londonienne
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expo© S. Sampson
Making the Lightness of Being bearable
The sculptures of Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto are always unique, because they concentrate on the space inside as well as the shapes he creates. Sometimes you wander inside an installation as well as around or through one. With ‘The Edges of the World’, Neto literally stitches together different dimensions of space, inviting you to explore all of them.
This piece was created by Neto to re-open London’s Hayward Gallery...
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colour© J.P. Poulet
Seeing red for summer
The scarlet surprise of summer 2010 is architect Jean Nouvel’s bespoke pavilion in London’s Hyde Park. Tenth in a series of special commissions, his Red Sun Pavilion is meant to function as a summer wing of the Gallery. It also offers a perfect chill-out zone and rest stop for the weary traveller.
The bright red pavilion is an unqualified success. Open from late July until October, best visited late in the day wh...
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métier© S.Sampson
Electromagnetism, it’s in the Ether
The music is entitled “Icelandic Volcano”.
The players were an improvised ‘orchestra’ comprised of twenty-one theremins, including two theremin cellos, played by Jonathan Golove and Natasha Farny
Their conductor-guru and celebrity guest: Lydia Kavina, a great-niece of the quirky instrument’s inventor, Lev S Theremin. Having created the theremin in 1919, Theremin instructed Kavina in how to play it during his eig...
parisienne
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expo© Steve Sampson
Art at home with heroes
The monumental installation Leviathan Thot, by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, typifies the epic public art that makes Paris unique. As part of the Paris Festival of Autumn, it ran from 15 September to 31 December 2006. It marked the beginning of an ongoing relationship between the artist and French art-lovers.
The work was named after two opposing forces. One is Leviathan, the Book of Job’s destructive monster. The oth...
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métier© B.Lomont
Air de Paris et ère numérique
Qui suis-je ? Une photographe professionnelle. Je me consacre à l’architecture, aux portraits en reportage, aux artistes dans leurs ateliers.
Je travaille régulièrement pour la Cité d’Architecture et du Patrimoine qui propose un panorama de l’architecture et du patrimoine français à travers des collections de moulages monumentaux à l’échelle 1, des fresques en volume, des vitraux, des maquettes de l...
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Well WORTH a fresh look
The comeback of the House of Worth began in 2010 with a handful of delicate tops, then proceeded to sculptured redingotes, plus a ‘heritage remix’ of the famous fragrance Je reviens (“I’ll be back”). For spring and summer 2011, a series of lavish tutu dresses followed. In historical terms, more than merely a label has been re-awakened. Worth has a unique fashion history, one equally shared between London and P...
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Perfect Parisian style revisited
The artiste was originally known by his full name, Monsieur Henri Donat Mathieu-Yves-Saint-Laurent.
Now, he is known as both a three-letter logo on pricey lipsticks and, to costume historians, the architect of a total revolution in women’s clothing.
On this occasion, the visionary behind le smoking (the “women’s tuxedo”), safari jackets and see-through chiffon, has received a massive summer 2010 retrospective at t...
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object© Jean Sherrard
Let them eat cake…carefully
The object of desire is the fève, a special good-luck charm.
You find it during consumption of French galettes des rois, which takes place on January 6 (or the first Sunday of that month) every year in commemoration of Epiphany. Officially a commemoration of Jesus’ presentation to the Three Kings, les rois, the festivity is really rooted in winter solstice rites. It was during these that the Romans ate pastries containing...