up doorway that has, for the last 60 years, sealed off the Salon d'honneur from the Nave. As from January 2010, the public will be able to admire the new VIP lounge, a vast area of 1,200 m2 beneath a glass roof which, once renovated, will regain its former splendour and become a venue for high-profile events, notably for all the institutions currently housed in the Grand Palais. Other facilities, like the South-East gallery and the rotundas will be receiving a new lease of life. The restored facilities will be able to stage a rich, diversified program of events, and offer businesses an immense potential for conventions, conferences, round tables and private functions in downtown Paris. Win……cinema tickets! The Grand Palais and the Premiere.fr Web site have teamed up to create a monthly competition. Websurfers visiting Premiere.fr can win seats for preview screenings in the Grand Palais' digital projection room by entering a simple competition. The first screening will be on March 23 with the opportunity to see Duplicity starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. This month, Quadriges is joining in the fun. Simply answer this question: which American film released in France in February 2009 features scenes shot in the Grand Palais? E-mail the answer to quadriges@grandpalais.fr. Senders of the first five correct answers will receive invitations to a screening of Henri Selik's film Coraline at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday April 29 2009. Tuesdays in the Grand PalaisPacked house for the Tuesday cycle! Our conference cycle on the theme of Fashion is turning out to be a big success. For the debate on March 31, the 100 seats in the projection room were taken by storm in the first two hours after the programme was announced. In just a few months since the concept was launched in November 2008 in collaboration with the Presses universitaires de France publishing house, it has drawn a very broad public. At this writing there are still seats available for the 3rd and final conference in the Fashion series, at 6:30 p.m. on April 7, when the question raised will be: Are we all fashion victims? The next cycle will be dedicated to contemporary art. The dates are: Tuesday April 28: Must a work of art have a meaning? Tuesday May 5: From watching to joining in the creative process: where does the spectator stand? Tuesday May 12: Art and technology: what's new? |
A word from the presidentDid somebody say tags in the Grand Palais? The answer is a resolute 'yes'! The exhibition of the collection put together by Alain-Dominique Gallizia in the South-East gallery is not just one more scandal in the history of art. In truth it is an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate TAGs in the light of their history, sociology, the way they have spread to become an international phenomenon, and the techniques employed. The success met by the show in the opening days suggests that these are issues that deserve serious consideration. The South-East gallery on the eve of refurbishment, provides an ideally raw backdrop against which to appraise this art form. Yves Saint-Geours President, Établissement public du Grand Palais Vitra at the Grand Palais Isabelle de Ponfilly, Hanns-Peter Cohn, Arik Levy, Yves Saint-Geours © Coll. Grand Palais / François Tomasi The Grand Palais is proud to have the support of Vitra, the celebrated manufacturer of designer furniture, which has donated furniture for the new offices of EPGPCE, the organisation responsible for running the Grand Palais, and the digital projection room. On March 20, Hanns-Peter Cohn, CEO of Vitra, and Isabelle de Ponfilly who heads the French operation, visited the new facilities, accompanied by designer Arik Lévy. Vitra's patronage will contribute to the Grand Palais' ambitious development plan, combining excellence and style! A new novel In his latest novel Intrigue à Versailles, published by Grasset, brilliant young author Adrien Goetz devotes a chapter to "A winter's day in the Grand Palais". Recipon's Quadrigas are right there in the opening lines: "Neo-baroque sculptures whipped by the wind, marble staircases, gold mosaics and blue stones" [our translation]. Goetz has already received several awards: prix des Deux-Magots in 2004, prix Roger Nimier for La Dormeuse de Naples, and the Arsène Lupin crime novel award for Intrigue à l'anglaise, the first volume of investigations led by his detective Pénélope. Grasset, 18 €. Don’t miss thisLa Force de l'art April 24 – June 1 Nave of the Grand Palais The works of 40 artists exhibited amid 4,000 m2 of "white geology", forming a panorama of France's contemporary art scene. TAG at the Grand Palais March 27 – April 26 South-East gallery With the South-East gallery due for refurbishment soon, its 700 m2 will be taken over by 150 graffiti artists from all over the word. This avant-garde collection will be the biggest testimony to more than three generations of street art. AgendaInternational Antiquarian Book Fair June 19 to 21 Nave of the Grand Palais For the 3rd year in succession, the Nave is to host the International Antiquarian Book Fair. In 2009, the guest of honour will be the BAnQ, the Quebec National Library and Archive. Practical informationRER : ligne C / station Invalides Bus : lignes 28, 42, 52, 72, 73, 80, 83, 93 Vélib : Station n° 8029, 1 av. Franklin-D.-Roosevelt / n° 8001, av. Dutuit Parkings : Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées, place de la Concorde, parc François-Ier, Alma Georges-V, Champs-Élysées Lincoln, Matignon. Personnes à mobilité réduite : accès avenue Winston-Churchill |
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Executive editor: Jean-Paul Cluzel, President La Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais Chief editor: Marie Senk © Grand Palais, 2011 |
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