High Museum Atlanta hosts treasures from The Louvre & Tuileries Garden.

SEE PARIS ON PEACHTREE STREET!

Review by Labeauratoire US Correspondent Karen Nurenberg Rothstein

This week, I visited The Louvre and Tuileries Garden, an exhibit at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta Georgia, USA. It is showing through January 19, 2014. The Tuileries are on the must-see list of many who visit Paris. It is graced with Art that saturates the soul and bathes you in its beauty.

The Tuileries started out as a private garden created by Catherine de Medici, as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564. It was opened to the public for the first time in 1667. Later, after the French Revolution it was established as a public park and today it is still one of the focal points of the city.

The High Museum exhibit brings the wonders of The Tuileries to an American audience. It features more than 100 works, some never before seen outside of France.

If you get a chance, come down to Peachtree Street in Atlanta and take a walk through the picturesque, boxed holly trees in the High’s courtyard, and feast your eyes on bronze sculptures by Aristide Maillol, including “Mediterranean” (aka “Latin Thought”) 1923-1927.

The Beauty in this piece lies in the simplicity of the work. The triangular limbs intertwine freely with one another to form the figure of a woman deep in thought.

Another Maillol bronze in the courtyard, “Venus with Necklace” 1928, is equally impressive. Don’t pass these by. Take the time to stop and enjoy their beauty.

Then, entering the ground floor of the exhibit, there are several more statues that leave you breathless. One example was François Joseph Bosio’s “Hercules Battling Achelous as Serpent” 1824 in Bronze.

Another is the marble sculpture “Faun” by Antoine Coysevox from 1709.

This has an adorable satyr on the opposite side.

The second floor reveals the history of the Tuileries Palace and Garden. In addition to more sculptures, there are artifacts from the time of Catherine de Medici, including this “Mold for the bust of a Cloaked Woman” from the Workshop Of Bernard Palissy. ca. 1550-1570.

Also included are items from the time of King Louis XIV, who expanded the garden, such as this wonderful tapestry “Procession of Louis XIV in front of the Tuileries Castle: October, The sign of The Scorption”  produced in the Gobelins Royal Manufactory (after a design by French painter Charles Le Brun.) This was one of 12 tapestries made to depict the French Royal House and the months of the year.

This one represents October.  The zodiac sign is featured at top center and there are signs of autumn throughout. King Louis XIV is in the background with his procession, weaving through the Tuileries Garden away from the grand Palace.

There are several rooms to see on this floor, one of them provides comfortable seating to enjoy a contemporary video projected on three screens. This gives you the sensation of walking in the garden and passing people as they enjoy a lovely day in Paris. Do sit and take it in.

Entering the third floor you see a large wooden model of the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden, in the background pictured on a partitioning wall is a scene filled with all the pageantry of a bygone era.

Many artists were inspired by this great garden and its Tuileries Palace. My favorite painting is one by Pierre Tetar van Elven, a Dutch artist from 1828-1908.

It is titled “Nighttime Party in the Tuileries, 10 June 1867, on the Occasion of Foreign Sovereigns to the World’s Fair ” 1867 (above), oil on canvas.  It really takes you into the lavish lifestyle.

Several fabulous engravings and etchings are displayed. Especially interesting was this watercolor and etching on on laid paper (above) by an unknown artist from 1784. It documented the first manned flight in a hydrogen-filled balloon, which was launched from the Tuileries in December of 1783 by professor Jacques Charles with Nicolas-Louis Robert as co-pilot. They ascended to a height of about 1,800 feet and landed 2 hours and 5 minutes later.

Photography buffs will love the last room. It is filled with historic photos of the gardens by some of the great photographers of the world, including 13 prints by Eugène Atget, and others by Louis Vert, Andre Kertesz, Jaroslav Poncar and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

“View from above the Tuileries Garden’s Parterre” 1975 by Henri Cartier-Bresson

“Merchant Selling “Coco” and toys in the Tuileries Garden” by Louis Vert
circa 1900-1906, printed after 1930.

This is a once in a life time chance to experience the wonders and the beauty of The Louvre and Tuileries Garden right in your own backyard, Don’t miss it.

For more info visit http://www.high.org

The exhibition runs through January 19 in Atlanta and then will travel to the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio (Feb. 13-May 11) and the Portland Art Museum in Oregon (June 14- Sept. 28).

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All text and images by Karen Nurenberg Rothstein, a contributing writer for Labeauratore.

Ray Johnson Fan Club ~ L.A.R. in Monmartre

RE-BLOGGED FROM:  http://rayjohnsonfanclub.com

RJFC Sticker #26 was completed 4/24/2013 using only trash found on the streets of Paris. I left it the same day on a bus stop sign outside the Moulin de la Galette just off Rue Lepic in Monmartre, Paris, France.

Do you LIKE me? www.facebook.com/rayjohnsonfanclub
USING TRASH OFF THE STREETS TO MAKE ART ON THE STREETS.
I use only trash and found items to collage these handmade, signed & numbered stickers. They are made to compliment my larger works which in which I use trashy paperback book covers, record & magazine covers, posters, postcards and other mass-produced media as a base for my hand-cut & paste collages, which I usually leave out on the streets for anyone to enjoy (or destroy.)

See all my stickers here!

SERIOUSLY TRASHY STREET ART!
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LAST WEEK TO CATCH The Art of Mail Art at Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel Paris

 One week left to catch Ray Johnson and the art of Mail Art in the exhibition:

“Correspondances” running until the 5th of May 2013
at the Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel on the Champs-Elysées, Paris, France.

Detail of artwork by Ray Johnson on display in the “Correspondances” exhibition.

Just imagine… It’s 1956 and you’ve received an envelope from an artist acquaintance named Ray Johnson. Upon opening it you find an odd conglomeration of cut-out ads, collage, drawings and customized rubber stamps. The seemingly nonsensical phrases vaguely remind you of a conversation you may or may not have had with this quirky artist, recently out of the legendary Black Mountain College.  Somewhere between a snipped-out Lucky Strike logo and a James Dean clipping stamped “Claude Picasso Fan Club”, there’s a little bunny-faced drawing that seems to instruct you: “DETACH AND SEND TO JIM ROSENQUIST” followed by the world-famous painter’s home address…

What you would have in your hands would be the very birth of a strange little underground art movement. One that has flourished over the years and grown into the worldwide practice known as “Mail Art.”

Detail of artwork by Ray Johnson on display in the “Correspondances” exhibition.

That very type of thing happened to dozens of unsuspecting people who crossed paths with Ray Johnson, the man who started what he called the “New York Correpondance School” (spelled that way purposefully.) He did his correspond-dance with friends and acquaintances virtually non-stop until his mysterious death in 1995. Of course Johnson wasn’t the first artist to send his work through the post. Here’s a charming postcard drawn by Pablo Picasso and sent in 1905 to his friend Guillaume Apollinaire in Amsterdam.

Postcard sent from Picasso to Apollinaire.

I was lucky enough to come across this gem at the Museum of Letters & Manuscripts in Brussels recently. (Review coming soon.)

So Johnson wasn’t doing something that hadn’t been done before, he was just doing it in a way that was very different from virtually anything that had been seen previously, and he seemed to be using the Post Office and the recipients as part of the work itself so that it wasn’t actually “art” until after it was mailed.

Detail of artwork by Ray Johnson on display in the “Correspondances” exhibition.

The multitude of connections made during this process spawned a vast and varied series of chain reactions that is nearly impossible to track, but the spirit and influence of Ray Johnson’s mail art haunts the work of many artists that followed and continues to do so today, even with artists who never encountered Johnson.

This unique exhibition has gathered together works from twelve different artists, many of which were never initially intended to be seen in a gallery context. And the Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel is certainly not your typical Paris art gallery. It can be accessed through the main showroom or via a (less commercial) side entrance, but both routes take you up to the show in a “sensory deprivation elevator” which some may find a bit scary, but it serves a wonderful purpose. This light and sound-free ascension chamber, operated by an attendant, seems to purge the mind of noise and clutter from the commercial surface of the Champs-Élysées, and transports one skyward to “another level,” enabling visitors to experience the artistic creations with fresh senses. It is reminiscent of the custom, in Japanese cuisine, of chewing Gari (pickled, young ginger) to cleanse the palate between dishes.

…and the view isn’t bad either.

Greeting you first is a large display including several glass cases filled with works by Ray Johnson, who has rarely been exhibited in France. Seeing these little, groundbreaking pieces is truly a satisfying experience. They offer a peek into the personal, creative interactions and inspirations that started the Mail Art movement.

   

Much of it has a very Dada feel and seems fairly indecipherable, precisely because it was intended to be somewhat of an “inside joke” between Ray and receiver. Some humorous references are evident and often scathing, but the true genius lies in the ephemeral nature of each individual piece. You must force yourself to remember that someone had the honor of retrieving every one of these little mind-benders from their mailbox and viewing it for the very first time, and then had the sensibility to hang on to it for all these years.

Detail of artwork by Ray Johnson on display in the “Correspondances” exhibition.

Many different artists have taken Johnson’s Mail Art idea and run with it. Eleven of them are included in this show.  Chilean artist Eugenio Dittborn has sent several of his large, collaged Airmail Paintings, one portraying a fictional correspondence between Ray Johnson and the French poet Ronsard.

Shipping materials for Eugenio Dittborn’s “Airmail Paintings.”

A guide talks to visitors about Eugenio Dittborn’s “Airmail Paintings.”

There is a lovely triptych by Jan Dibbets, from Amsterdam, of his Halifax Diary, showing photographs of the artist on a train, alongside postcards sent during the journey .

American artist Eleanor Antin’s piece entitled 100 BOOTS includes a series of 51 ominous photographs showing (what else) 100 black boots arranged in different ways at different locations, and sent out as post cards to 1000 addresses over a two year period. This work serves to spotlight one of the major purposes of most Mail Art; circumventing the entire “art scene” and connecting on an individual basis with the addressee.

Detail of “100 Boots” by Elanor Antin.

Vittotio Santoro, who lives and works both in Paris and Zurich was represented by a graphically diverse installation showing dozens of letters he received after mailing out invitations for people to send him a letter including the phrase: “Silence destroys consequences.”

Detail from Vittotio Santoro’s “Silence destroys consequences.”

Part of the display for “Silence destroys consequences.” by Vittotio Santoro.

Walead Beshty has included two of his large polished copper cubes. These monolithic, minimalist boxes still shine in places beneath the accumulated labels, handprints, scuff marks and dings, due to their FedEx transport from the artist’s home city of Los Angeles.

Polished Copper Cubes by Walead Beshty.

There are four pieces by Italian conceptual artist and member of the Arte Povera movement, Alighiero Boetti, (December 16, 1940 – February 24, 1994.)  These works he sent through the mail to his daughter and wife as he traveled through Afganistan in the 70s & 80s. They incorporate various different stamp placement compositions, continuing the theme of permutation he used in much of his other work throughout his life.

Perhaps the strongest piece in this show is by New York artist Stephen Antonakos. His Package Project is displayed in a store window at ground level near the Louis Vuitton entrance.  In 1971, during an artist’s residency in Fresno, California, Antonakos sent requests to about 100 artist friends, asking them: “Would you please send me something in a package for a project I am doing . . . “

Detail from Stephen Antonakos’ “Package Project” on display in the Louis Vuitton Store Window.

Antonakos signed and dated each one of the packages when he received them and, according to his original plan, they have never been opened. They are always to be displayed with the addresses facing the viewer. Some of the notable packages included are from Ray Johnson, Judy Chicago, Christo, Connor Everts, Ruth Vollmer and  Robert Indiana.

Part of the “Package Project” by Stephen Antonakos on display in the Louis Vuitton Store Window.

These worn and weathered packages strike the viewer with wonder at what could possibly be inside each of these 40+ year-old time capsules, destined to stay sealed precisely because the wonder is the best part of it all.

Also included in the exhibition is a film by Clarisse Hahn, in collaboration with Thomas Clerc, combining a fictional correspondance with video footage shot in Mexico;  Poignant letters translated by the father of Vietnamese artist Danh Vò; Decorative Invoice by wine merchant and “undomesticated artist” Kurt Ryslavy (in catalog only?); and a colorful mail-ish installation by French artist Guillaume Lablon presenting sections of residential “Entrance Doors” with their mail slots included.

One of the “Entrance Doors by Guillaume Lablon installed at the exhibition.

Mail Art, like the more popular “Street Art” has been a way for traditional artists to experiment with non-traditional methods and has also been a way for emerging and amateur artists to make meaningful connections, get feedback and feed off the ideas of others. Today there are many groups that have evolved around the practice of Mail Art.  The International Union of Mail-Artists claims to have nearly 2000 members and the Flickr “Mail Art” group has more than 13,500 images in it’s pool.

In short, this exhibit is not to be missed. It is a chance to view some rare and innovative work that is highly underrepresented in most galleries. Admission is free and there is also a wonderful free hardback catalog of the show (while supplies last.)

So stop reading and get going. The exhibit closes  May 5, 2013.

IF YOU GO:

Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel Website: http://www.louisvuitton-espaceculturel.com/index_GB.html

Mobile version:  http://correspondances.louisvuitton-espaceculturel.com/

phone + 33 1 53 57 52 03
espaceculturel@louisvuitton.com
Main entrance: 60, rue de Bassano – 75008 Paris
Entrance by the Louis Vuitton shop: 101, avenue des Champs Elysées – 75008 Paris
Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday, 12am to 7pm;
Sunday, 11am to 7pm

Storefront of Louis Vuitton on Champs-Elysées, Paris, France.

all text and images © Lance Aram Rothstein 2013

RJFC Sticker #18 left in Paris

reblogged from http://www.rayjohnsonfanclub.com

RJFC Sticker #18 was completed 2/6/2013 – and left below the window of the Mail Art Exhibition at the Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France.

Do you LIKE me? www.facebook.com/rayjohnsonfanclub
USING TRASH OFF THE STREETS TO MAKE ART ON THE STREETS.
I use only trash and found items to collage these handmade, signed & numbered stickers. They are made to compliment my larger works which in which I use trashy paperback book covers, record & magazine covers, posters, postcards and other mass-produced media as a base for my hand-cut & paste collages, which I usually leave out on the streets for anyone to enjoy (or destroy.)

See all my stickers here!

reblogged from http://www.rayjohnsonfanclub.com

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On The Street in: PARIS

Street Art seen on the streets of Paris ~ July 20-22 / 2012

Made a quick visit to Paris last weekend so here’s some of the Street Art I saw while there. Some of it is “artist unknown” or not decipherable anyway. I feel it is important to document what is up out there. This is not a commentary on what’s good or what’s important or who’s “known.” It’s just what I saw in my meanderings. Some of it had already been partially torn down or defaced but I wanted to post it anyway just for documentary purposes. – Please let me know if you have any other information on the works shown or their creators. – Enjoy.

Invader at Librarie du Temple

Invader – Mario

Michael Beerens #05

Michael Beerens #36

a SOBR girl

a SOBR maze

another SOBR girl

SOBR girl and WB

WB in La Marais

Melange 28 – Octave, Sepos, Oré & more…

Fucking Money

PopEye 1

PopEye 2

Mosaics in Monmartre

Blé Mosaic in Monmartre

This is Street Art & Free to Love in La Marais

a wormhole into the countryside in La Marais

Kidult sticker in La Marais

Some great abstract faces. These aren’t by Gregory Siff are they?

Some great abstract faces. These aren’t by Gregory Siff are they?

Fred Le Chevalier

Pascal Bruandet (defaced)

The Pope of Fat – Wonder Woman

someone peeking around the corner

Art is a Dirty Job

This begins a series of items that you may or may not consider “ART”

Leaves painted blue in Montparnasse Cemetery

Poem left on Tristan Tzara’s grave in Montparnasse cemetery.

AKZO (is this an ad campaign?)

A 3-legged nightstand left in a phone booth.

Well, that’s it for this trip. Stay tuned to this channel for more “On the Street in:” episodes…

~ all text & photos by Lance Aram Rothstein

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REVIEW: Robert Doisneau at Abbaye de Stavelot – Belgium

Just two months left to catch a great photography exhibition at a unique destination.

The Museum Abbaye de Stavelot, in the Liège region of Belgium is holding a comprehensive exhibit showing the works of French photographer Robert Doisneau (1912-1994). It opened in February, but you still have two months left before the show closes on September 30, 2012. The historic abbey is a lovely venue with a comfortable layout and holds high-caliber exhibits of international interest.

Doisneau was one of France’s favorite sons and is still one of its most well-known photographers. No small feat in a country that also claims Cartier-Bresson, and Atget.

Born 100 years ago just before WWI, Doisneau got his first Rolleiflex TLR camera around 1931, and started photographing the neighborhoods of Paris. During the Second World War, he joined the French Resistance and even documented the liberation of Paris. The Parisian streets were his home and he got to know their inhabitants like family. Their lives became his wellspring.

“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.”  – Robert Doisneau, “The Encyclopedia of Photography.” (1984)

He developed an uncanny ability to capture precious gems in the fleeting currents of everyday life. A glance, a kiss, a smirk . . . he stalked them. Usually from afar, but sometimes up close, his images transport us to that moment on the street, at the café, in the schoolroom, and he serves as the conduit for us to make an emotional connection with his subjects in another time and place.

L’information scolaire, Paris 1956 – Robert Doisneau
(image courtesy of Abbaye de Stavelot)

If Paris was a family, then Doisneau was that crazy uncle who always took out his camera when you all got together. And the 400,000-plus negatives he left behind read like a family photo album spanning the years.

One of several rooms dedicated to the Doisneau exhibition.
(photo by Lance Aram Rothstein)

This exhibition has many highlights. Most people have seen Doisneau’s iconic street photography and there’s plenty of that here to peruse. His photographs of children playing in the street are particularly poignant, because capturing such images of childhood innocence in today’s jaded society is becoming more and more difficult. A middle-aged man in a park, wearing rumpled clothes and carrying a big camera is looked at with suspicion these days rather than as a documentarian. And taking candid pictures of unfamiliar children can even be downright dangerous in some circumstances.

Les frères, rue du Docteur Lecène, Paris 1934 – Robert Doisneau
(image courtesy of Abbaye de Stavelot)

His portraiture is equally compelling and the many examples here allow the photographer to introduce us to some of the most famous names of the last century. The framed images of artists like Jean Tinguely, Picasso and Giacometti seem like windows into the minds of the artists themselves.

Jean Tinguely – Portrait of the Artist 1959 – Robert Doisneau
(photographed at the exhibition by Lance Aram Rothstein)

Some of his later,  lesser-known works give us a glimpse into the world of high society and feature the socialites of the era. But, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, he hasn’t treated these subjects any differently than the common concierges. This doesn’t mean he saw the rich with a disdainful eye; on the contrary, it just serves to highlight the fact that he had been treating the Parisian street-dwellers with dignity and respect from the start.

Doisneau’s proof sheets in the exhibition.
(photo by Lance Aram Rothstein)

The standout of the show though, is the unique opportunity to view Doisneau’s photographs of Belgium. An exclusive for the Abbey’s exhibition, most of these have never been published and are seldom seen.  We are even offered clues into the photographer’s process with access to some of his “proof sheets.” And for those gear-geeks among us, you can also see one of the Rolleiflex cameras and some of the cataloging boxes used by the photographer himself.

Display showing Doisneau’s camera.
(photo by Lance Aram Rothstein)

Another rare offering here are a small group of color photographs, including some outtakes from a 1960 Fortune Magazine assignment on Palm Springs. Clearly not his strongest work, it almost seems as if Doisneau has been snatched out of his black & white, European universe and plopped-down in Technicolorville on planet California. The vistas and pretty colors are pleasing, but it feels a bit like listening to Mick Jagger attempt to rap. Doisneau tries to do his usual thing, but it results in a different animal all-together. Though, like an animal oddity, these curiosities do draw the eye and spark intrigue.

Display of Doisneau’s Palm Springs pictures.
(photo by Lance Aram Rothstein)

This exhibit displays a diverse selection of photographs from a man whose creative eye has helped form our collective vision of the world we live in. Doisneau pictured life as a series of tableaux, and there is some controversy surrounding the revelation that he actually had a hand in “staging” some of these tableaux, such as his most famous image, Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville.  This may detract from the romance in some people’s minds, but there’s plenty of romance in his pictures to go around, and nothing can diminish the impact these photographs have already had on the world.

Visitors appreciating Doisneau’s work.
(photo by Lance Aram Rothstein)

Doisneau lived to see the rise of digital cameras and the proliferation of mass imagery. Today, we are bombarded with digitized photographs from every angle, 24/7. It’s nearly impossible to make a photograph that will actually grab anyone’s attention, yet editors and designers continue shoveling them out with apparent disregard. Doisneau commented regarding some of the people proliferating these images, saying they are “unaware of the hidden power of photographs.” Yet, even today, the power of Doisneau’s photographs cannot be hidden.

July 2012 ~ Lance Aram Rothstein

IF YOU GO: This is an unsolicited review, but here are some links and other info for those interested:

Link to their official site.

Located about 45 minutes (driving) south of Liège, the village of Stavelot is surrounded by scenic landscapes and protected nature preserves. The museum at Abbaye de Stavelot is a charming venue, built near the foundation remains of an 11th century abbey and actually houses four separate museums. In addition to their impressive temporary exhibits (see their previous Warhol exhibition), they also offer  The Museum of the Principality of Stavelot-Malmédy,  the Guillaume Apollinaire Museum and the Spa-Francorchamps Racetrack Museum.

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FANCLUB 13

Relationship XLIV – “Save your Kisses for the Saturdays of Summer”, a photo by LANCEPHOTO on Flickr.

Collage Relationship XLIV was completed and left on Sunday 7/22/2012 on Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud in the 11th arrondissement in Paris, France.
While staying in Paris for the weekend and visiting the Montparnasse Cemetery, this collage was made using the back side of the LP “Exitos del Verano”.

I collected most of the material as trash from the streets of Paris during my visit there. – Notably, a small post-it message to Charles Baudelaire I found beside his grave. (note: I purposefully selected this particular item because it had already been blown off the grave slab and was likely to blow farther or be picked up as trash.) It says (in French) “For Charles, The greatest poet in the world. With Gratitude” – it is signed but I can’t quite make out the…

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