90 countries The Venice Biennale is the most highly anticipated contemporary art show in the world. It can provide a platform for not only the most in-demand artists but also – and this is very much part of its charm – for complete unknowns, as can be seen in...
Specialized in nudity Young boys and girls disrobe to dance a graceful saraband in a composition over six metres long. In 1884, the then famous French painter William Bouguereau (1825-1905), who specialized in nudity under mythological pretexts, created what he...
Porquerolles Last year saw the opening of a contemporary art foundation on the island of Porquerolles, a nature reserve off the coast of Hyères, the brainchild of Parisian financier Edouard Carmignac whom we met last year (cf report) Sea of desire...
People refuse to see me “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. (…) When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.” Invisible man In 1953...
Theaster Gates in public To understand Theaster Gates (born in 1973) you must first have the opportunity to see him in public. He’s charged with electricity, volcanic. A star in Chicago A compact form propelling itself through space. The Chicago-based artist,...
the race towards gigantism In a world where the offerings of various contemporary art festivals are flourishing across the globe, there’s one way to stand out from the crowd, and that is in the race towards gigantism. To fill the spaces This quest would suggest...
The exact time at Notre Dame It’s a beautiful late afternoon in springtime in Paris. One of those delightful afternoons when the trees are bursting into bud and young people chirp and coo outside cafes. I can remember the exact time, because I have a...
Part of the cinema history Whatever our areas of interest, we can agree that Wim Wenders (born in 1945) is now a part of the cinema history. There are flashes of Wenders inscribed in our collective memory, like the red mohair dress matching Nastassja...
Brad Pitt's poetry The story could begin with a few poetic sentences from Brad Pitt: “He walks right by, though he doesn’t see (me)- Shapes and obsessions block his view. He disappears into his cavern, for yet another round. (…) What does it mean to lay oneself...
Emmanuel Perrotin “The first time someone stole a piece of art from me it was a work by Kaws, two small paintings from my gallery in Miami ten years ago,” says Emmanuel Perrotin, the French gallerist with branches in Paris, New York and Asia. “I like...
A certain tension A slight imbalance. Some kind of disturbance… Great artists don’t create unforgettable works by envisaging perfection so much as by establishing anomalies. Along with the exceptional jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, who wore large rings on all...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryiiCfs0ZlM A great country for art Qatar has become one of the great countries in the world for art. The capital, Doha, is marked from the airport to the desert by an extremely ambitious public art program, with a series...