Contemporary Art At Le Petit Palais

I was determined to approach this task with a uncritical and open mind; precisely learning to appreciate contemporary art, which has held little interest in the past.  It was at the Le Petit Palais, which I love to visit anytime and it was free.

It just happened to be one of those rare perfect autumn days with sunny skies,  that inspired you to walk all over this gorgeous city, so I thought I would take you along via photos and to hear my impressions.

Fiac, or Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain is a huge highly revered and anticipated event that was also at the Grand Palais for those who had paying tickets, but the organisers set up free displays at the Petit Palais, Place Vendome, and the Tuileries Gardens.

Honestly, on the subject of contemporary art, “je suis un vrai nul”  or a real zero in knowing anything about it.

I took bus 28 to Pont Alexandre, the prettiest bridge in Paris, with her gold winged statues reflecting the sun in an almost blinding light.  Both the Grand and Petit Palais stood majestically in view, framing the blue skyline.

Between the two buildings, the street had been blocked to traffic and make shift outdoor cafes were in place with  tall green potted plant.

The air was perfumed with aromas of caramelized pralines being made in deep copper vats from Fifi’s pralines, which I adore and old fashioned pain perdu, or French toast, that even the sugar bees were fighting over.

The vendor serving the golden brown syrupy squares, playfully offered me a kiss  for the taking.  I vowed to come back before leaving, more for the pralines than the kiss.

Both the Grand and Petit Palais were built just before the turn of the century in 1897 for the Exposition Universale.  These monumental architectural jewels are immense occupying land between the Champs Élysée and the Seine.

Under the beautiful filigree glass dome of the Grand Palais are held various temporary exhibits, with the other side of the building housing a museum, Palais de la Découverte.

The Petit Palais is exquisite inside and out, and holds the fantastic Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris.

The baroque ceilings are decorated with soft pastel frescos, worthy of admiration alone; very illuminated by natural light from the surrounding tall windows.

The museum is free and holds a wonderful collection of classical paintings, icons and sculptures.  The exquisite interior garden and cafe make for a beautiful place to have a drink surrounded by lush foliage and reflecting pools. The museum boutique is definitely one of my favorites to find unusual gifts for yourself and others.

A huge plus for me and others I presume, was the availability to talk about each piece of art with a student from the prestigious École de Louvre.

I enjoyed talking to these enthusiastic young students perhaps more so than seeing the art itself, especially when the meaning that the artist wanted to convey was not apparent at first glance, which happened often.

The École de Louvre offers a 5 year curriculum to prepare not only artists, but those in art history, museum curating, collection, and marketing.  Some go on to obtain a Master’s degree.

Dominating the choice position in the southern dome, was the massive tall plaster of paris humanoid statue that was extremely intriguing, by Canadian David Altmeid.  Many were crowded around wondering what in the world the artist had in mind in creating this most unusual piece.

It certainly reflected to me the complexity of man, with  multiple little heads niched in pockets along the torso, two of which hold hands in prayer, hopefully in respect to the spiritual dimensions of human creation.

A broken mirror  occupying the center chest, reminded me of the brokenness or imperfection of us all and a reminder of the  scars of living.

Each shoulder had overlapping ear lobes as if in a hologram calling us to listen to each other’s uniqueness and our connection to the diversity of humanity. In back were two hands holding pens as in getting ready to write, but what perhaps only the artist knows.

This sculpture invited us to take away a treasure of provocative thoughts whether we could understand the piece or not.

The sheer soft transparent pink of  Do Ho Suh, a Korean American’s London Apartment was visually very appealing, more for the colour than the structure.   For me, I thought it represented surrounding our internal habitat or mentality in a positive “pink” of things and maintaining our outlook with rose coloured optimism.

A difficult task to maintain in light of the reality of the violent world of cruel injustices that surrounds us threatening  our own sanctity into which we recoil  for protection.   To have hope is like a gazing upon a beautiful rose with intense conviction and be engulfed within her  perfumed mass of multi petaled  dimensions.

At first glance the vinyl inflatable pool with a hose inside and another  one high above on scaffolding constantly dribbing water down just came off totally abstract, if not wacky.

I have no idea what the artist wanted to convey, so in contemplation, I begin to see the pool of water as an immersion of life and the constantly renewal from a heavenly source.

Water is a necessary to all life forms, from microscopic to human and for me a sacred vehicle of the Divine, and of the Spirit that we can bathe within.

Obviously these are my very own personal projections and by no means definitive for you. An invitation awaits you to see something meaningful in  your own interpretation, or not.

Another piece was a huge shiny metal mirror laying on the floor seen reflecting the window, which like our projection, can be distorted or obscured by our shadow.

I was immediately struck by the white revolving doors as a stark visual representation of the revolving continuity of generations of humanity, coming and going without stop.

It also conjured up for me the Buddhist belief of Samsara, and the constantly circling through reincarnation of lives, til we find nirvana or perfection and leave the turntable of living life as we know it.

Several of the art students explained that the spectator projection was not only welcome, but an essential part of the appreciation, as contemporary art was meant as such, rather than any real strict interpretation.

Good and welcome news for me, who therefore took the liberty to allow the art to speak to me, rather than pronounce an immediate critical yea or nea.

True, not all engaged my attention span for this subtle interaction to occur, and I left some pieces with  circulating question marks, to why they were chosen for display, except for the dollhouse and the bags of coal.

 

 

 

These well executed humanoid sculptures of copper and brass rings looking lifeless on marble bases were interesting both visually and metaphorically.

For me it kindled up the emptiness and slavery modern man must feel in a materialistic world, devoid of purpose, meaning, and without an emotional core of feelings, aka the Tin man.

Artist, I unfortunately failed to obtain.

 

 

Stepping outside in the sublime garden with its mosaic little pools felt refreshing from the warmth that had built up inside.

Some of the dainty leafed trees in the burnished red colour of fall shimmered in the breeze and the sun highlighted the building’s rococo roofs a golden hue.

It was in the garden some of  the most striking pieces were found.

First and foremost were the polished steel chrome figurines that stood out like mysterious monoliths from our ancient ancestors that really held my gaze.  Created by the Swiss artist Not Vidal, they swiftly conjured up feelings of the magnificent and inseparable relationship of humanity to our cavernous origins within our mother.

Whereas one took on slight resemblance to a human face, the other sculpted a  near perfect outline of a womb. Simple unadorned truth of our watery beginnings that gives birth to us all.

One of the more intricate sculptures was done in gold plated brass that dazzled in the sun.  The accompanying student talked about the artist from Belgium, Jan Fabre.

He dedicated this sculpture to the first Belgian astronaut chosen for a mission, who is leading his orchestral baton over the seas of planet earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stepping back inside to the permanent and more classical collection, I found an intriguing white sculpture in white Carrera marble of a woman by the English artist Damien Hirst, called Anatomy of An Angel.

With lovely sculptured angel wings, an open thigh revealed a femur and her neck lay visible tendons and attached to an emerging skull.

One breast displayed the pyramidal tiny globules of breast tissue above a few ribs that gave way to tight coils of small intestine.

For someone like me, who finds human anatomy incredible magnificent in scope and design,  it masterly revealed some of our inner workings hidden under our skin, that allows our human bodies to function in the most choreographed fashion imagined.

Truly a reminder that a master Divine sculptor beyond our mere mortal comprehension is the greatest artist of all!