May 19, 2011

Monumenta 2011







I love anything that Anish Kapoor does. I just can't help but stare wide-eyed with my mouth agape whenever I see his work. So I was thrilled to discover that he was the artist of choice for this year's Monumenta in Paris. If you aren't familiar with Monumenta here is a description from their website:

"MONUMENTA is an ambitious artistic encounter unmatched anywhere in the world, organized by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.  Each year MONUMENTA invites an internationally renowned contemporary artist to appropriate the 13,500 m² of the Grand Palais Nave with an artwork specially created for the event." 


I love Anish Kapoor's interpretation of the space in the Grand Palais with his sculpture entitled Leviathan (a reference to a sea-creature). His sculpture, true to his style, is larger-than-life and creates a sense of awe, much in the same way the architecture of the Palais does. Best of all, viewers (if you are lucky enough to live in Paris or visit between now and June 23rd) are able to enter the sculptures to experience the artwork in a more intimate way. What do you think about it? Something I wasn't sure about at first was the color choice, it seems so heavy, but the more I think about it the more appropriate it seems. I can't imagine a sculpture this size in an overbearing color (like orange or green), I think it would be too much.  And the fact that it is red on the inside creates a kind of magical feeling. Here is what Kapoor says of the color: 


'it is a single object, a single shape, a single colour. the dense red reminds us of the colours we see in our eyes at night -
unstable and monochrome - red creates much more sombre shadows, psychologically and physically, than black or blue.'

[via Design Boom]




[video via Telegraph]
[photos via Design Boom]

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