Contemporary Art At The Paris Marina

Paris has many wonderful hidden sites and one of these is a pleasure boat marina tucked beyond view from the Seine, where a contemporary art show is hosted twice a year.

It’s a fairly big event bringing over 500 French and foreign artists together, with their individual stands on both sides of the  port.

Le Port d’ Arsenal was created in 1789 and was attached to canal Saint Martin dug in 1824 by Napoleon to provide a shortcut from the river Seine to the river Ourcq.

Its strange name comes from  having been an arsenal between the 16 to 18 century. After the Bastille Fortress was destroyed during the French revolution, the ditch from the Seine that had previously filled the moat around the fortress was enlarged to a  port.

It served as a commercial port until 1983, when Paris decided to transform it into a pleasure boat marina. This body of water separates the 4th and the 12 arrondissements of Paris up to the Bastille and has a lovely park setting on the 12 th side.

Also on that side is a restaurant with a  pleasant terrace located closer to Bastille.  At least for me, it makes for a fun time to go up and down both sides of the basin identifying where the boats are from.

When I was there Sunday I spied a large yacht from Key West Florida.  I have heard of couples, one of which were  American, who ended up living in a boat for several years parked in the Arsenal.

The water level is three meters higher than the Seine and entrance into the port is through a lock and dam.  If you are on the quai, you will see boats on the Seine parked at the entrance waiting for the green light before the lock opens.

Beyond the marina the canal Saint Martin is hidden underground until near Republique, after which it opens offering another delightful spot to stroll around, which I will write about in the future.

Outdoor art shows probably all look the same except this one was matched by such a magnificent setting. Plus, just like every other event here, the wine flows as artists were seen celebrating the day cheering each other with filled glasses.

There was even a stand of a vintner from Nuit Saint George tempting us all with his lovely wines.  Art of the vine!

The art show offered works from painters, sculptors of metal, wood, marble and stone.   Additionally there were textiles, furniture , plastics, photography, ceramics, paper and you name it.

Art, like beauty,  is in the eyes of the artist and the beholder. I found myself very intrigued by a most wonderfully constructed shiney copper tea samovar that was one of the largest and most elaborate that I have ever seen bubbling away.  Indeed a work of great art!

Besides classical renditions in popular mediums, there were artistic expressions from material I would have never considered. Bizarre and perhaps rather macabre were the sculptures of Flore Falcinelli whose creations were made from deer and fox skulls as seen in the photo.

I tremendously admire these creative folks who breath new life into what others might consider ordinary objects.  Creative recycling should be encouraged I suppose , but whether or not one can define it as art I will leave up to art experts.

Not surprisingly for me, I felt more desire to look at the artists than at times their works.  Frankly some looked much more interesting than their art.

I was able to catch one wearing a strange outfit sporting what looked like red rubber curls on her head holding an umbrella. I certainly did not want to be caught staring, so just quick glances would have to suffice!

Nevertheless I was able to  catch enough of  the connective energy I sensed between artists and their works. Art is an expression of one’s soul that seeks to communicate by more extraneous and tangible means.

Looking at their creations give you a little window into a part of their psyche. Those intricacies may be hidden from view or could be strongly presented in their personality.

I would have loved to talk to them without feeling that I was leading them to believe I was a potential buyer. Some pieces were priced and others weren’t, leaving me to believe that the art could be negotiable depending on the artists sizing up pockets of those who showed interest in buying.

Likewise I refrained from taking photographs of their works out of fear that it could be construed as a method of copying without the artists credit.  The photos seen of certain works were from the catalogue indicating the artist’s name.

I don’t think any of the exposants  at the art show presented what is called art brute, which is something I have only been recently exposed to. Art brute comes from individuals who do not have any formal training and are not creating works within  an artistic community.

Therefore they are expressing a raw and very personally interpreted vision that for them has no commercial interest. Example would be art from psychiatric  patients or from indigenous people. I have posted some on previous articles about Saint Anne Hospital museum.

In Paris, you never have to go a museum or show for art, because art is everywhere in the city on just about any street or park.  Some absolutely beautiful statues can be seen at Luxembourg gardens for example.

Who would have thought that a piece of art was floating in the marina?   How fitting it was there, in light of all the contemporary art around it! The wildly colorful and whimsical barge like boat seen in the photo certainly is a delight to look at just for the vivid colours alone .

Does it belong to an artist or just an eccentric attention seeking boater? Either way, it definitely makes a presence in an otherwise rather congruous marina like setting.

Frankly, all in all is was for me a rather under spirited show.  Maybe it was because I have more classical tastes in art and maybe the past five consecutive rainy days had taken a dent in my mood.

Besides, the sweeping beauty that never fails to take my breath away was outdoors in front of me, not only at the picturesque marina, but everywhere else around me!

It’s really Paris that enthralls me the most! Her beauty captures my eye constantly just about any where in the city!  Paris is a living breathing canvas that magically turns into enchanting lights to dazzle you even more at night!