Pinault Collection at the newly-reopened Bourse de Commerce

Posted


A few days ago, I went to see the Pinault Collection's opening exhibition at the newly-renovated and reopened Bourse de Commerce.

It was good to see that, for this opening exhibition - actually called Ouverture - the curators didn't just go for a massive show of billionaire purchasing-power: big, glossy, hugely expensive, boring works that look like they were made specially for sale to tycoons. There was perhaps some of that - I really don't get Bertrand Lavier, who filled the ground-floor glass cases, or for that matter Martial Raysse, who opens the whole show with a big painting just inside the entrance. But the upstairs selection mixes art-world stars with young artists just starting out and others somewhere in-between, not always to the youngsters' advantage. As an example, Luc Tuymans (another one whose fame is beyond my understanding) is shown with Miriam Cahn, a Swiss artist, and Antonio Obá, a Brazilian born in 1983.

Urs Fischer's monumental installation, under the glass dome, of a Giambologna sculpture on a pedestal surrounded by various sorts of seating, including aeroplane seats, all of them candles and all lit, melting, and dribbling wax, is impressive. I also particularly liked some of David Hammons' work, using found objects, and made some interesting discoveries (no surprise, as I know so little): Rudolf Stingel's intriguing photo-realistic portraits, or Kerry James Marshall's colourful, graphic paintings.

But for me, one work in particular stood out from everything else in the building, taking things to another level: Peter Doig's disturbing masterpiece Bather (Night Wave). The one thing in the show I'd have loved to take home, and in my mind I did, thinking about little else for hours afterwards.


The building is a former commodities exchange from the late 19th century, with some parts (and the circular plan) going back to an earlier corn exchange, and a free-standing column, once used as an observatory and now supporting a light installation by Philippe Parreno, dating back to one of Catherine de Medici's houses. The frescoes around the dome and maps of trade routes painted on a ground-floor wall are obvious colonial references. But they've been carefully restored and the works on show are allowed to resonate richly with them. The international assortment of ephemeral chairs in Fischer's installation, right under the frescoes, for example, or the deliberate siting of a skeletal prison cell (David Hammons' Minimum Security) next to the maps. But there are plenty of other examples, and as in the end it's the art that wins, this seems to me a more sensible approach to the past than toppling statues and 'cancelling' it.

This is a link to the exhibition website. A Google search will throw up plenty of  reviews in various languages with more intelligent, informed comment on the works than mine.

Some more of my photos:











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paris tips: visiting

Posted
Image
  Note : this post and the April 28 one, about eating out, were written for American friends visiting Paris, one of them for the first time, who wanted a few tips from a local. They were staying in a hotel just off République... ***** I guess you'll have your own guide book to help you plan your visit. But whichever one (or more) it is, I thought you might find the Michelin Green Guide 's tourist map of Paris (below) helpful, as it makes it easy to locate the main sights. I think you'll find if you click on the map, it will blow up to a more legible size. The inset box at top left explains Michelin's ratings system, similar to its approach to restaurant ratings. With a decent guide book, you won't need much help from me, but I just wanted to add one or two items that visitors might miss, plus an idea for a north-south walk (or south-north, as you wish) that makes a change from the usual main east-west (or west-east!) drag. Also, finally, one neglected but unique mus
Read more

Paris tips: eating out

Posted
Image
Note : this post and the April 30 one, about things to see, were written for American friends visiting Paris, one of them for the first time, who wanted a few tips from a local. They were staying in a hotel just off République... ***** THREE STRONG RECOMMENDATIONS These are the three places I'd most strongly recommend during your visit, as I think they offer a nice variety of quality Parisian eating experiences. 1. Dinner at Le Train Bleu When the underlying idea was to recommend places off the tourist track, it might seem odd to start with Le Train Bleu, at the Gare de Lyon. But this is surely one of the most extraordinary restaurant spaces in the world. You can only experience it in Paris, of course, and I usually take any first-time visitor there for dinner. It's Lyon-influenced brasserie food at more-than-brasserie prices, but they have simple set-price menus at 55 and 74 euros, and anyway, as usual, the final bill depends above all on what you drink. It's worth it (and
Read more

Anna Uddenberg: an interesting new development

Posted
Image
Anna Uddenberg is a Swedish artist whose work has, I think, something quite original, distinctive and perceptive to say about the image of women in certain, specific currents of consumer culture that might otherwise be overlooked. I hadn't seen much of her recently, but she now has an exhibition, at her Berlin Gallery, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler (or K-T Z), of totally new works focusing, this time, not on women but on men. The resulting woodcarvings are an interesting and quite surprising development, and add to what seems to be almost a 'fashion' for reliefs in art at the moment. This is the link to the new exhibition, 'Big Baby' , at K-T Z. This is the link to a video about the new work, on Vimeo , but the video is also on the gallery website. This is the direct link to the page about Anna Uddenberg on the gallery site. The following are some photos of Anna Uddenberg's new and previous work, 'borrowed' from K-T Z.
Read more