louis vuitton foundation
When you thought that with the Eiffel Tower, the Picasso Museum, Chagall's stained glass windows, the La Défense conglomerate and the Center Pompidou Paris had put all the meat on the grill of contemporaneity, an umpteenth icon comes and appears as if from nowhere. And so comes the Fondation Louis Vuitton to earn a prime spot in the city's tourist agenda.
CREATION IS A JOURNEY
Or better in French, which is more insinuating: The creation is a voyage . This is the name of the second exhibition, the second step in the process of making this museum known to the world. Although the said event has already ended, its name clearly summarizes what this building is looking for . And that is basically that you leave reality to embark on an epic marked by the imagination. For this, he had the Lewis Carroll of architecture, Frank Gehry, who signed up without hesitation for the difficult task that he proposed the Gallic city and Bernard Arnault , the president of the group LVMH , not without some other complaint and legal obstacle to being located in a protected park.
Aside from the uplifting taglines, suddenly appearing in front of this building confirms that Close Encounters of the Third Kind feel, of being in front of a spaceship that is about to leave and whose commander is urging travelers to get on and take a seat. This explains why the metaphorical theories about its appearance fantasize about the idea that Gehry wanted to make a cloud, although the reason that points to the ambition of the architect himself seems more likely. in creating the Grand Palais of the 21st century. Hence the use of glass as the key element and dancer that always stands out in his creations. But this bold-shelled structure manages to be more volatile by blending into its surroundings and the ground. The fact of being protected by a moat conveys the feeling that it is perched on the pool and that at any moment resumes the march. It even conveys some unease as it seems a pop-up, something ephemeral and elusive. The first objective, that of being apparently innovative and magnetic, has been achieved.
A GUGGENHEIM IN PARIS
Comparisons with the other great museum of Canadian genius do not have to be oriented so much to the concept of building-show and its structure and aesthetics . And it is that, inside, Gehry repeats the combination that has made him go down in history in the Bilbao estuary. This is it: a gigantic entrance hall, a twisted structure, a labyrinth of rooms and certain tourist inbreeding with which to 'kidnap' the visitor and deny it any impact other than that of the monument itself.
To that we must add that the Fondation's collection is not too extensive, reason why the architecture acquires a superlative importance. To such an extent that anyone who comes looking for "famous" works of art will be disappointed because what is on display here are the bets of the Louis Vuitton house, where only the predilection for Giacometti (and the photos he took of her Cartier-Bresson ) is saved from the ostracism of the common man. Therefore, the visit focuses on getting lost in the rooms, the escalators and the viewpoints. In this tour, from time to time, interventions and sculptures appear that attract attention such as 'Rose' by Isa Genzken presiding over the entrance, Eliasson's yellow grotto flanking the pool or Gehry's fish lighting the restaurant that manage to dialogue with the building and steal a little prominence. Something similar to what happens in Bilbao since the Fondation drinks from its impressive building and the exhibitions it houses and not so much from its collection.
SUBJECTIVISM, CONTEMPLATION, 'POPISM' AND MUSIC
And yet... Tachan! The great exhibition with which the spring of this place is consolidated is here. With ** Les clefs d'une passion ** , the Fondation has hit the table to claim its vision of art using some of the greatest creators of the 20th century. Basically, what the group has been doing since Arnault and his cultural adviser, Jean-Paul Claverie, took on positions of responsibility: talk about Louis Vuitton through creativity. It may seem that both discourses are forced together, but since their values are common, the result is not so much an advertising spot as a magnificent retrospective hodgepodge of the best of the Vanguards.
Divided into four areas (or keys to this passion), the exhibition speaks of subjectivism and expressionism as the first step of contemporaneity facing the cheerful portraits of Otto Dix with the ghostly faces of Bacon as well as the existentialist steps of Giacometti with the anguish of Munch's 'Scream' . It then goes on to pay tribute to contemplation, from the most beautiful results with Monet or Nolde as an example, passing through the abstraction of Malevich, Mondrian, Rothko or Brancusi and reaching the 'voyeurism' of a Picasso in full swing.
The last two rooms reflect on the importance of the everyday universe and the first steps towards Pop-Art that Léger or Picabia gave, where routine scenes were still more important than brands or serialism. The exhibition ends with a hymn to music and dance starring two 'obrones' by Matisse seasoned with a series by Kandinsky that had never before been so closely linked to this sound art, with a party-painting by Severini and a couple of creations by Kupka. A All this cheerful and varied selection will remain together until July 6.
WALK THROUGH (OR AMONG) THE CLOUDS
Leaving behind the paintings and the exhibition halls, the visit to this new icon holds one last surprise: its terraces. Going outside serves to idolize Gehry even more as well as to enjoy the contrast of his glass skin with the sky, in a labyrinthine walk where there is no lack of palm trees, some work of art and the occasional balcony over the city. From here you can see the office complex and aluminum titans that is La Défense, as well as the thick forest that surrounds the building. And, almost as far as the horizon, the Eiffel Tower peeks through the grooves of its scales , with hardly any prominence but with that insurmountable charm. oh! And as the architect himself points out, without sharing a plan with the horrendous Montparnasse skyscraper.
Map: See map
Address: 8 Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi. Bois de Boulogne. Paris See map
Telephone: 00 33 1 40 69 96 00
Price: €14
Schedule: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday: from 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays: from 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Tuesday closed.
Guy: Museum
Official Web: Go to the web
Twitter: @FondationLV
Facebook: go to facebook