https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdiEui18_dw An esthetic from Catholicism The American artist Kiki Smith (born in 1954) fascinates the world of contemporary art (see her exhibitions at the Venice Biennale before last or on the island of Hydra at the invitation...
A question of language Each language possesses a certain way of communicating that goes beyond even words. To put it another way, there are means of self-expression that are widely practised, and others that are not. Not to lose face While France is known for a...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQJVMwmNaAk Various perspectives Our present day is too complex to be comprehended unambiguously. There are numerous artists who talk about this phenomenon, like William Kentridge who addresses the issue of History, which...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5oF-HBcCh4 Beloved of collectors You have to hear him talk about art history. Urs Fischer (born in 1973), the Swiss artist based in New York, beloved of contemporary art collectors who exhibit him all over, from Peter Brant in...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcZymqxh7i0 Unveiled on the Champs Elysées On 4 October 2019 a Jeff Koons sculpture, “Bouquet of Tulips”, was unveiled in Paris on the Champs Elysées behind the Petit Palais museum, having been conceived by the artist in...
What sadness to learn that Agnès Varda, the heroine of French cinema, passed away during the night between 28 and 29 March. I was fortunate enough to have rubbed shoulders with this extraordinary woman on many occasions. I published a video interview with her this...
Don't stop at the subject When Cézanne painted his wife or a still life of some apples he didn’t just stop at the subject: a portrait of an unprepossessing woman or fruit arranged on a table… He portrayed his universe, composing a union of colours and shapes to...
Bill Viola and video art A single exhibition is not enough to form a definitive opinion of an artist. The American artist Bill Viola (born in 1951) is known as one of the major figures and the great pioneer of video art. Yet his retrospective at the Grand...
Environmentalism There was a time when environmentalism wasn’t really talked about, except in relation to a few dishevelled and clearsighted hippies sporting yellow badges with the slogan “Nuclear Power? No Thanks”. There was a time when housewives didn’t worry about...
If there is an ultimate narcissistic being, it is surely the artist. Yet when the artist turns to evoking his fellow artists’ work, provided that it consumes him with passion, it becomes exceptional. Currently showing in Antwerp at the MHKA, the city’s museum of...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkclGz3JOgc Bruce Nauman is a towering figure in the art world but Bruce Nauman is also a mystery, for he is a complex artist. From 21 October, Moma in New York is dedicating its entire sixth floor as well as its PS1...
It is altogether highly unlikely. 660 km from Paris, deep in the heart of Aveyron in the South of France, there’s a town that cannot be accessed by motorway or by the TGV – neither of them travel through here – where you can visit the most substantial exhibition in...