6.1.10

Fondation Cartier


The “Fondation Cartier” has existed since 1984 and moved to the present premises in 1994, in a glass building created by Jean Nouvel (also creator of the “Institut du Monde Arabe” and the “Musée du Quai Branly”). The foundation is of course linked to the famous jeweller and watchmaker, but nothing of this is for sale here; this is a place to promote contemporary art by temporary exhibitions.
The present exhibition (soon finished), “Born in the streets – Graffiti”, covers the movement that was created in the streets of New York in the 70’s and since has become worldwide.

As you can see above, during this exhibition, temporary walls outside the building have allowed anybody to "create". The outside decorations change every day. (It seems that a van parked there has been included in the surface for some "artists".)

Some 20 artists expose representing a number of countries, basically the US, South America and France, among them "Obey Giant" (creator of the Obama portrait), "P.H.A.S.E.2", inventor of the typical "softie" or "bubble" lettering...
Some of the works are presented in the garden behind the building.
Here you can see more in detail what the outside wall looked like a couple of days ago.

Also in the basement, some corridors (and the toilets) have been left free for anybody to create. The walls are well covered; the exhibition has been going on since July - see also top picture.

I made my visit accompanied by Catherine, "THE 5 OF US". She has also made her post; please check her version!

43 comments:

Catherine said...

what a great exhibition - great fun..Happy New Year

Parisbreakfasts said...

Ooooooooooooooooo
I LOVE the last ure of wall upon wall of scribbles!
Rememberances of things past-in the crib in fact.
I was not sufficiently appreciated.
I must try to catch this..never too late1

Virginia said...

Peter,
You know my feelings about this. Maybe I'll have a look soon and find a way to appreciate? You always broaden my horizons.
V

Olivier said...

original, une belle ouverture a l'art moderne "le graffiti". pas certain d'être toujours fan

Rakesh Vanamali said...

What a wonderful set of pictures and the etchings they show!

Truly, the spirit of freedom and youth!

alice said...

J'ai un peu de mal à faire le lien entre Cartier et les graffitis, je dois être trop snob!
Et je suis ravie que Catherine recommence à poster.
(Take care, Peter, je t'envoie de la neige dans la journée...)

claude said...

J'ai du mal avec l'art comtemporain. J'aime bien le portrait d'Obama. J'ai un de mes petits fils qui est vachelent doué en dessin et qui serait capazble de faire de beaux graffiti.

Adam said...

Ooo, you took photos inside - that's not allowed!

I enjoyed this exhibition a lot, but more as a sociology lesson than an artistic one.

Since I have been living in Paris, the Fondation Cartier has held some of the most interesting exhibitions I've seen, organised normally around a theme (such as 'Accidents', 'Insects' and 'Night-time') and not an artist.

Catherine said...

Tu as récolté la couleur où je n'ai qu'attrapé le noir et blanc.
Je serai peut-être la seule, mais en version colorée ou monochrome j'aime bien ces messages à passer et les yeux qui cherchent à les déchiffrer.
Finalement, la véritable exposition, elle se trouve coté Raspail, et elle est accessible à tous....
Cartier qui se lance dans la communication "de rue" ?
Pourquoi pas ? (Mais évitez la façade de mon immeuble, les gars !)

Starman said...

The Obama picture should have been titled ""Hope Misplaced".

hpy said...

Comment fait-on si on veut acheter une partie du mur? (Ce n'est pas dans mon intention, je suis juste curieuse.)

Cezar and Léia said...

Wonderful exposition and thanks so much for sharing these beautiful pictures!
I would like to be there as well! :)
Hugs
Léia

Ruth said...

I like that 3D face sticking out of the 2D art. :)

The famous Gino's pizzeria in Chicago has wooden tables that the customers carve while waiting for pizza. You know pizza takes a while to cook.

Thérèse said...

De tous les genres! A en prendre et à en laisser... Pourquoi pas.

delphinium said...

très intéressante comme exposition, mais je comprends parfois les autorités publiques qui construisent des murs et qui se retrouvent peu après avec des graffitis à gérer dessus. Il n'y a pas à dire, c'est une forme d'expression et elle est intéressante à analyser. Cela me fait penser à une pizzeria à L. qui est maintenant fermée. Le client avait le droit d'écrire sur les murs dans la salle à manger. Inutile de dire que tout le monde s'est empressé d'écrire des mots, des histoires, de faire des dessins. Moi aussi d'ailleurs.
Mais voilà, toute chose a une fin, la pizzeria a fermé et je ne pense pas que le nouveau propriétaire garde les murs en l'état. J'irai donc tagguer ailleurs. je t'embrasse

Jeanie said...

What an amazing exhibition! Thanks for sharing it!

Claudia said...

It's a beautiful building I had the pleasure to visit on a very cold day in 2006. The exibition looks interesting.

I was wondering if you've already bloged about the Vel' d'Hiv' and the monument that stands in its place now. I visited it on the same day as I did the Fondation Cartier.

Greetings, Peter! Have a great 2010!

Alain said...

Quand on n'est plus tout jeune, on a souvent du mal à apprécier les nouvelles formes d'expression artistiques. Cela a été vrai pour toutes les générations, je pense. Pour nos arrières grand parents, c'étaient les impressionistes, pour nos grands parents, le cubisme, etc...

On aime ou on n'aime pas mais fondalementalement ce n'est pas très différent des fresques naïves que le retrouve sur les murs des vieilles églises.

L. Neusiedler said...

oh, how amazing! this post is a true art galery AND a strong reality bite :)!

PeterParis said...

Catherine:
Fefinitely a different one! :-)

ParisBreakfasts:
The exhibition is soon over! :-)

Virginia:
Let's see this time ... and if we have the time! :-)

PeterParis said...

Olivier:
Il y a de tout dans l'art urbain! :-)

V Rakesh:
Some of these graffiti artist were young in the 70's, now well established! :-)

Alice:
Merci pour la neige (assez modeste)! :-)

PeterParis said...

Claude:
Je sais que ce n'est pas ton art favori! :-)

Adam:
I did not ask, nobody told me...! :-)

Catherine:
Il ne faut pas donner ton adresse! :-)

PeterParis said...

Starman:
Some deceptions in the air? :-)

hpy:
Malheuresement ,je n'ai pas la réponse! :-)

Léia:
I still expect you in Paris, but I'm afraid the exhibition will be over. There will be something else to see! :-)

PeterParis said...

Maya:
Yes, including for the local graffiti artists who are free to create! :-)

Ruth:
Dod you carve? :-)

Thérèse:
Oui, pourquoi pas? :-)

PeterParis said...

Delphinium:
J'aurai aimer voir ton "œuvre"! Très content de te voir ici! Je t'embrasse! :-)

Jeanie:
A pleasure to share it! :-)

Claudia:
... and it's cold now also, but probably not quite as cold and snowy as over at your place!
No, I almost did it once, but have not yet posted. Maybe I will one day, I should have some photos in reserve. All the best to also you and your family!! :-)

PeterParis said...

Alain:
Je suis plus vieux que toi et j'aime assez, sinon tout! :-)

Lara:
It's rather amazing to see how Cartier (the foundation) shows interest in modern, very modern, art! :-)

Cergie said...

Je suis plus jeune que toi et Alain (ah cela fait plaîsir !) et j'aime bien aussi un peu tout.

BLOGitse said...

THANK YOU!
for supporting me in my struggle for achieving justice for my rights to my pictures. RESPECT!

StyleSpy said...

I must make an effort to get here in the spring. The building itself is so magnificent -- Jean Nouvel is one of my favorite architects. I need to make one day of my visit Nouvel Day!

Pietro Brosio said...

Thanks for sharing this splendid exhibition!

PeterParis said...

Cergie:
Il faut rester jeune! :-)

BLOGsite:
Good that everything finally went well! :-)

StyleSpy:
It will be a tough but interesting day! :-)

PeterParis said...

Pietro:
Thanks for your visit here! I will visit your blog as well, soon, when I will be a bit less busy! :-)

richard said...

I have to say I much prefer graffiti as an art form compared to much modern conceptualism. A lot of it is inventive, has real wit, and often relevance. Of course where to draw the line between vandalism is a difficult one...

NB - the Obama Hope portrait is originally by Shepard Fairey, and has been rather controversial because he used someone else's photograph as the basis for it - stuck it in Photoshop and clicked "poster!" - some background on the wikipedia page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_Fairey

PeterParis said...

Richard:
Thanks for this additional info about the Obama portrait! I was possibly misled some where? :-)

arabesque said...

i have a thing for graffiti even though they can look very ugly to some people at times.
this is a wonderful exhibition, free art where anybody can express themselves. ^0^

PeterParis said...

Arabesque:
I share your opinion! :-)

Jilly said...

How absolutely fascinating and good for Cartier! Lovely you and the lovely Catherine got to meet up like this.

PeterParis said...

Jilly:
I was really pleased to meet the lovely Catherine. Maybe we can all meet in Menton soon, lovely Jilly!

Karin B (Looking for Ballast) said...

I'mm go check out Catherine's post next. This is wonderful! I just read the next post about ancient aqueducts, and now here I am at modern art... It really makes me see the scope and span of history that is "Paris" and it humbles me a bit, you know? :)

Karin B (Looking for Ballast) said...

"I'mm go check out..."

The lettering on our computer keyboard has rubbed off of several letters, and because I am the world's most terrible typist, I keep confusing the "M" for the "L." *sigh*

PeterParis said...

Karin:
There are things worse than typing errors! Thanks already for commenting!

Trotter said...

Great graffiti show: some nicer than others. That's life...

PeterParis said...

Trotter:
A question of taste! :-)