The Curated Object

Exhibitions Paris. The Hôtel particulier. A Parisian ambition. Cite de l'architecture et du Patrimoine - musée des Monuments français. The Curated Object

Courtesy of Cite de l'architecture

THE TOWNHOUSE. A PARISIAN AMBITION October 5, 2011 - February 19, 2012 The townhouse is a key part of Paris’s architectural character and we can trace the story of the capital by studying the development of the townhouse in different districts of the city.

The Parisian town house made its first appearance in the Middle Ages and became more popular during the 16th century when, thanks to François I, Paris again became the political capital where the monarchic state assembled and settled. It was important to be at court, near the King, and, therefore, at Paris. This golden age continued throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The last of the townhouses were built in the period between the two world wars, marking the end of a long history, but they still exist in today’s 21st century Paris and are very much in use: (museums, embassies, ministries). This exhibition aims to explore this history and takes the visitor on three complementary and illuminating journeys, in a bid to discover the secret of the Parisian town house.

The first section features a small reconstructed townhouse, between garden and courtyard, with different authentically decorated rooms for the visitor to explore. In this way, each visitor can enjoy a sense of familiarity with, and ownership of, the building. The building is not an exact replica of an existing townhouse but aims rather to convey a general impression, an overall picture, with each “external” and internal space specifically designed for educational purposes.

In the second section of the exhibition, the visitor will take a journey through the history of the townhouse, this time organized chronologically, from the Middle Ages to the Belle Epoque. This part of the exhibition, displayed in a vast open space, presents a series of large models of townhouses, specifically chosen for their distinctive characteristics - hôtels de Cluny, Lambert, Thélusson and finally the Palais-Rose (these last two buildings no longer exist - complete with an interactive terminal with wonderfully illustrated information on some 300 town houses.

The last section offers themed reading, examining the Parisian hotel as an architectural object. Three “alcoves” will be devoted to the relationship between the city and the townhouse - a relationship which was both passionate and destructive. A further three sections allow the visitor to explore the external architecture of the townhouse (façades overlooking gardens and courtyards), its interior décor, gardens and finally internal layout. To complete the display, there is a multi-touch screen on the layout and organization of the townhouse, presented in a fun way.

Exhibition designed and produced by la Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine/Museum for French monuments with support from the National Library of France and the Carnavalet Museum. The exhibition has benefited from sponsorship by Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France and the support of Tricotel.

For more information please visit: Cite de l'architecture et du Patrimoine - musée des Monuments français

Exhibitions Paris. Graphisme et French Touch. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 

 

 

Graphisme et French Touch 
October 11, 2012–28 April 28, 2013

In 1994, Eric Morand, cofounder of the techno label F Communication with DJ Laurent Garnier, declared: ‘We give a French touch to house music’. The term ‘French Touch’ came to designate a movement in French electronic music that rapidly became famous on the international scene and involved all the visual artists – graphic designers, video directors, VJs – involved in this music. Never have graphic design and music been so closely associated as during the 90s and early 2000s. Electronic music invented a veritable visual identity for itself. And often the collaboration of graphic designers with emerging independent labels was shaped by constraints and basic principles: the absence of photo budget, the musicians’ desire to remain anonymous, and the arrival of the Macintosh and its simplicity as a design tool. French labels emerged, such as F Communication, founded by Eric Morand and Laurent Garnier and aided by graphic designer Geneviève Gauckler, who had only just graduated from the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. The Solid label, founded by Alex Goffer, Etienne de Crécy and Pierre-Michel Levallois, worked with the H5 collective, created the same year, some of whose work – the Super Discount album cover by Etienne de Crecy and the Child video by Alex Goffer – have become emblematic of a whole generation. The Yellow label, created by Alan Hô and Christophe le Friant, alias Bob Sinclar, enlisted the talents of Serge Nicolas. These graphic designers, fresh out of school, broke free from the teaching they had received at college, with its insistent reference to the Polish and Swiss schools and the militant graphic design of the Grapus collective, and looked to Anglo-Saxon post-modernist graphic designers such as Peter Saville, Neville Brody and Designers Republic for their inspiration. M/M accompanied this music scene by creating the fanzine EdEN and designing disk jackets for the Micronautes. Graphically, this was also the heyday of the flyers that publicised each club evening and became a creative showcase for personalities such as La Shampouineuse (Michel Poulain), for Pedro Winter’s soirées at the Folie’s Pigalle, and the photographer Agnés Dahan for the Respect soirées at the Queen. This music-graphic design-video symbiosis was taken to its paroxysm by the group Daft Punk and their studio Daft Art.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

 

Exhibitions Paris. Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

Photo courtesy of Ed Kavishe

Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs 

March 9, 2012–16 September 16, 2012

This exhibition tells the stories of two men, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs (artistic director of LV), and will highlight their contributions to the fashion world. How did they succeed in taking the pulse of their respective periods to innovate and take an entire industry forward? How did these two personalities, each with their own language, appropriate cultural phenomena and codes to write the history of contemporary fashion? An analysis rather than a retrospective, this parallel Vuitton-Jacobs comparison will provide new insight into the fashion system during its pivotal periods, beginning with its industrialisation and ending with its globalisation, focussing also on its artistic professions and crafts, technological advances, stylistic creations and artistic collaborations. It will also be homecoming for Louis Vuitton, who set up shop only a stone’s throw from the Louvre, the home of his first great patron, Empress Eugénie. Over a century separates Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, but both come together in the excellence of their creativity.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

 

Exhibitions Paris. Trompe-l’œil. Imitations, pastiches et autres illusions. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 
Example of wallpaper group type p6m. From The Grammar of Ornament (1856), by Owen Jones. Persian No 2 (plate 45), image #8.

 

Trompe-l’œil. Imitations, pastiches et autres illusions 

Feburary 2, 2012–November 2013

In the Musée des Arts Décoratifs’ Study Gallery the public can discover the wealth of its collections via selections of rarely or never previously shown works from its storerooms, shown for an 18-month period. Trompe-l’oeil, as its name indicates, is meant to trick the eye, and originated in painting, in which the illusion created by a painted object relies heavily on perspective and chiaroscuro. In decorative art, this ‘trickery of the eye’ took very diverse forms. Wallpapers, for instance, proved ideal for this form of expression. From the most modest to the most sumptuous, they all imitate materials: wood, lacquer, tiles, straw, velvet, and even framed pictures. Many imitations were of course done for economic reasons, and in this game of substitutes, one sees that for centuries many materials have been imitated by others: marbled ceramics imitating jasper, glazed ceramics imitating porphyry or gold, paste imitating the diamond, linoleum floorboards, and so on. This game of illusions evolved in the 19^th century, when, historicism oblige, it was not only materials that were imitated but motifs too. Owen Jones’ famous The Grammar of Ornament, like its French equivalent, Albert Racinet’s l’Ornement polychrome, provided numerous medieval and Moorish motifs for 19^th-century creators. 

Fashion was no exception and became the theatre of the most outrageous illusions. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, wigs, tournures and faux-cul were worn to give false impressions. In the 20^th century, illusion focussed less on form than on the fabric itself, with the appearance of false wears and tears, false pockets, false buttons, etc. Like a treasure hunt traversing centuries and materials, this exhibition invites us into the great game of illusion or the ‘vertigo of imitation’.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

Exhibitions Paris. Le Wall paperLab. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 
Courtesy of A3P

 

Courtesy of A3P

 

Le Wall paperLab 
January 20–May 6, 2012

Following the success of the three 3 previous shows, the Association pour la Promotion du Papier peint (A3P), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the publisher Domestic are relaunching the Wallpaper Lab. Five designers and graphic designers were selected to give their vision of wallpaper inspired by a set theme. Akroe, Helmo, Big-Game, Constance Guisset and Leslie David will have their designs shown on the walls of the contemporary department of the museum alongside works in the permanent collection. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs Prize was awarded this year to Constance Guisset. The A3P Prize was awarded to Helmo and will be published by Domestic.

 

Exhibitions Paris. Les histoires de Babar. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

  Laurent de Brunhoff after Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Creation of Adam, watercolor, courtesy of Mary Ryan Gallery.

Les histoires de Babar 

December 8, 2011–2 September 2, 2012

Babar, now king of the elephants and still wearing his ‘nice green suit’, has remained one of the most popular heroes of children’s literature, with children and of course their nostalgic parents and grandparents. The Arts Décoratifs’ Toy Gallery is celebrating the eightieth anniversary of Babar. The exhibition retraces the adventures of this hero of children’s literature since his creation in 1931. All the Babar books will be shown, with a selection of a hundred original drawings lent by prestigious French and foreign institutions such as the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Morgan Library and the Mary Ryan Gallery in New York, and also private collectors. Visitors will be able to see Babar adventures taking shape before their eyes, from the initial sketches through to the final coloured pages with text. Soft toys, board games, figurines, wheeled toys will be set in Babar decors including one from the famous Normandie liner, interspersed with archive photographs, present-day Babar products, cartoons and 3D films. This anniversary also pays tribute to Babar’s creators, Jean de Brunhoff and his son Laurent de Brunhoff who continued his father’s work from 1941.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

 

Exhibitions Paris. Van Cleef & Arpels. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 
Jarretière bracelet owned by Marlene Dietrich 
Designed by Van Cleef & Arpels 
Paris, France, ca. 1937 
Diamonds, rubies, platinum 
Courtesy of Private Collection, New York 
Photo: Patrick Gries/Van Cleef & Arpels 

Van Cleef & Arpels 

September 20, 2012–February 10, 2013

All the daring of the creations of this legendary jewellery house will be highlighted in the Nave at Les Arts Décoratifs, with 400 pieces that have made the fame of Van Cleef & Arpels since 1906. These prestigious pieces will be shown with archive documents and drawings, in an exhibition design by Jouin-Manku. The history of Van Cleef & Arpels is studded with technical inventions handed down from generation to generation. This savoir-faire, always kept secret, combined with imagination and very free sources of inspiration, fuelled its formidable production of forms and models. Among the constant sources of inspiration – flora, fauna and abstract motifs – certain themes are emblematic of Van Cleef & Arpels’ originality: Egyptomania, the ‘Roses’ bracelet that won the Grand Prix at the International Exposition in 1925, and the pieces inspired by textiles – lace, knots, soft furnishings, drapery, tulle – have been constantly reinterpreted down the decades, as has the invention of the Serti Mystérieux. The transformable jewellery and the minaudière bag were invented in the 1930s. The Van Cleef & Arpels image is still epitomised by the famous ‘Zip’ necklace, the first of which was inspired by the Duchess of Windsor and made in 1951, like the many variations of the chain necklace in the 1970s, including ‘l’Alhambra’, still just as popular forty years after its creation. Subtly mixing values and styles, Van Cleef & Arpels is continuing to stamp its signature on the jewellery world, particularly with the Jules Verne collection, directed by Alfredo Arias at the Biennale des Antiquaires in 2010, and the latest collection, Bals de Légende, inspired by the memorable society balls of the last century. A signature whose hallmark is legendary mastery and savoir-faire, a passionate love of precious stones and a taste for innovation and metamorphosis.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

 

Exhibitions Paris. Maarten Baas, les curiosités d’un designer. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 

 

Hey Chair, be a bookshelf, 2006

© DR

 

 

Maarten Baas, les curiosités d’un designer 
October 7, 2011–February 12, 2012

Born in Arnsberg in Germany in 1978, Maarten Baas graduated from the prestigious Design Academy in Eindhoven in 2002. He is famous for his iconoclast and fanciful creations, ranging from the Smoke series of burnt furniture and the Clay Furniturecollection, whose apparently unstable pieces seem to defy the rules of functional design, to the Sculpt series of mirror-distorted wardrobes, tables and chests of drawers and Real Time, a twelve-hour film of actors indicating the time. In his controversial experimental work, Maarten Baas merrily challenges design’s limits to reveal a strange, playful reality of optical effects and illusion. For his first exhibition in a Parisian museum, he has imagined a universe inspired by 14^th-century curiosity cabinets, a theatrical environment composed of a series of Surrealist interiors in which he mixes anonymous pieces and his own works.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

 

Exhibitions Paris. Goudemalion. Jean-Paul Goude a retrospective. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

Portrait de Jean-Paul Goude, 2011

© Jean-Paul Goude

 Goudemalion. Jean-Paul Goude, a retrospective

 

November 11, 2011– March 18, 2012

Les Arts Décoratifs is organising the first exhibition of Jean-Paul Goude’s work in Paris. One of the most brilliant ‘image makers’ of contemporary creation is proposing a retrospective and creative vision of his oeuvre encompassing all his areas of activity, from fashion and photography to advertising and the live event. His entire forty-year career will be retraced in the nave at Les Arts Décoratifs, featuring his drawings, objects, music, films and photographs. 

Conceived as a large installation, the exhibition will of course evoke the Bicentenary of the French Revolution. Visitors will be welcomed in the reception hall by one of the gigantic waltzing ladies that caused such a sensation in the 1989 parade, then discover the monumental locomotive in the middle of the nave, installed on conveyor belt surrounded by numerous drawings. In the Tuileries gallery, an ‘introspective’ evocation of Goude’s work will take the public on a chronological journey from his débuts at Saint-Mandé to his most recent work. Evoking his decisive encounters, collaborations, influences and souvenirs, this journey will be punctuated with the artist’s original creations, while in the alcoves on the rue de Rivoli side six theatrical yet intimate installations will reactivate the highpoints of his life and work.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

Exhibitions Paris. MŒBIUS- TRANSE-FORME (Jean Giraud). Fondation Cartier our l’art contemporain. The Curated Object

Mœbius, Inside Mœbius 6, deuxième partie, 2007 © Mœbius Production for Exposition MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, du 12 octobre 2010 au 13 mars 2011

 

Mœbius, La Chasse au Major, 2009, Acrylique sur toile, 90 x 130 cm © Mœbius

Mœbius, dessin préparatoire pour Arzach, 1975 © Mœbius Production, Exposition MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, du 12 octobre 2010 au 13 mars 2011

 

Jean Giraud / Mœbius© Mœbius Productions

 

MŒBIUS- TRANSE-FORME

October 12, 2010-March 13, 2011


The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain present the first major exhibition in Paris devoted to the work of Jean Giraud, known by his pseudonyms Gir and Mœbius. An icon of incomparable stature in the world of comics, an inventor of extraordinary forms and a brilliant cartoonist, Mœbius is an artist who goes beyond the traditional boundaries of the discipline. Following the artist’s wishes, this exhibition explores the theme of metamorphosis, a leitmotif that runs throughout his comics, drawings, and film projects. In relation to this theme, the exhibition also presents the first 3-D animated film directed by the artist, La Planète encore, along with the stories from the original comic boards. With landscapes and characters in perpetual transformation, his drawings explore the boundaries of the unconscious and reveal an imaginary and fantastic world.Through often sudden and disturbing metamorphoses of a character or a setting, Mœbius reveals a world where appearances are not as stable as they may seem.

For more information please visit: Fondation Cartier pour l'art comtemporain 

Exhibitions Paris. Vaudou, from the Kerchache Collection and scenography by Italian industrial designer Enzo Mari. Fondation Cartier. The Curated Object

Sculpture vaudou fon, Bénin, Bois et corde, 34 x 6,5 x 9,5 cm, Collection Anne et Jacques Kerchache, Photo © Yuji Ono, for the exposition Vaudou, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 5 avril › 25 sept. 2011

Sculpture vaudou fon, Bénin, Bois, fibres et cadenas, 17 x 4,5 x 7,5 cm, Collection Anne et Jacques Kerchache, Photo © Yuji Ono, Exposition Vaudou, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 5 avril › 25 sept. 2011 

 

Sculpture vaudou fon, Bénin, Bois, pierre, fer, terre cuite et patine sacrificielle, 57 x 56 x 35 cm, Collection Anne et Jacques Kerchache, Photo © Yuji Ono, Exposition Vaudou, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 5 avril › 25 sept. 2011

 

Vaudou

April 5, 2011-September 25, 2011

Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain will present for the first time an exceptional group of voodoo objects from the collection Anne and Jacques Kerchache, in a scenography conceived by Enzo Mari, one of the great masters of Italian industrial design. The exhibition is organized in close collaboration with Anne Kerchache—today Mrs. Kamal Douaoui—who was the wife of Jacques Kerchache until his death in 2001.

Jacques Kerchache and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain An artistic advisor and curator of exhibitions, Jacques Kerchache was a strong advocate of the Primitive Arts, promoting their entry into important French museum collections. It was under his initiative that the Pavillon des Sessions was created at the Louvre in 2001, as well as the musée du quai Branly in 2006. Jacques Kerchache also collaborated with the Fondation Cartier on many occasions, first on the thematic exhibitions À visage découvert (1992) and être nature (1998) as well as on the solo show of the Hai- tian artist Patrick Vilaire in Réflexion sur la mort (1997).

The Voodoo Exhibition

Following these collaborations, Jacques Kerchache and the Fondation Cartier considered organizing an ex- hibition on voodoo statuary, but this project was postponed after his pas- sing in 2001. On the tenth anniversary of his death the Fondation Cartier will uncover the fascinating and secret world of voodoo that was Jacques Kerchache’s lifelong passion. Through the Vaudou exhibition, the Fondation Cartier will thus pay homage to this great expert and explorer known for his exacting eye, a connoisseur of both Primitive and Contemporary Art.

The Art of Voodoo

As early as the late sixties, Jacques Kerchache recognized the aesthetic potency and stunning originality of voodoo statuary and its forms. It was at this time, during his first trips to the birthplace of voodoo currently known as the Republic of Benin, that he began to bring together what has become the most significant existing collection of African voodoo statuary. The exhibition will present approximately hundred objects, including some that now belong to other private collectors.

Objects of Religious Cult

An anthropomorphic assemblage of materials such as ropes, bones, shells, and pottery, voodoo sculptures assume a critical role in the practice of this ancient religious cult, still active today from the coasts of Togo to Western Nigeria. Covered with a thick layer of matter includes earth, palm oil and powder, these strange and uncanny sculptures emanate qualities of tension and foreboding. Their ambiguous aesthetics are closely linked to their role in both protecting their owners from danger and harming those responsible for their difficulties.

Through its silent simplicity and meditative rigour, the exhibition will allow these impenetrable objects to speak for themselves, thus revealing the mystery and convulsive beauty of voodoo statuary.

Enzo Mari

As an artist, designer and theorist, Enzo Mari has marked the history of design for over 50 years. After studying at the Art Academy in Milan, he opened his studio in 1956. His work is rigorous and uncompromising, hinged on two concepts: the sense of form and utility of the object. He collaborated on many projects for italian industries such as Danese, Driade, Zanotta, or Muji. Enzo Mari was awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 196, 1979, 1987, and 2001. His work is now exhibited in museums around the world.

Publication

The catalog published by the Fonda- tion Cartier for the Vaudou exhibition will benefit from the contribution of Suzanne Preston Blier, Gabin Djimas- sé, Marc Augé, and the Haitian artist Patrick Vilaire.

For more information please visit: Fondation Cartier 

 

Exhibitions Paris. Vilac, 100 ans de jouets en bois. The Toy Gallery in Les Arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

Vilac, 100 ans de jouets en bois 
November 18- May 8, 2011

The Toy Gallery is celebrating the centenary of the Vilac company by presenting five hundred emblematic toys and games that have delighted generations, in an exhibition design by artist and designer Florence Doléac. Born in the forests of the Jura, Vilac has left its mark on toy history by perpetuating the tradition of the turned and lacquered wooden toy. Purifying forms and outlines into characteristically gentle curves, Vilac has reinvented familiar figures of the child’s universe such as Mickey Mouse, Noddy and Little Brown Bear, while commissioning designers to create figures with more abstract forms. Vilac’s regular collaborations with artists, including Keith Harring and Hervé di Rosa, is furthering its constant quest to reinvent the wooden toy.

For more information please visit: http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Exhibitions Paris. Animals. Les Arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

Assiette Animal Bowls, 2004

Manufacture Nymphenburg, Allemagne 
Porcelaine 
© Les Arts Décoratifs. Photo : Jean Tholance

 

Animal 
February 18, 2010 - November 30, 2011

The new Study Gallery exhibition compares the styles, forms and periods in which animals have been used in furniture, tableware, fashion, textiles, toys, posters and jewellery, illustrating the countless ways in which we have integrated the animal into our daily surroundings. Seven themes are explored: the animal as material, finery, form, decoration, mirror of mankind, hero and mythical creature or monster.

For more information please visit: http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Exhibitions Paris. The Contemporary French Ceramic Scene at Les Arts Décoratifs. The Curated Object

Michel Gouery, Vorlone (détail), 2006

Terre cuite émaillée 
Courtesy galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris 
© DR

 

Contemporary French Ceramic Scene at Les Arts Décoratifs
September 17 – 20 February 20, 2011

Tracking the new possibilities offered by ceramics in the fine arts, design and craftsmanship,The Contemporary French Ceramic Scene at Les Arts Décoratifs is both an exhibition and an itinerary. Young talents never previously shown in a museum, and established artists sculpting in ceramics for several years have been brought together to illustrate the exhibition’s three themes: “The body and its metaphors”, “An imaginary landscape” and “The object revisited as decoration”. The project takes the form of an itinerary of contemporary ceramic sculptures and installations incorporated into the museum’s permanent collections.

For more information please visit: http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

 

 

Exhibitions Paris. L'Orient des femmes vu par Christian Lacroix. The musee du qui branly. The Curated Object

    Affiche réalisée par Monsieur Christian Lacroix.

 

                                                                          Esquisse de Christian Lacroix pour la scénographie de l’exposition

 

                     

© musée du quai Branly, photo Thierry Ollivier, Michel Urtado 

L'Orient des femmes vu par Christian Lacroix.
February 8 - May 15, 2011

This exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the designer, Christian Lacroix and Hana Chidiac, head of Collections of North Africa and the Middle East at the Musée du Quai Branly. It presents a selection dresses, coats, sails and headdresses decorated with embroidery and applications colors worn by the village and Bedouin Syria, Jordan, Palestinian Territories and Sinai desert.

The objects in the exhibition date from the late nineteenth century to today. It speak to the continuity of traditions and skill, as well as the social and political significance of the items. The exhibition offers a poetic journey of the visitor, imagined by Christian Lacroix. 

Commissioner: Ms. Hana Chidiac, Head of Unit

Heritage North Africa and Middle East Museum du quai Branly.

Art Direction: Christian Lacroix.

Scenography: Agence Pylon - John Paul Boulanger.

Much, much more detailed information on the website! Please take a more detailed look there...For more information please visit: http://www.quaibranly.fr/

 

 

du 8 février au 15 mars 2011

 

Exhibitions Paris. Les années 1990-2000. Histoire idéale de la mode contemporaine vol. II. Mode et Texile in Les Arts Decoratifs. The Curated Object

 

Maison Martin Margiela, prêt-à-porter, printemps-été 2008© Guy Marineau

 

Les années 1990-2000. Histoire idéale de la mode contemporaine vol. II 

November 25 – 8 May 8, 2011

After the unrestrained creation of the previous, festive, flashy decades, the socio-political events of the 90s and 2000s prompted radical changes. The focus was no longer on the body itself but its identity. There was also an intense professionalization of the sector. In what was now regarded as “the fashion industry”, artistic directors took control of major couture houses increasingly organised into luxury goods monopolies. 

One hundred and fifty designs, selected from the most emblematic collections, recreate the universes of the designers who contributed to these movements through their approach, stylistic experimentation and relationship to the profession, forging an often subtle and sometimes violent mixture of traditional craftsmanship and industry. The leading representatives of the various ‘schools’ – Belgian, British, urban, minimalist, haute couture, independent – all explored a particular passion and savoir-faire. With each collection, either paying tribute to their predecessor or establishing themselves as the figurehead of an emerging movement, these designers asserted their originality in increasingly elaborate shows. 
Among the emblematic designers represented: Martin Margiela, Issey Miyake, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen and Helmut Lang

For more information please visit: http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

 

 

Designer Interview. A Day at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs with Designer Rémy Lemoine. The Curated Object

Pierre Paulin, plan déformable Déclive, 1966-1968, courtesy of Musée des Arts Décoratifs 

 

SOGNI in Sraw Marquetry

Janine Abraham et Dirk Jan Rol, fau teuil Soleil, 1958 Édition Rougier courtesy of Musée des Arts Décoratifs 

SOGNI in Brass with engraving 

Catalogue Roche Bobois, 1973, courtesy of Musée des Arts Décoratifs 

 ALADIN from the "HAUTE COUTURE" Collection

François Arnal, chaise 1969, courtesy of Musée des Arts Décoratifs 

VENDOME from the "HAUTE COUTURE" Collection

A Day at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs with Designer Rémy Lemoine 

By Natalie Fasano

The most intriguing thing about Rémy Lemoine is not that he designs curtain tiebacks, but that he has done it for so long.  Inhabiting this incredibly small niche in the design industry, Lemoine has yet to either tire of his subject or to succumb to creative claustrophobia. Decidedly removed from the tassel and cord aesthetic generally attributed to the curtain tieback, his creations seek to re-contextualize the role of the object itself, from aesthetic after-thought to central work of art.  Indeed, Lemoine could not have come so far in his profession had he not seen potential beyond function.   

We met, most fittingly, at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris to visit the ‘MOBIBOOM: l’explosion du design en France 1945-1975’ exhibition.  Dubbed the “Golden Thirty,” these years relate to the creative renaissance that directly followed the Second World War. Lemoine has lived in Paris for the chief of his life; if he could not conjure memory of the German occupation from firsthand experience, he undoubtedly related to the period according to reflections of elder family members and friends. As part of the post-War Parisian cultural unconscious, the historic and psychical consequences of the war are still embedded in the lives of Parisians, both young and old, not only in sentiment but in the creative outpouring that followed.  As an American journalist, I could only be conscious of the event on an intellectual level, and allow the post-war sentiments of the Parisian citizenry to manifest it self in the designs that emerged from this exuberant period of liberation, both physical and creative. 

Designers like Steph Simon, Pierre Paulin, Isamo Nugushi and Andre Simard provided all of the domestic luxuries that one could hope for in peacetime. Comfort, above all else, is conveyed in the round, womblike forms of 50’s era chairs and settees; the 60’s and 70’s accommodated the need for further repose (now making a comeback in Gautier’s inspired contemporary collection). Couches and chairs, designed as pieces to a never ending puzzle, could accommodate groups and rooms of any size, inhibited only by the degree of the host’s hospitality. Formica, plastic and injectable foams buttressed these fluid forms, further outfitted in the shocking yellows, purples, oranges, blues and stark whites of this playful period in Parisian décor.   

As we travelled the perimeter of the exhibit, which featured rooms outfitted according to the styles and tastes of iconic names in the design industry—Hans and Florence Knoll of Knoll International among them, Lemoine stood in silent survey of each scrupulously laid out scene. We travelled thirty years along the length of a single corridor, given the chance to experience the degrees of decades-long transition in Parisian design as expediently as we could have wished.  The heavy upholstered wooden chairs and tables of the late 40’s and early 50’s gradually softened; as we walked, the immediate needs of a community in aftershock—rapid renovation and reconstruction of towns and cities abandoned by war— were visibly transformed to those of a citizenry more at ease with peacetime and eager to play, to begin families, and perhaps to forget the past. 

After having visited Lemoine’s atelier to view his work, I knew him to be a man who reveled in the innumerable possibilities inherent in the pliability of woods, metals, plexis and straws. We both marveled at Joseph-Andre Motte’s “Table Basse Lumineuse” from 1954, which featured a single, Illuminated glass panel—a nod to newfound desire for indirect and softened lighting arrangements—alongside one of equally brilliant, polished wood. Equally provoking were chairs of pressed pinewood, which both suited the post-war body’s increasing proclivity to “lounge” as well as the designer’s thirst to experiment with new methods of production. These first rooms, we soon decided, were also our favorite.  Lemoine, like myself, appeared to derive the most enjoyment, and appreciation of this period of Parisian design, when fully contextualized. 

It was more difficult to comprehend the aesthetic origins of the disembodied designs, scattered throughout the center of the room or arranged, in the narrow corridor opposite, according to the period’s emerging (and now iconic) design conglomerates: Ligne Roset, Airforce and Steiner.  The creative explosion of the period would have been more forcibly conveyed had the images of featured design magazines, catalogues and advertisements of the period been more faithfully attended to.  Neither a shag carpet, nor a tie-back—to Lemoine’s lament—were to be seen accompanying the furniture, though it did not stop us from taking a second sweep of the exhibit before leaving. 

Lemoine began his professional career in the fashion industry, designing textiles and conceiving of window/booth displays for brands such as Louis Vuitton and Bisson Bruneel.  From the outset, he was a man dedicated to both design and exhibition, and became familiar with the trends, tastes and dominant forms of the world’s most influential fashion houses.  The inspiration for his signature, “S” shaped tieback, and the beginning of his love affair with the object in general, occurred during a fabric exhibition in which he designed Bruneel’s display.  

All of Lemoine’s pieces are hand crafted by French artisans, each adherent to a traditional method of production: wrought iron stands sculpted in one, perfect piece; thick, horn-shaped pieces of hand blown multi-colored glass; corset-shaped bands of tightly and painstakingly woven wicker, dyed raffias and opaque plastic curls of innumerable colors, are all featured in his past series. Baroque era opulence has inspired his latest collection, and his signature “S” is embroidered, beaded and jeweled—with Swarovski crystals, of course—all by an attentive and skilled hand. 

Most recently, Lemoine has begun to promote artistic collaboration among his artisans, a mark of open-mindedness and flexibility perfectly in tune with the contemporary moment. He is a man who, unlike many designers, does not desire explanation of feeling; either when considering a well-woven wicker chair at an outdoor café or the perfect replica of a 50’s era French office at the Museum.  As we both squatted in the center of the exhibition hall, dwarfed by the vaulted sandstone ceiling to more closely consider the mechanics of a 60’s era chaise lounge, he could not help but admire the simplicity of the craftsmanship. Lemoine is admirable in his aesthetic inflexibility and precision; what emerges from his atelier is exactly what he expects to emerge.  He considers the collective, rather than the individual, pursuit of beauty in interior design and does not shy away from innovation or collaboration. He, him self would perhaps find little to admire, or to inspire, in a tieback without a curtain. 

For more information, please visit:

 

Contact information:

Paris Rémy LEMOINE: remylemoine@wanadoo.fr

Paris Isabelle de LASTEYRIE: <contact@lagencedisabelle.com> 

Dubaï Jane LONG: gwenbaudelot@yahoo.fr> 

Singapore: MARGARET LIM <margaret.lim@tdfabrics.com.sg>

Philadelphia:TAMMI LENAIR: tdlenair@aol.com

Web sites:

www.shiraly.com/users/remy-lemoine

www.linkedin.com/in/remylemoine

www.facebook.com/remylemoine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antiques Fairs, Paris. B-Boys (and a Girl). This Year's Top 3 Dealers at the Biennale des Antiquaires: The Marlborough Gallery, J.J. Lally & Co., and Jason Jacques. The Curated Object

B-Boys (and a Girl)

This year's top 3 Dealers at the Biennale des Antiquaires: The Marlborough Gallery, J.J. Lally & Co., and Jason Jacques

September 15-22, 2010 

By Cappi Williamson

Dealers need collectors. And the most discerning collectors of fine art, jewelry, antiques, and haute couture meet in Paris every other year for the Biennale des Antiquaires. Everyone from Jean-Michel Wilmotte to Christian Lacroix have joined them there, showcasing their wares and looking to make a match, and maybe even a marriage, with the chic clientele at the show.  This year’s event, the 25th Anniversary biennale, focuses on the “next generation” of dealers and designers. Since New York City is arguably the epicenter of what’s untried and on-the-cusp, it’s only natural that there are six “new yorkais” exhibiting this year. Three of them – Janis Cecil of The Marlborough Gallery, James Lally of J.J. Lally & Co., and Jason Jacques of his eponymous gallery – spoke to us about the journey to Paris this year.  

VALDES, Manolo (b. 1942), Libreria, 2010, wood, 108 ¼ x 78 ¾ x 11 5/8 in. 275 x 200 x 30 c © Manolo Valdés. Courtesy Marlborough Gallery, NY 

Double Hamburger, 1985-86, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 116 x 242 in.,  294.64 x 614.68 cm,  © 2010 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Courtesy Marlborough Gallery, NY

Three Studies of the Human Body, 1970, oil on canvas, triptych, each panel: 78 x 58  in, each panel: 198.1 x  145.3 cm © 2010 Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. / ARS, New York / DACS, London, Courtesy Marlborough Gallery, NY

 

Janis Cecil, of The Marlborough Gallery

If you’re in the art world in New York – or in London, for that matter – then you already know The Marlborough Gallery. Janis Cecil, a director of the contemporary art Mecca’s New York galleries, talks about exhibiting at the Biennale for the first time, the new artists Marlborough is bringing to the show, and the Parisians who mixed modern art with antiques before the pairing became ubiquitous. 

If you aren’t in Paris: An exhibition of Dale Chihuly’s amazing glass sculpture art will open at Marlborough Chelsea, 545 W. 25th St., on Sept. 16th and continue through Oct. 16th. Go. The images are a Pandora landscape come to life. 

CO: How do you feel that the Paris Biennale is different from other shows, such as the Armory Show?

JC: The Biennale presents a unique blend of dealers and gallerists that is a showcase for highly specialized and rare works; it’s a vetted fair, so it presents the best objects of each respective category, from antiques to fine art. 

CO: How do you think contemporary art fits into a show that began as a venue to showcase antiques?

JC: Contemporary art fits very well into the Biennale because it is rare now for collectors to have complete “period” rooms in which only one type of furniture, art and objects are featured.  A more modern and relaxed way of living is to combine antiques with 19th-century, modern and contemporary art and objects in order to create a conversation across cultures and time.  This mix can be much more intellectually and creatively gratifying.  I think that the home of the late Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé perfectly exemplifies this thinking.  Their collection spanned eras and continents and they chose only the best.

 

CO: What is the one piece you’re bringing to the show that you are especially excited about?

JC: We will exhibit Francis Bacon’s large-scale painting Three Studies of the Human Body, 1970, at the Biennale this autumn. This is a very rare triptych by the artist, as practically no works of this size and quality are available on the market.  The painting depicts three female nudes balanced on a curved bar or trestle that spans the canvases. The figures’ tenuous positions on their supports reflect the anxiety of humanity in the 20th-century. This painting was exhibited at a number of important exhibitions of Bacon’s work, notably the Grand Palais exhibition in 1971 and the retrospective at the Yale Center for British Art in 1999. Most recently it was exhibited at the 51st Venice Biennale “The Experience of Art” at Padiglione Italia, 2005, and the Bacon and Picasso exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Lucerne in 2007.

CO: Are you unveiling any recent acquisitions or new artists at the show?

JC: Manolo Valdés made an extraordinary wood sculpture of a bookshelf with vases and urns expressly to exhibit at the Biennale. Entitled Libreria, the sculpture measures 108 ¼ x 78 ¾ x 11 5/8 in. (275 x 200 x 30 cm).

CO: This year’s show, the 25th Anniversary Biennale, is focused on the “next generation.” How do you feel that your exhibition contributes to the theme?

JC: We will have an excellent contribution to the theme of the “next generation” at the Biennale this year. The gallery will exhibit Andy Warhol’s monumental Double Hamburger of 1985-1986.  Warhol’s vast influence is very much a part of the “next generation.”  The legacy of the ideas in his work and his methods continues to be vitally important in contemporary art today.

Jim Lally, of J.J. Lally & Co.

James Lally is another newcomer to the Biennale, and to art fairs in general – the Biennale will be his first - however, he’s no novice. Lally has been in the art market for over forty years, and, as the former director of Chinese works of art at Sotheby’s, Lally has been known as the preeminent dealer of ancient Chinese art and artifacts since he opened his gallery, J.J. LALLY & Co., in 1986. Here, Lally talks about the provenance of some of his favorite pieces travelling to Paris, and the stands he won’t miss at the show. 

CO: What made you choose this fair, at this time?

JL: Of course I have attended many art fairs and enjoyed them very much, and the Paris Biennale has always been the best art fair in the world in my opinion because of the quality and diversity of the exhibitors, the high standards and high style maintained by the organizers, and  the sophistication of the collectors, curators and dealers who attend.  I have always said that if I ever did participate in an art fair the Paris Biennale is the one I would choose.  When Herve Aaron told me of the special plans and preparations for the 25th Biennale, the opportunity seemed too good to pass up.  

 

CO: What piece or pieces you are especially excited about exhibiting this year?

JL: The exhibition consists of ancient Chinese works of art, ritual bronzes, jades, ceramics and sculpture.  The Tang dynasty (618-907) sancai-glazed pottery figure of a courtier in Persian dress is one of a dozen extraordinary Tang pottery tomb sculptures from an American private collection formed over the last 25 years. The animated pose of this unusual model with a ‘foreign’ face, dressed in a Persian-style coat and holding a mysterious circular box is really intriguing; the figure embodies the cosmopolitan life at the capital of Tang China in the 7th Century A.D. when Ch’angan (present day Xi’an) was the terminus of the Silk Road and the largest and most prosperous city in the world. The pair of gilt bronze dragons, also dating from the Tang dynasty, were used as ornament in some now unknown imperial context—it was during the Tang dynasty that the dragon first became the emblem of the Chinese emperor.

 

CO: What other exhibitors are you interested in seeing this year? Is there a stand you never miss? Are there any international dealers whose acquisitions you admire and who you look forward to seeing at the Biennale?

JL: Because of my special interest in Chinese art, the first stands I’ll visit at the Biennale this year will be the Asian art specialists, particularly the great Paris dealer Jacques Barrerre, and his son Antoine, and the Chinese art specialist Gisele Croes, who is based in Brussels. I’m also eager to see the paintings and drawings that will be exhibited by Anisabelle Beres, where I have seen many beautiful 19th and 20th century French paintings, as well as the finest Japanese prints.  I know that I’ll see many old friends in Paris in September, and I’m looking forward to meeting some new ones too.

Jason Jacques, of Jason Jacques Gallery, Photo by Alexander Haessner

 

Jason Jacques, of Jason Jacques Gallery

Jason Jacques could be called the bad boy of the Biennale. He refers to himself as a “pot dealer.” He’s a self-made man in the art and antiques world who began as a “runner” for more established dealers in the Paris flea markets. But Jacques’s passion for French ceramics and his dedication to grooming the next generation of antiquarians make him a perfect match for this year’s Biennale, his first. 

If you miss Jacques at the fair: Visit his next exhibition at the gallery, EXOTICA: Exotic Influences on European Decorative Arts, 1875-1925 from Oct. 8th through Nov. 12th. 

CO: What are you bringing to the Biennale from your collection? Is there a particular piece you’re really exciting about exhibiting? What is its provenance and why did you choose to bring it to Paris?

JJ: I am bringing almost nothing from my collection. I purchased the most impressive collection of rarified French art pottery in the world from a private collector and am showing that collection. So nothing I am bringing has ever been seen before with the exception of two vases that I just really wanted to show (see below). The collection is 220 masterpieces by Jean Carries, Georges Hoentschel and other French studio pottery from the 1890's. It’s a mind-blowing thing to bring a collection like this, which has not been on the market, and exposing it all at once at my first Biennale.

We have chosen to be very specific with the Paris Biennale with a highly academic selection of major french japoniste studio pottery. Perhaps one of the most exciting vases of the group is by Georges Hoentschel. 

Georges Hoentschel, Marine Life, urn, stoneware, 37” H x 24” W, France, 1900.

Unmarked, One of a pair of monumental urns, this example and its mate were exhibited at the pavilion of the Union Centrale des arts decoratifs (the forerunner of today’s Musées des Arts Décoratifs) at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900. The other example is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In 1900 Emile Grittel was the primary ceramist in Hoentschel’s design atelier and was most likely the designer of this commission. Seemingly dredged from the depths of the sea, the form is covered with seaweed, fish, and shells, modeled in relief. Stabilized by an encrustation of conch shells and vegetation,the urn is further decorated with fluid surges of tan, brown, and green glazes.

 

CO: Paris is sort of your home turf, as you specialize in French ceramics and started as a “runner” in the European flea markets for antiques dealers. Now you’re exhibiting at the Biennale. What does exhibiting at this show mean for you?

JJ: I was told by so many people for so many years that I would never exhibit at the Biennale. I just kept my mouth shut and applied once, when the timing was right, and here I go. Needless to say, for me it is a dream come true. This is the French making amends to their great ceramics tradition, which they lost touch with for 100 years. Most of the great collections since the time these groundbreaking vases were made are American and German. I know this because there were only a few of us building them. Things have changed dramatically since the time I started in business, and now the French market realized the mistake they made and want this art back in France. And they should! French art pottery from the 1890's was a renaissance for the medium.

CO: As a self-taught collector and dealer, what is your advice to the up-and-comers out there?

JJ: There are two types of art dealers. Those born into it and the unstoppable renegades that came from nowhere like myself. I don't think traditional education methods work for those of us without pedigrees. Sure universities can churn out bright academics, and we need them - they are my favorite people - the insatiable sponges for knowledge. But dealers need a very different skill set than what can be learned in University, which is why the master-apprentice approach created so many great second- and third-generation galleries. But for those that start from the bottom, nothing can beat the hands-on experience of the trenches, fighting for the material as it gets unboxed at a déballage or sniffing out the treasures at small auctions…

CO: What exhibitors do you look forward to seeing at the show? Are there any dealers you particularly admire? Any friends?

JJ: I have so many friends at this show. I would not know where to start. However, I very much admire Yves Macaux. If I were the guy with all the money, I would buy all my decorative arts from him. My hero in this business will always be Barry Friedman. As a pioneer and someone who started in business much the way I did, I have tremendous respect for him. He had the good luck of being in the right place at the right time. But alas, you asked about other Biennale dealers....

Exhibitions Paris. Cabinet de Curiosites, including Serge Strosberg. Galerie Xavier Nicholas. The Curated Object

image courtesy of Serge Strosberg

image courtesy of Serge Strosberg

image courtesy of Serge Strosberg

Cabinet de Curiosites, including Serge Strosberg

reviewed by Natalie Fasano  

Serge Strosberg is neither from Belgium, nor Russia nor Spain.  He will accede that his family is from somewhere, thought he balks at individual identification with one place, or culture, based merely on the happenstance of birth.  At the moment, Strosberg is a New York City artist, whose recent paintings of women—including transsexuals and cross-dressers—have pushed him further from demarcation as an “emerging” artist, and more closely to the coveted “established.”  His most recent in showing was part of a group exhibition, “Cabinet de Curiosites,” at Galerie Xavier Nicholas in Paris, which opened in July 2010.  

Strosberg’s nude women in recline were among the few paintings displayed on the gallery walls.  He plays well with colors, utilizing the techniques of old masters to create striking, contemporary images. The female form to Strosberg is perhaps what the Sirens were to the ancient Greeks—alluring in both their feminine incomprehensibility and promise of destruction. Strosberg pursuit of artistic expression through the female figure is apt, for it a subject he has studied—with alacrity—his entire life.  His subjects women who have inspired him in some way—either in romantic relationships, mild “flirtations,” or chance encounters on the street. To Strosberg, it is the romantic relationship that defines where we have come from, and where we go, in life.  He didn’t have much to say of Belgium, where he was born, though the mere contemplation of a woman’s portrait along the opposite wall evoked nationalistic sentiment—she is a woman of New York, a portrait of a race that neither needs nor relies upon men for happiness of success.  Instead of fearing the leering ape in the background, she ignores him, raising her silver and bronze-flecked arms to the ceiling. 

Strosberg selected his reclining nudes for the Xavier Nicholas exhibit, of similarly powerful figures.  Men are not present, and the women appear sublimely complacent at being alone—writhing in ecstasy on a rose-red chair, or lounging in defiance, sprawled nude without care for social conventions. Strosberg’s women are not posed or poised to shock his audience. Their careless nudity instead suggests a natural comfort and derision of those who would mark them immoral.  The women themselves are painted in a Renaissance style—the brilliance of the raw form is augmented in the strength of the background, the rose reds, deep browns and charcoal blacks of the scenery.

An art history buff would recognize the term “Cabinet de Curiosites” to be a child of the Renaissance.  It was born at a time when scientific classification, or the orderly grouping of objects, plants and animals according to physical (rather than religious) properties, had just begun. Though the name suggests an imperial origin, Galerie Xavier Nicholas is now considered to be a denizen of the contemporary movement. “Cabinet de Curiosites” provided a jarring display of objects—each of a different style, taste and material—to perhaps suggest that we are once again in a crisis of classification. What is contemporary art? What is the role of the artist?  Is it time to reveal that we are, in fact, a business? 

Maybe artistic individuality, and its relationship to the movement, is best discovered in the juxtaposition of contemporary objects. From here, a modern audience may determine, dissect a collective meaning—or value. Strosberg’s quasi-Renaissance women, one sporting a tight-fitted black corset, were displayed alongside other objects of indeterminate reference—jarringly purple, yet anatomically accurate animal skulls, suspended wire “cages,” and black-and white photography of suggestive bondage found their way into Xavier Nicholas’ Cabinet, providing an alluring venue for Parisian socialites, artists, collectors and patrons to meet, mingle, and get lost in the maze.  

To further disembody guests from subconscious classification, and to promote even deeper entry into the well-crafted maze, Xavier Nicholas showcased pieces from two emerging cum established designers—Parsy Debons and Fenel et Arno. Debons’ ocular-bending designs at once allude to the opulence of Rococo and the sleekness of Minimalism. Straight lines and simple forms manage to maintain composure, despite the deisgners’ penchant to dizzyingly rigid and unrestrained embellishment. Dense clusters of curly-cues, rope-like wires and dizzyingly arranged spirals augment the Debons chandeliers, bookcases and furniture, though appear as if in Daliesque, mid-melt.  So, if we were to trace aesthetic lineage, would this signify a convergence, a Rococo meets Dali meets….Parsy aesthetic? Fenel et Arno’s pieces are similarly disconcerting—lurid colors, the chaos of creative kinesis, are all reined in by solid forms and borders, yet without tension. Galerie Xavier’s perfectly crafted Cabinet provided guests with an opportunity to leave expectation at the door, to travel down the rabbit hole and confront an aptly chosen cast of characters, on their own terms.

The art and design industry, like any multi-billion dollar enterprise, have always reveled in rigid classification—of objects, artists, styles, materials and techniques indicative of either the status quo, or of aesthetic upheaval.  Movements in art history are as much defined by a constant, collective footprint as by the strides of successful outliers—Monet, Serrate, Munch, Earnes, Wright, Warhol (yes, him again)…

Art is a business; this truth neither detracts from not supplements the endeavors of the industry today.  We perceive the origin of an unknown work by careful examination of the trends of the period, and individual styles of iconic artists.  What is the history of art and design, to some, but a means to quantify the value of dusty pieces on the mantelpiece, or frayed wooden chair on the auction block?  

Strosberg, like other young artists of his time, is an unabashed businessman.  Drawn to New York’s celebrity allure, he seeks the figure that will sell, the form that will not only inspire but also complement the white walls of a Financial District bachelor pad, or the pale pink walls of a summer home in the South of France. Artists today are perhaps less susceptible to the Siren song of artistic posterity, or the twisted beauty in a dismembered ear.  Perhaps the artist’s role is now as virile pursuant beauty on Earth. Is there now room for the artist and the man to, if not perfectly, at least to coexist? 

Perhaps the era of the outlier is over. We have retraced our steps, back through time, to a new future.  We recall when a chandelier was simply a chandelier,  an object of universally recognized form and utility.  An artist who destructs this form, and perhaps function with it, may very well be on his or her way into the pages of design history.  These artists will, however, also be isolating a major consumer base; those who desire a chandelier because it is a chandelier, to light the foyer on summer nights could very well be left in the dark.

For more information please visit: Galerie Xavier Nicholas and Serge Strosberg

 

Exhibitions Paris. Pergola. Palais de Tokyo. The Curated Object

Raphaël Zarka, "La draisine", 2009, Replica of the gang car of Jean Bertin's Aerotrain, Two Jawa motorbikes, galvanized iron, plywood, 129 x 222 x 446 cm, Exhibition view L'abbé Nollet, Les Eglises, Centre d’Art Contemporain de Chelles, 2009, Photo : Aurélien Mole, Collection Raymond Azibert, Carcassonne, Courtesy galerie Michel Rein, Paris*

Hand, Charlotte Posenenske, "Vierkantrohre Serie D," Authorised reconstruction with certificate, Main train station Frankfurt am Main, 1989 *vue exposition chasing.jpg*

"Square tube Serie D (Vierkantrohre Serie D)", 1967-2009, Exhibition view, Chasing Napoléon, Palais de Tokyo , 2009, Paris, Authorised reconstruction with certificate, Modular elements, galvanised sheet steel, adaptable dimensions, Courtesy gallery Medhi Chouakri, Berlin. Photo André Morin

Valentin Carron: "Pergola", 2001, (c) Valentin Carron. Courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich.

PERGOLA

February 19 - May 16, 2010

We are haunted by our interiors and exteriors and kept in motion by the velocity of their intersections. Pergola asks what it means to take shelter -- and how shelter takes us......

LAITH AL-AMIRI / VALENTIN CARRON / CHARLOTTE POSENENSKE / SERGE SPITZER / RAPHAËL ZARKA 

PERGOLA

1916 – Le Corbusier builds a "Villa Turque" (Turkish Villa), the Villa Schwob, flanked by a pergola, in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). Some years later, he publishes photos of it in L'Esprit Nouveau. On the ground, in front of the villa, a white smear betrays retouching: the pergola has disappeared from the reproduction. Less than a century later, the Iraqi journalist Mountazer al-Zaïdi throws his shoes at George W. Bush's head.

POLTERGEISTS

PERGOLA rises out of the depths of a modernity haunted by everything that it has eradicated. Valentin Carron – himself author of an artwork also entitled Pergola (2001) – creates in Palais de Tokyo's main space a universe evocative of a museum guardian's bad dream. In this space, sculptures summon modern art, but hanging from the glass ceiling, sombre lanterns recall a Swiss tavern. The walls, covered in grey stucco, borrow as many elements from a suburban home as they do from an isolated ghetto.

OVERHEAD KICK

In their afterlives, through upheavals and uprisings, the victims that were once erased from modernity speak out in the form of a giant shoe: a monument created by Laith Al-Amiri in homage to the loafer thrown by the Iraqi journalist at George W. Bush's head. Forgotten forms take shape and materialize in the public spaces and, in doing so, demand equal treatment. In the works of Raphaël Zarka, Renaissance forms fraternize with skateboard ramps or breakwaters. Serge Spitzer's deranged system of pneumatic dispatch challenges all forms of communication. Charlotte Posenenske's artwork is emblematic of the politics of the spectre that lay the foundation for a communism of substances.

CHARLOTTE POSENENSKE

PERGOLA provides an opportunity to experience the first retrospective ever shown in France of the major German artist Charlotte Posenenske, who was a contemporary of the American minimalists. A unique path led her from a modernist practice of abstract painting to a militant approach to three-dimensional space. Her last installations were composed of galvanized steal tubes, which the curator could distribute at will. Between her use of elementary materials and the artwork's price roughly equivalent to the production cost, her approach is clearly political: "I have trouble resigning myself to the idea that art will not contribute to the resolution of current social issues," said Posenenske, who performed by installing her works in public spaces in order to subvert monumentalism as well as to celebrate silent productive forces. Following her own reasoning to its extreme, she left behind all artistic activities in order to dedicate herself to sociology in 1968.

For more information please visit: Palais de Tokyo

 

 

EXHIBITIONS PARIS. LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY: COLORS AND LIGHT. MUSEE DU LUXEMBOURG. THE CURATED OBJECT

 

Louis C. Tiffany

Vase, c.1900

Verre Favrile

New York, The Museum of Modern Art

Don de Alfred H. Barr, Jr., 1979

© The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed

by SCALA / Art Resource, NY

 

Louis C. Tiffany

Vase, c.1900

Verre Favrile

New York, The Museum of Modern Art

Don de Alfred H. Barr, Jr., 1979

© The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed

by SCALA / Art Resource, NY

 

Louis C. Tiffany

Fenêtre du "Bella Apartment", c.1880

Verre, plomb

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

Don de Robert Koch, 2002

©Photo : The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Louis C. Tiffany

(Monture en argent de Edward Colonna)

Vase, c. 1897-98

Verre, monture en argent, opales

Collection particulière

©Photo : DR

 

Louis C. Tiffany

Boîte à timbres, c.1905

Bronze doré, mosaïque en verre, verre moulépressé

Collection Dr Gail Evra

©Photo : Richard Goodbody

 

Louis C. Tiffany

Encrier, c.1900-1903

Verre, argent

Newark, The Newark Museum

Don de Mr. And Mrs. Ethan D. Alyea, 1967

©Photo : The Newark Museum

Louis Comfort Tiffany: Colors and Light

Sept. 16 - January 17, 2010

For many, the lamps and stained glass windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany are virtually synonymous with Art Nouveau and so it's fitting that the home of the movement — Paris — should pay tribute to this most American of designers. This exhibition gathers about 160 works — lamps and windows, yes, but also vases, jewelry, watercolors and drawings — and divides them into six themes that follow the development of Tiffany's career. Aside from the large stained-glass windows, which have been dismantled and restored especially for this exhibition, it is the Favrile glass vases that triumph here. Their organic shapes, Japanese inspirations, floral motifs, and vivid tones, alive with the hues of the sea and sky, will strike the most ardent fans anew, and convince those less familiar with this segment of Tiffany's work to give the artist another look. “Visitors to the exhibition will see first-hand evidence of Tiffany’s love of exoticism, rich ornament, fine craftsmanship, and the abstract qualities of color that placed him squarely in many of the artistic movements of his time, from Arts and Crafts and the American Aesthetic Movement to Art Nouveau and Symbolism,” says Barry Shifman, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Curator of Decorative Arts from 1890 to the Present. The exhibit, which  gets its only American showing at VFMA in Richmond from May 29 through August 15, 2010. 

For more information, please visit http://www.museeduluxembourg.fr/

Posted by JoAnn Greco

Exhibitions Paris. Aussi rouge que possible. Musee des Arts Decoratifs. The Curated Object

Image courtesy of Les Arts Decoratifs

Anyone who wears red lipstick already knows...

Aussi rouge que possible 

March 19 - November 1, 2009

To say the ‘colour red’ is almost a pleonasm. Red is the colour par excellence […] the first of all colours’ (Michel Pastoureau, Dictionnaire des couleurs de notre temps). Drawing solely from the Arts Décoratifs collections (Arts Décoratifs, Mode et Textile, Publicité), the exhibition explores numerous domains in which red is an inescapable element, and the different symbolism of this colour in all societies down the ages. Among the themes evoked are danger, hell, pleasure, power, luxury, dressing in red, the timelessness of red in the decorative arts and the various techniques and materials of red.

For more information please visit: Les Arts Decoratifs

Exhibitions Paris. Musique en jouets. Musee des Arts Decoratifs. The Curated Object

Mechanical Trumpet Player, T.N. (1940- 1992), Japon, vers 1960, inv. 53878 Courtesy of Les Arts Decoratifs

I acknowledge my fear of the bear...

Musique en jouets 
June 25 - November 8, 2009

A whole orchestra of musical toys and toy instruments brought together for a musical exhibition. Wooden, paper and plastic rattles, flutes, whistle and drums, toy pianos, melodicas, xylophones, trumpets and guitars will take over the Toy Gallery, and come to life in a programme of concerts during the exhibition.

For more information please visit: Les Arts Decoratifs

Exhibitions Paris. Sculpter le bois et la terre : Julian Schwarz et Nicholas Rena. Musee des Arts Decoratifs. The Curated Object

Julian Schwarz, Bull Nosed ves sel, 2008 et Nicholas Rena, The Ecstasy of St Teresa (détail de l’ins tal la tion pour le Jerwood Prize, Londres), 2008 © DR Image courtesy of Les Arts Decoratifs

"....and on the other hand critiquing a design culture that places an increasing emphasis on over-designed objects."

Sculpter le bois et la terre

June 11-Oct 4, 2009

This exhibition is the first time the work of sculptor Julian Schwarz and ceramist Nicholas Rena have been brought together. With a thorough mastery of their very different mediums, these two highly-accomplished British artists have set up a dialogue that illustrates a shared rigour of form, an advanced sense of draftsmanship, and a love of strength and silence. Their work also shares an emphasis on pure, stripped down, outsize and intentionally sculptural form. They draw inspiration, quite independently, from everyday forms such as pitchers, cups and bowls that have been in use for thousands of years. With a common aesthetic but employing different means, Julian Schwarz and Nicholas Rena seek to provide a new role for the notion of art objects today, on the one hand appropriating ancient knowledge and a “timelessness” proper to the crafts, and on the other hand critiquing a design culture that places an increasing emphasis on over-designed objects.

Fore more information please visit: Les Arts Decoratifs

Exhibitions Paris. Pol Abraham. Centre Pompidou. The Curated Object

Pol Abraham, Villa Thérèse, propriété de M. Grossémy, Vaucresson, 1929-1930.
© Paris, Centre Pompidou, fonds Pol Abraham

Pol Abraham
March 5-June 2, 2008

Exploiting the archives recently acquired by the Musée national d'art moderne, the Centre Pompidou is to present the first monographic exhibition to be devoted to the French architect Pol Abraham (1891-1966).

For more information please visit: Centre Pompidou

-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Paris. 50: Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec. The Kreo Gallery. The Curated Object

© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec


© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec

© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec

© Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec

50: Ronan et Erwan Bouroullec
January 26-March 8, 2008

For Ronan et Erwan Bouroullec, working with galleries is a chance to breathe outside the usual constraints that characterise their enthusiastic contribution to industrial design.

Their need to go “over the top” shows their almost childlike joy in escaping the ties that bind them when working on a brief. The unique proportions of these new pieces are free from existing typologies and domestic co

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nventions. They free themselves from defined and definitive shapes.

The Bouroullec brothers travel between the known and the unknown, moving in an « in-between » space that still leaves plenty of room for practical use.

The disturbing, long black lamp, invents a pivoting principle that leans on the ceiling. It moves like a living organism, like a three-headed hydra. The exaggerated diameter evokes the imposing size of Venetian chandeliers.

The moulded polyester tables, with their synthetic appearance, are huge monolithic shapes that are barely off the ground. Their white and unreal aspect makes them seem like floating ice floes.

The sofa – can we still refer to it as such ? – is a black box, one of the elementary shapes that Ronan et Erwan Bouroullec love so much. The intriguing shape (3m x 2m) makes us wonder about the true nature of the object. Is it a piece of furniture or an alcove? The pile of covers clears any doubts about its function: it is a place of comfort, a shelter for rest and retreat, a sort of spatial parenthesis.

Just as impressive in terms of dimension (4m wide, 2.20m high), the screen is more of a « fabric wall » than a mobile separation. One is seduced by these patches of wool in abstract, geometric, stitched shapes in clashing colours. The design of the aluminium chassis on which these huge wool covers are “placed” reminds us of a saddle maker’s workshop with skins hanging on metal trestles.

These four objects do not constitute a collection by any means as they were all designed at different times. However, they do represent the constant research of the Bouroullec brothers into the notion of the “quality of the atmosphere”. The use of fabric is one answer. In this case, it is a vehicle for colour, and the huge, flat, monochrome surfaces bring to mind abstract paintings.

After having explored a more pointillist and vibrant touch with the fabric tile Kvadrat, the two designers are today experimenting with the strict and lyrical rhythm of collections and fitted shapes, associated with layers of colour. Ettore Sottsass said “Colour is life”. Ronan Bouroullec ironically says that “colour is as complicated as life”. In any case, the two brothers refuse to invent any kind of theory on the subject.

They tame colour with method, letting themselves be guided by their intuition. This is a delight and an open door every time as their aesthetic visibly gathers strength.

Text by Laurence Salmon, January 2008.

For more information please visit: The Kreo Gallery
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Paris. Decorative Artist and Art Lover. Drawings for Interior Decorative Works. The Musee D'Orsay, Paris. The Curated Object

 
Antoine Zoegger, Drawing for the Interior Decoration of the Library at the Palais Nathaniel de Rothschild
© Musée d'Orsay, Patrice Schmidt

© Musée d'Orsay, Patrice Schmidt

Decorative Artist and Art Lover. Drawings for Interior Decorative Works
Feb. 12-May 4, 2008

The 20th century has elevated the interior designer, a personality who orchestrates the interior design and renovation of exclusive residences, to almost iconic status. Although very much a feature of life nowadays, this activity began in the 19th century, with enthusiastic, independent and original ideas from people like Eugène Lami, Antoine Zoegger and Jules Allard. At that time, the decorative artist competed with the architect who still however remained in control of the interior decoration.

After creative designers like Percier and Fontaine, whose collaboration produced the neo-classical Empire style, interior decoration became an issue of great importance. The layout of the rooms, choice of colours, position of furniture and display of objets d’art were the finishing touches in the search for social recognition and confirmation of good taste in the eyes of the European elite.

At the end of the 19th century, the avant-garde movements emphasised the fundamental role of interior decoration, as a basis for renewing the environment. From Félix Duban to Henry Van de Velde, Antoine Zoegger to George Niedecken, drawings for interior decorations, far from being incidental, made a strong contribution to the history of taste.

 
Curator, Olivier Gabet, curator of the heritage department. Musée d'Orsay.

For more information please visit: The Musee D'Orsay
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Paris. Richard Roger + Architects. Centre Pompidou. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

Richard Roger + Architects

November 21  2007 - March 3 2008

The "Richard Rogers + Architects" exhibition presents the work of Richard Rogers and his associates: from the first projects completed with Norman and Wendy Foster and Sue Rogers as part of the Team 4 practice in the 1960s to current projects with the firm of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners. This retrospective is also an occasion to retrace the design of the Centre Pompidou in the 1970s.

For more information go to: The Centre Pompidou
--Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Paris. L'Atelier Brancusi. Centre Pompidou. The Curated Object

L'Atelier Brancusi
October 31- 6 June 2008

A reconstitution of the Paris workshop where one of the masters of modern sculpture lived and worked.

For more information go to: Centre Pompidou
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Paris. Konstantin Grcic SMALL TALK. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

Konstantin Grcic, né en 1965
créées en 2001/2002
édition Rosenthal/Thomas, Allemagne, 2003
porcelaine
don  Rosenthal/Thomas, 2007


Manufacture Kohn
Autriche, vers 1880
hêtre courbé
don  Gourlay, 2005 ; inv. 2005.99.1

Konstantin Grcic, né en 1965
créées en 2005/2006
édition Plank, Italie, 2007
métal
don Plank, 2007

Pierre Legrain (1889-1929)
France, 1916
acajou laqué
don Jean-Edouard Dubrujeaud,
en souvenir de Jacques Doucet, 1958 ; inv. 38147

Konstantin Grcic SMALL TALK

du 18 octobre 2007 au 27 janvier 2008

The German Konstantin Grcic (born 1965) is one of the finest designers of his generation. Winner of the Creator of Year Award at the 2007 Salon Maison et Objet, he works in a similar spirit to Jasper Morrison with rigorous and minimalist lines. At the museum’s invitation, Grcic decided to create a dialogue between his own work and some of the works in the museum’s historic collections. Their comparison is accompanied is by a short conversation between the works.

For more information go to:  The Musée des Arts Décoratifs
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Paris. Christian Lacroix. Musée des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

Robe de mariée à bustier, basque et jupe, Haute Couture 2002/03
Archives Christian Lacroix
© Grégoire Alexandre

Toile d’araignée, Manteau « cage » Elsa Schiaparelli, été 1937, Les Arts Décoratifs, musée de la Mode et du Textile, coll. UFAC
© Grégoire Alexandre

Dessin  réalisé par Christian Lacroix à  l’occasion de l’exposition
© Grégoire Alexandre

Christian Lacroix

8 November 2007 - 20 April 2008                               

The Musée de la Mode et du Textile invited Christian Lacroix to become the curator and historian he wanted to be when he studied art history at the Ecole de Louvre before embarking on his internationally acclaimed career in haute couture. For over a year, he immersed himself in the museum’s collections of costumes and accessories. The result is an atypical exhibition in which Christian Lacroix gives us his own personal vision of the history of fashion. For a few months the garments he selected from a heritage stretching back over several centuries will encounter the haute-couture creations of one of the greatest names of French fashion.

For more information go to: Musée des arts decoratifs

-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Paris. Alexandre Charpentier (1856-1909). Naturalism and Art Nouveau. Musee d'Orsay. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

Alexandre Charpentier (1856-1909)Dining room panelling, Between 1900 and 1901, Mahogany, oak, poplar, gilt bronze, glazed stonewareH. 346; W. 621 cm, Paris, Musée d'Orsay© photo RMN, Hervé Levandowski


Alexandre Charpentier (1856-1909). Naturalism and Art Nouveau
22 January - 13 April 2008

Although less well known than Gallé, Guimard or Gaudí, Alexandre Charpentier nonetheless played an important rôle in the emergence of Art Nouveau. His career was brief; there were just over twenty years between his first success at the Salon in 1883 and his last work in 1905.

During this time, the French dramatist André Antoine and the Belgian lawyer Octave Maus helped to promote the artist’s career. In 1887 Charpentier illustrated the programmes for the Théâtre Libre founded by Antoine, and undertook portraits of his actors, authors and audiences. It was in 1890, at the Salon des XX in Brussels, that Charpentier was recognised as an innovative and inventive artist.

For more information go to: The Musee d'Orsay

-Joanne Molina