Centre Pompidou, don't mind if I do

Bonsoir mes amis de l'art,

So, another big one is coming up. One of the most important collections of contemporary art in the world: The Centre Pompidou. Of course I visited it before, but now I'm actually gonna tell you, what pieces I love slash like.

So there is one quite eyestopping work by Piotr Kowalski. The piece is called "Identité No. 2" and was created in 1973. And as you can tell by the trend of light and neon right now, it is a true inovative piece. I mean, it was created 40 years ago - crazy, right?!

It's basically just three different sized cubes made out of lighting tubes infront of mirrors. Maybe the name comes from there. Their second identity is in the mirror or comes through the mirror. But one thing you can't tell by looking at the pictures is the sound it makes. Yes, you would have never guessed, right? There is a really strong buzzing and humming noise. It almost sounds like a really busy meadow in summer creawling with different insects. 

Another piece I think is brilliant is an installation by Jean Dubuffet and is called "Le jardin d'hiver". The first thing that came to mind is the saying that art can be a refuge. This piece is an actual refuge:

It's an interactive walk-in work! I felt like I was walking inside a comic because of the strong black lines and the black and white color. It felt totally safe and wonderful and it also brings out the childish side in you. Because who didn't build caves out of their blankets and chairs. At the same time it felt a little lonely and dark, because there is no source of light, exept the entrance which can be closed and because of the material which makes every step you take sound hollow and echo. 

There's always new stuff to discover at Pompidou, I think I'll be telling you about more of my favorites some other time though.

Marc Fornes times three

Heya fans of culture,

I‘ve come across this one artist several times now! 

Marc Fornes is actually an architect which you can almost guess by his insane pieces.

He does installations, mostly in metal or aluminium, that look like crazy computerized actual real shapes or very modern corrals. Well, at least that is my opinion. He is a genius in engineering as you can clearly tell by the way his pieces are constructed. 

I saw the first piece by him as I was walking through the streets of Paris through the window of Inception Gallery.

Then again, I came across a wonderful black and white piece by him at Art Paris 2012 and  I even got photographed infront of it, because my outfit matched. And then, finally I found an installation by him at Centre Pompidou which finally gave me the push I needed to do some research. Because every time I was very intrigued and amazed by the engenius construction!

Fornes himself describes his works and process in these specific terms:

”Explicit and Encoded”, “Precise Indetermination”, “Progressive Geometry” all seeking “Unconventional Futures”.

It seems like his constructions are huge 3D optical illusions, since they are mostly just in two or three colors and very fluent and organic in shape. Which is of course in contrast with the very sturdy and strong materials and the studded construction. 

You can't really tell with these pictures, but the pieces are huge!!

On the Streets of Paris

Salut you interested one,

So I've been in Paris quite a while now, almost three months and as I wander through the streets of this beautiful city I always notice stuff.

And I'm happy, because I've wanted to do this post for quite some time now. Yes, indeed, Paris has the most wonderful Streetart and Streetartist! You don't even have to go into a museum if you want to see art. Just look at the corner near your house!

I've also tried to find out who the geniuses behind these anonymous pieces of art are, but mostly I've failed. It's still amazing - because it's such a mystery! Here are some of my favorites so far (of like 300 pics I took)

A modern cupid by Wattts

The holy union of Che Guevara and Mona Lisa by FRZ!

An origami swan floating around the metro (anonymous)

Funny Sign-Corruption by Clet Abraham

Streetart-Extravaganza including the famous Invador, GZUP!,Nenfil and other

And this very nicely said Curse (anonymous)

A lonely rower (anonymous)

Always keep your eyes open! You never know what you might see, how you might see and what you'll discover!

Happy in the sun

Adorers of art,

Since my last post was about what happend when it was raining, this one will be about what happend when it was sunny.

Because I had waited forever to do this - but it had to be sunny. I wanted to visit the famous Musée Rodin and its beautiful garden. So I waited and waited and one day it was finally sunny and perfect. So I went.

Sadly, the Museum was closed for renovations but the Jardin was still accesable. Yay! And it was wonderful. There were all the famous statues of Rodin in a gorgeous setting. Since it was the beginning of spring, the plants and flowers were a little shy and barely open but it was still very pretty. The former house of the wellknown impressionist painter had a huge lawn and a pond and a lot of trees shielding it from the busy street next to it and next to Invalides.

I must have sat an hour infront of Rodins original and marvalous "The Thinker" - thinking about it. I enjoyed the first real sunny day since last summer and was happy, that this great man still attracts so many people. Because it was busy and for once I did not mind it.

It was a lovely day and I would recommend it to everyone as a top priority during their stay in Paris.

A History in an hour.

Oh wonderful readers,

I can't say it enough - Paris is great! I mean, just the other day I was walking around in the Marais as suddenly the biggest rainstorm broke loose! It pourred down rain and in my search of shelter I just jumped into the nearest dooropening. And yes, it was a museum.

The Musée Carnavalet is located in a beautiful old mansion that served as manor for one of the oldest families in France and then as a hotel. It is beautiful and has an even more stunning yard in its court. So there I was, standing in a Museum. Of course I was going to look at it!

It is, as I discovered, a rather famous parisian history Museum that displays the history of France, and especially Paris through different artifacts. It takes you on a tour through time as you walk through the different rooms who are all decorated in the way of the time displayed and discussed in that particular room. Very charming. After you've seen several pieces of furniture of different time eras (and that really closely - more close than you could ever get in those big Museums!) you get led into the changing exhibitions space which harbours some lesser known historical painters and artists and changing expositions.

One piece in particular caught my eye since the person displayed is very a-typical for the way it's painted.

It's a piece by Robert Humblot of "Juliette Greco" the famous french singer and actress, in 1956, right next to some brilliant impressionist works. I loved the pose of the woman, holding a very strange animal, a cheetah, and wearing an even more bizarre outfit. The greys and blacks of the painting had a wonderful effect with the burgundy red of the wall. It seems like a normal portrait painting in the tradition of historical portraiture - apart from the obvious modern influences like clothes, hairstyles and weird pets. But the pose of the woman, the plain background and the important "accesoire" (here the pet), to describe the character of the woman, all remind us of a classical portrait.

And, as it was almost closing time, I rushed, sadly, through the rest of the wonderful Museum only to find this at the end:

A stunning hall, completely painted and furnished to create an overall look and impression of a majestic ballroom in the Art Noveau Style. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

It should rain more often if this is the result. 

Dark Art Paris 2012 in a Light Grand Palais

Hey Fun-Friends,

This year the Grand Palais was host to one of the most famous artshows in France and maybe the world. Art Paris was/is back in town!!

A place where the leading galleries and institutions display the current trends and the upandcoming new artists! What a marvel. Plus, the Grand Palais is just unbelievable in beauty of construction! Me and my enthusiastic friend managed to find a time where we both could make it so we ended up going two hours before it closed. That decision ended up to be very smart since almost everyone had gone home allready and the eveningsun flooded the entire glass-covered Palais.

The beauty of the setting wasn‘t displayed in the works though. The art was mostly very gloomy, dark and scary with a strong hint of voyeurism. At some point you even get turned into one yourself:

You felt observed and followed and the works were dark and frightening. There was a lot of deconstruction of images aswell and ugly materials like trash and old iron made into new pieces of art. If you really want to call them that.

There were some colorful and pop-arty works, which makes sense because neon-colors aren‘t only in style in fashion right now, but also in art, but there was always a certain edge to them. For example this galery who displays an artist who took violant themes, like guns and munition and turned them pretty.

But overall it was still a beautiful artfair with beautiful pieces and a strong fotorealism and sculpture trend.

Monets Masterpiece!

Bonjour mes amis de l'art,

The Musée de l‘Orangerie is one of my favorite places so far! It is so incredibly beautiful, that you actually do not want to leave - ever! Of course I‘m talking about the two oval rooms where the astonishing paintings by Claude Monet are displayed. The paintings of the famous waterlilies were actually painted especially for those rooms. It is wonderful. I won‘t bore you with details because this is really something everyone needs to see for themselves. So here are some pictures to give you a little preview.

In addition to the waterlilies you can view the collection by the famous artpatron Paul Guillaume which includes Matisse, Renoir, Picasso, Cézanne and Modigliani. It is an overviewable selection of high quality works that really leaves you wanting more if anything else. Wonderful. 

At the time there was alo a temporary exhibtion about Debussy and how different artists influeneced his musical career and work. A really well organized and fluent exhibition - much like Debussys music itself. Quite intruiging actually. There were pieces of art, paintings and such, artefacts of that times like musical instruments, letters and notes plus photographs. And everything was of course accompaigned with Debussys beautiful classical music. If I hadn‘t walked right to that exhibition I probably wouldn‘t have chosen it, but now that I‘ve seen it I‘m glad I did. If that makes sense. Go see it is what I mean.

Sea of Tranquility

Dear artsy ones,

Ah yes, the famous Musée d‘Orsay. I had the pleasure to visit it several times last month, due to alo-hot of people who came to visit me in the best city in the world!

So - Musée d‘Orsay. It is the place, that harbours most of my favorite art. It is huge and always attracts alot of people. Everytime I went, there was a line of at least 30 minutes. Which doesn‘t really matter, because it IS that good. Not like the stupid Louvre. 

The current exhibition in addition to the amazing permanent collection was about „Degas et le nu“ which wasn‘t as good as I had hoped. There were way too much sketches and very little large scale works displayed in a too little space with horrible lighting. A little disappointing. 

But after the, let‘s say average, exhibition you have the entire rest of the wonderful Musée D‘Orsay at your feet. Because you could never look at everything at once, I chose the orientalist section on the ground floor. Breathtaking! Orientalism was triggered by the discovery and access to a new world through Napoleons egyptian campaign. It was also in that time, where the painters removed themselves from unrealistic visions of the orient and began to discover a new palette of colors, landscapes and people that resulted in a very romantic portrayal of the land where the sun rises. 

The Museé d‘Orsay mostly shows paintings of landscapes and animals in the orientalistic manor, like those of Guillaumet and de Tournemine. 

Charles Emile de Tournemine Painting - Cafe in Adalia

Sadly, one of my favorite romantic orientalist pieces isn‘t displayed at Orsay. It is Delacroix‘ masterpiece "Women of Algiers". A lucious display of the inside of a Harem. Beautiful women dressed and drapped in even more beautiful textiles, smoking the waterpipes. It‘s a painting that oozes calm and tranquility without forgetting the hot and eroticly charged surroundings. Amazing!

And then there is the beautiful building that is the Musée d‘Orsay. The old railwaystation that grew out of need is a perfect place to house one of the greatest collections of modern and impressionist art. The clocks and fassades are masterpieces of their own and are almost as iconic as the works inside. 

Giorgio De Chirico

Good Day amazing ones,

One of my personal favorites and earliest encounters in my studies was Giorgio de Chirico - one of the greatest surrealistic painters!

Much to my delight I discovered that the Musée de l'art moderne de la ville de Paris has a wonderful collection of de Chirico.

One of the things I love most about this paintings are the intense colors - especially the marine blue and green tones. I think his portrayal of archtitecture is brilliant and the different elements in the painting mostly make sense - not like the other surrealists' paintings. Tzz...
What's also always striking me is the feeling of extreme loneliness and solitude that comes from his works.

So here a selection of some amazing works by de Chirico, I'm not gonna bore you with more talking and just let the works talk for themselves.