Text: Aidan Mac Guill
Image: Nowness
Seriously, I promise I'll stop writing about the Gaîté Lyrique when it stops having awesome stuff to go see.
'Matt Pyke & Friends: Super-Computer-Romantics' is the first major exhibition to be held at the new venue, and showcases the work of digital artist and freakin' genius Matt Pyke, who makes visuals with computers that will make your eyes melt.
Image: Flickr CC yoyolabellut
1. Roa
2. Bonom
3. M-City
4. C215
5. Coq à l'Âne
6. Rero
7. Matt W Moore (MWM)
8. BOMK
9. Horfe
10. JonOne
11. Grems
12. TomTom
13. Atlas
14. 1984 Crew
15. Zoo Project
16. Astro (ODV)
17. WXYZ
18. Teurk
19. Rizot
20. Trane
Text: Elliot Elam
Image: Le président s’adressant au principal accusé lui dit, 1905
Liberté, egalité, fraternité: it's a phrase that may trip off the tongue. But in France votes are still cast in their thousands for far right parties, the UN recently noted a "resurgence in racism and xenophobia", and the country’s Interior Minister was fined for racist comments before, only last month, being quietly dropped from government altogether. Moreover, in line with much of the rest of the world, many parts of France have cast Islam as a modern day bogeyman; strange, savage and something to be feared.
All of which provides an interesting context in which to visit an exhibition of work by the political caricaturist Jossot. Taking place at the Bibliothèque Forney until June 18, it’s a chance to see a retrospective of work by one of the Belle Epoque’s most acidic critics.
More on: Jossot's Lessons From The Past
Text: Anna Bromwich
Image: Musée du quai Branly
If you were wondering what Christian Lacroix was doing after his haute couture company went into administration in 2009, a new exhibition opening at the Quai Branly this month provides a clue. After making his eccentric, colour clashing mark on the history of fashion, being memorialised by Ab Fab and infusing our TGV journeys with a purple and orange décor, Lacroix has taken on the job of artistic director to the exhibition 'L’Orient des femmes (vu par Christian Lacroix)'.
L’Orient des Femmes is a selection of 150 garments from the Near Middle East hand-picked by Lacroix from the Quai Branly’s collections and collated from research undertaken by Hana Chidiac. Aside from a 13th century dress that kick-starts the exhibition, the costumes date from the end of the 19th century to today and are exclusively women’s clothing, thus exploring notions of femininity throughout this period from northern Syria to the Sinai desert.
There is an intellectual and a tactile side to this exhibition. On one hand Lacroix reveals to us the first steps of his creative process, normally hidden from the public eye and deduced from the final product. The extensive historical research that produces the layers of cultural references evident in his design is exposed, under the guiding hand of Chidiac, as we rifle through the documentation of the history of silk and indigo or grasp the context in which these dresses were worn from miniature paintings.
More on: The Return Of Christian Lacroix
Text: Natalie Fasano
Image: Beurs van Berlage d’Amsterdam, Haarlem
Piet Mondrian. To many, this name is spelt in simple squares; reds, blues, whites, yellows, shades of grey and thick black lines. To some, Mondrian’s paintings are too simple, one step away from the incomprehensible works of Modern art that feature merely a white canvas and a large red dot, or line, or…nothing. When taken individually and without reference to historical, political or cultural context, the value of Modern art, in my humble opinion, loses a large percentage of its social value.
Mondrian resided in Paris from 1912-1938, an incredible moment in world history. Paris was a crucible of artistic innovation in the 1920’s. Bookended by two World Wars, the dust hardly allowed to settle from the First to the Second, Paris in the 1920’s was situated directly within the eye of a perfect storm.
'Mondrian/De Stijl' at the Centre Pompidou provides astounding visual context of this notable period in European Modernism. In a period that prized communal over individual artistic pursuits, a concept of “total” or universal art began to emerge. Initially influenced by the Cubists, Mondrian began to explore the world of abstraction, and laid the groundwork for the movement that he was to begin with his De Stijl contemporaries in the 1920’s: Neo-Plasticism.
Text: Aidan Mac Guill
Image: Mois De La Photo Off
Every two years in Paris the month of November is designated 'Mois De La Photo'. Of course in Paris it seems like everything eventually gets its own month, or week, or day. In fact I'm fairly sure October was 'Mois De La Everybody Gets The Flu', and this writer is considering launching a campaign to make December 'Mois De La Soul', a month-long celebration of the early nineties hip-hop pioneers.
Anyway, right now Paris is the world capital of photography, with exhibitions, discussions, workshops and parties being held by institutions like the Maison Européenne De La Photographie, the Jeu De Paume, the BNF and the Fondation Cartier, as well as countless galleries scattered across the city. It's a chance for photographers to exhibit, learn and network, and for the curious passer-by to enjoy extraordinary images from around the world.
Of course no self-respecting festival is complete without its strange, unsettling and often more interesting twin brother - the fringe. So running parallel to 'Mois De La Photo' is the 'Mois De La Photo - Off'.
More on: Mois De La Photo - Off
Text: Rooksana Hossenally
In the back streets of Bastille is a small hideaway that will shake your senses as soon as you cross the threshold. Contrary to its name, The Lazy Dog is a multifaceted hang out for dynamic creative types, a bookshop, boutique, and "concept store" all rolled into one.
More on: The Lazy Dog: Urban Culture Reference in the Capital
Text: Rooksana Hossenally
Image: Galerie VitryJam
The graffiti movement’s success last year, kick-started by the event: ‘TAG at the Grand Palais’, closely followed by the Fondation Cartier’s ‘Born in the Streets’ (‘Né dans la Rue’) is now underway, for 2010. Here's what’s on until March.
Currently at the Galerie Bailly Contemporain, catch the Photo/Graff: Photos of Subway Art 70’s and 80’s exhibition in the last few days before it ends tomorrow, Saturday. The gallery teams up with Taxie Gallery in the 7th and puts two of the movement’s most famous photographers’, Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, works on show.
More on: A Round-up of Paris Graffiti Events
Text and image: Joel Ma
There are two reasons to visit the Michel Quarez Poster Art retrospective other than the impressive works on display. 1) The gallery is inside the magnificent Bibliotheque Forney, a medevial castle which houses an extensive art library, garden and dramatic courtyard. 2) The location close to the Seine in the perpetually interesting Marais district.
When viewing the work of Michel Quarez, one is struck by his prescient connection to today’s modern electro fashion - black jackets and jeans offset by fluo high-top sneakers of Paris teens or the techno affection for colour, see artists such as M.I.A or Lady Gaga. His style is reminiscent of Basquiat or Herring as well as early New York grafitti but still maintaining a distinctly French identity.
More on: Michel Quarez Poster Art
Text and image: Joel Ma
In the 21st century everyone knows at least one graphic designer. They usually have a keen eye for visual metaphor, impeccable personal hygiene and may or may not wear slim rectangular, black plastic glasses. If the bookshop Artazart were a person, it would be your Graphic designer friend. Artazart stocks a staggering selection of books on photography, architecture, art, web design, graffiti, journals, magazines, children books, bags, cameras, art resources and anything of a stylish visual nature. It announces its presence on the banks of the Canal St Martin with a bright orange shop front, elegant font and warm lighting. It has been operating for the last ten years and has seen various incarnations including converted gallery to bookshop/gallery to bookshop with a comprehensive online store.
More on: Artazart Design Bookstore
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