Yayoi Kusama at the Pompidou Centre in Paris

Yayoi Kusama is one of my icons. Her universe and the visual language she's developed are fascinating.

The Centre Pompidou is presenting the first French retrospective dedicated to the Japanese artist and I hope to see it asap. Following her career through 150 works created between 1949 and 2001, the exhibition tracks the major moments in the life of the artist and illustrates the protean character (paintings, sculptures, environments, performances) of a collection of works which Kusama has herself described as "obsessional". Strongly rooted in a childhood memory, a hallucination from which she developed the polka dot motif, this unclassified work still has significant influence on the cotemporary scene.

Beautiful, scary and amazing at the same time!  Go and see it, it's until 9 January 2012

Le Centre Pompidou to organise travelling exhibitions

Very interesting initiative which got me all excited ! The Centre Pompidou is to host travelling exhibitions across France. They will be housed in a 650 m2 mobile structure consisting of juxtaposed modules. This project will start in October 2011.

The first exhibition will be devoted to the theme of "Colour". It will highlight works by Léger, Braque, Matisse and Picasso. After an initial three months in the city of Chaumont (Haute-Marne), the mobile Centre Pompidou will go to Cambrai (Nord), Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and in Aquitaine, before reaching Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) and Aubagne (Bouches-du-Rhone)... I can hardly imagine the security behind such a project and the cost but it's good for other cities in France than Paris.

Looking forward!

New Centre Pompidou in Metz, France

designed by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines

This week, the city of Metz, the capital of the Lorraine region, in France  is on the European cultural map since it welcomes the new "Centre Pompidou".

It is expected that this new art centre will bring a "Bilbao effect" to the struggling region. The museum will also be joining a global trend towards big museum "brands" such as Le Louvre opening in Abu Dhabi and Lens, another economically devastated city of France. It will draw on more than 65,000 works held by the Musee National d'Art Moderne at the main Pompidou Centre in Paris, one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary art in Europe. 

I am really not a huge fan of the architecture of this building but I should be visiting it at the beginning of June and will give you my views...

More info on: http://www.centrepompidou.fr/

Frantisek Kupka: Art Works from the Pompidou Collection at Picasso Museum in Malaga

František Kupka took painting to its essential elements: the plane, line and dot. Over the course of his career he developed a highly distinctive and unique style that still defies any attempt to classify it due to its focus on science, philosophy and mysticism. In addition, Kupka’s work suggests new approaches to interpreting the birth and evolution of modern art. I think he's one of the most fascinating painters.

The exhibition held at the Museo Picasso Málaga brings together around 90 works, including oil paintings, drawings, gouaches and prints. They span the career of this unique artist, from his earliest academic studies to his pioneering discoveries within the field of abstract painting.

František Kupka. Art Works from the Centre Pompidou Collection is curated by Brigitte Léal, Associate Director of the Musée National d’Art Moderne-Centre de Création Industrielle (MNAM-CCI), and co-produced by the Fundación Joan Miró in Barcelona and will run until 25 April so if you're in the South of Spain please go and let me know how it is !

 

More info on: http://www.mpicassom.org/

Giacometti's exhibition in Atelier Giacometti in Paris

The Centre Pompidou is presenting until 13th January 2008, in collaboration with the Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation in Paris, an original retrospective of Alberto Giacometti's works (1901–1966).

For the first time, all the faces of the artist will be explored, illustrated by rare works, that the general public do not often have the chance to see such as the fragments of the walls of his three main studios in Paris, Stampa and Maloja (Switzerland). Indeed all the moments of his life are examined in this rare exhibition.

Giacometti is known for the XXth century's silhouette he created: lanky, tragic and hungry for ideal. This is one of the best retrospective not to be missed if you are in Paris.

To learn more : http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Manifs.nsf/0/D4AC49467474B7A6C12573B70052D98A?OpenDocument&sessionM=&L=2&form=