Jean-Michel Othoniel, " MY WAY "

An artist who has a passion for all sorts of metamorphoses, sublimations and transmutations, Jean-Michel Othoniel has a predilection for materials with reversible properties. From March 2, 2011, the Centre Pompidou will be the first major cultural institution to put on a one-man show of Jean-Michel Othoniel's work from the beginning of his career in 1987 to the present day, with more than 80 pieces on display.

In collaboration with the artist, the Centre Pompidou will offer a retrospective of his plastic work entitled My Way. Composed of an ensemble of 24 hitherto unseen works, the exhibition is mapped out in different stages involving research and experimentation up until the mid-90s, when Othoniel began to use sensitive materials like sulphur, phosphorus and wax, weaving his way between beauty and repulsion. The artist explores the boundary between the organic world and the natural world and questions the limits of the genre. After discovering glass, its color and the infinite artistic possibilities of the medium which combines strength and fragility, Othoniel's work took on a more sculptural quality and acquired a new monumentalism.


After the Centre Pompidou, the exhibition curated by Catherine Grenier, will travel to the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul in the summer of 2011 and then to the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo in the fall, and last to the Brooklyn Museum in New York in the spring of 2012.


Jean-Michel Othoniel was born in 1964 in Saint-Etienne, France. He lives and works in Paris.


" My Way," (reference to the song by Frank Sinatra) is not a cover version of the classic. The song evokes instead a more solitary, individual path for me. A path which is mine in part, while also amidst various movements in contemporary art that I have passed through over the last 20 years. In addition, My Way is a title that can easily be understood in countries where the exhibition will be held, that might be called a ' mid-career retrospective.'

Le Bateau de larmes, Boat of Tears, 2004

Murano glass, metal, wood

@Jean-Michel Othoniel / Galerie Perrotin, Paris

Riviere blanche, White River, 2003
Murano glass, steel
@Jean-Michel Othoniel / Adagp, Paris 2010 / Galerie Perrotin

Le noeud de Lacan, Lacan's Knot, 2009
Mirrored glass, metal
@Jean-Michel Othoniel / Adagp, Paris 2010 / Galerie Perrotin

Amant suspendu, Suspended Lover, 1999
Murano glass
@Jean-Michel Othoniel / Adagp, Paris 2010 / Galerie Perrotin

Diary of Happiness, 2008
Murano glass, lacquered wood
@Jean-Michel Othoniel / Adagp, Paris 2010, Galerie Perrotin

Les Mises a feu, 1989
Explosives fuses
@Jean-Michel Othoniel / Adagp, Paris 2010 / Galerie Perrotin

Le Petit Theatre de Peau d'Ane, Little Donkey-Skin Theatre, 2004
Ensemble composed of 4 dressing tables, glass, lacquered wood, embroideries, lace , fabric, silk
@Jean-Michel Othoniel / Adagp, Paris 2010, Galerie Perrotin

Courtesy Centre Pompidou
My Way, March 2 - May 23, 2011
Galerie Perrotin

Hedi Slimane: Anthology of a Decade

Through a collection of Hedi Slimane's photographs of the 2000s, "Anthology of a Decade" presents the journey of the iconic French designer into fashion before, during, and after his tenures at Yves Saint-Laurent (1997-1999), and Christian Dior (2000-2007). It is in this decade that critics acknowledge Slimane to have infused men's fashion with an androgynous, rock 'n' roll verve that influenced couture all over the world. In addition to his work as a fashion designer, Slimane has been involved in various other projects,  such as editor-in-chief of "Liberation," record cover creator, curator, store designer, and writer.

The four-volume anthology of Slimane's photography published this month by JRP Ringier, reveals the artist's duotone photographs mixing the music scene, street fashion, and his haute couture shows. The book also reveals his inspirations, his attention to both youth culture and classical references, and attests that his contribution to haute couture was maybe the constant refining of a line and silhouette that was to mark the culture of the 'noughties'.

Alongside the publication of Anthology of a Decade, two exhibitions are currently on view at Almine Rech Gallery, Fragments Americana in Brussels and California dreamin in Paris. Both exhibitions reflect Hedi Slimane's personal relationship with his adopted home and greatest influence on his work: Los Angeles.

Anthology of a Decade

USA

France

UK

Europe

Courtesy@Hedi Slimane, Anthology of a Decade 2000-2010, published by JPR Ringier, Zurich

Almine Rech Gallery Paris/Brussels

Tony Cragg " Figure out / Figure in " at the Louvre

As a counterpoint to the presentation at the Louvre of the first retrospective in France devoted to the Austrian sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736-1783), the museum plays host to a group of sculptures by the British contemporary artist Tony Cragg, displayed in the Cour Marly and the Cour Puget. In addition, a new sculpture by the artist, produced especially for this exhibition, features under I.M. Pei's pyramid.
A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, Tony Cragg has lived and worked in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977. Cragg has explored a wide variety of types of practice in sculpture and has made vast contributions to contemporary debates on sculpture. While his early works in the 1970s were mostly created using recovered objects, in his later work Cragg has used more traditional materials, such as wood, bronze, steel and marble, continually renewing his repertoire of forms, reaching towards an abstract appreciation of the human body.

A day at the Louvre......

Figure out / Figure in

Versus, 2010

Red wood

Ferryman, 2010

Bronze

Ferryman, 2010

and

Sharing, 2005

Accurate Figure, 2010

Bronze

Manipulation, 2010

Bronze

Red figure, 2010

Wood

Untitled, 2010
Steel

Runner, 2009

Bronze

Elbow, 2008

Wood

All images courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg

Photographs by Charles Duprat

Tony Cragg "Figure out / Figure in" is currently on view at the Louvre
From January 28 to April 25, 2011

Alexis Mabille " Sunkissed "

One of the most anticipated shows of the week is from the young French couturier Alexis Mabille. After receiving his diploma from Paris' Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in 1997, the designer who grew up in the city of Lyon, undertook apprenticeships at Ungaro and Nina Ricci fashion houses, before joining the team at Christian Dior with whom he stayed for nine years. During his time at Dior he created exquisite fine jewelry for John Galliano, as well as the Dior Homme line overseen by Heidi Slimane.

For spring-summer 2011, the Alexis Mabille woman embraces uncomplicated chic. The designer has composed a wardrobe of pieces that can be mixed and matched. Precise cuts are inspired by the lightning used by the late Irving Penn. Cotton and linen go anywhere. Jersey and silk soften leather and denim. A series of Raoul Dufy prints conjure a carefree, promising era. The ultra-feminine silhouette is adapted to an active, contemporary lifestyle, with an accent on dresses, jackets, pants, and jeans that are easy to wear. A beautiful collection with refreshing and dynamic clothes.

Women S/S 2011

Women S/S 2011 

Alexis Mabille Femme P/E 2011 from Federation francaise Couture on Vimeo.

Images courtesy Alexis Mabille

A literary affair at Le Pavillon des Lettres, Paris

Moliere, Proust and iPads, you will find them all at Le Pavillon des Lettres..... The classic Hausmann townhouse, located in the posh neighborhood of the Elysee and Place Beauvau, in the 8th arrondissement,  has been transformed into a luxury boutique-hotel. As its name implies, Le Pavillon de Lettres is a homage to literature, with 26 rooms, one for each letter of the alphabet.
Its interiors designed by Didier Benderli, whose recent work includes Petrossian in Monaco and Kitsch in New York, are subtle, chic and peaceful. Lines from a poem, play or text are an integral part of the design in every room, where a Beaudelaire text is transcribed onto a hanging canvas above the bed.
There are no room numbers here, just a letter on the door, dedicated to a different writer: from A for Andersen Hans Christian to Zola Emile. The literary theme doesn't stop there. Every iPads in each room are loaded with books, playlists and daily newspapers.

Le Pavillon des Lettres - a chic retreat for anyone who loves art and literature - is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

Courtesy Le Pavillon des Lettres, Paris