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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 17:26:28 GMT
Yvon Lambert is one of the major modern art collectors in France. He has had a number of galleries in Paris and New York, but in recent years he settled in Avignon and opened a museum there in 2000. It became anchored there in 2008 when he decided to donate 300 pieces of his collection to the French state, with a value of 63 million euros. In the end, he donated 450 works and was given use of the Hôtel de Caumont for 20 years. It is a stunning manor that I visited a few years ago upon the insistence of one of my friends, who is from Metz and has never even been to Avignon, but he was so persuasive that I knew I had to go there. I will now confirm that the Musée Lambert is a "must see" for anyone who visits Avignon and has an interest in contemporary art. Yvon Lambert closed his New York gallery in Chelsea in 2011 and his Paris gallery is closing in December 2014, because now Avignon is the only city that interests him. But he has now donated another 556 artworks to France, leading to the closure of the Hôtel de Caumont for total renovation and extension this year. It will not reopen until summer 2015. Since his whole life is dedicated to exposing his art collection, a temporary solution had to be found. So from May 18 until November 25, 2014, he has taken over the ancient Sainte-Anne prison inside the walls of Avignon. The prison closed in 2003, and I had read that there was a plan to turn it into a luxury hotel, but the first round of bidding was a total failure. I read that there was another round of bidding in 2009 and the Marriott group bought the prison. Work was supposed to start in 2010 with an opening date of 2013. None of this ever happened, and I don't know why. In 2014 the prison remains untouched -- except for the current exhibition. I knew it didn't open until 11 a.m. but I was already walking around it an hour ahead of time. Yes, that pink blob is my finger, because I am not used to taking photos with a telephone. By 11 a.m. it was clear that I was not the only person who wanted to spend time in zonzon (that is French criminal slang for "prison").
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 17:49:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 18:35:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 18:46:53 GMT
A very important part of the experience was to see what prison conditions were really like. Just seeing that was a major slap in the face, because one of the plays that I saw (I will talk about it and the other plays later on the theatre board) was a true story about being in prison, and it mentioned stuffing a blanket in the Turkish toilet at night to keep the rats from crawling out and also dipping out all of the water during the day to push one's face down into the hole to talk to people in different cells.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 19:36:30 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 24, 2014 23:51:19 GMT
This is fascinating. I visited a museum in Avignon in 2008, but it was boring, traditional, and austere. I'm looking forward to seeing more photos, assuming you have more to post.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 4:48:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 4:52:39 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 14:24:29 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 25, 2014 14:29:36 GMT
There certainly seems to be an extraordinary amount lot of detail to take in, and I wonder how it would be to switch from thinking about prison life, to relating to the art displays, and back again.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 17:11:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 17:34:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 19:49:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 19:56:36 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 20:18:47 GMT
It was time to go, but I was extremely happy with my visit to such an unusual exhibition. There are not many occasions that one gets to see art in such an unusual venue, and I think that I would have made a special trip to see it even if I had not been going to the festival in July. Here is the official website: The Disappearance of the FirefliesInterestingly enough, just this week, the nearly identical Parisian prison "La Santé" closed for 4 years for renovation. There were television reports showing it, and it had the same squalid cells and peeling paint that I saw in Avignon, but for some reason they did not show the "celebrity" cells. Major French politicians and captains of industry have been incarcerated there but most certainly not in the same conditions. It was mentioned that during the heritage days in September, the prison will be opened for visits, and I have to admit that I am definitely tempted to make a visit, even if I already know most of the visuals.
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Post by tod2 on Jul 26, 2014 6:37:26 GMT
That was an excellent tour around the museum Kerouac! I can't say I'm a fan of Lambert's art but it does cause one to try and figure out his thinking. Thanks for the tip on the old La Sante prison opening to public for some days in September - I would like to see the interior remembering we walked past it one day, to see the only old Pissoir left in Paris. I wonder if that is still there...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2014 15:26:14 GMT
I think one of the best things about modern art is that we are allowed not to like it, unlike classical paintings by the Old Masters. If you say "I don't think Rembrandt, Da Vinci or Renoir are all that good," you could possibly be escorted out of a museum, but with this kind of stuff it is just fine to say "this makes no sense to me" or "what a waste of time" or every now and then "that's kind of cool." For this reason, I have great admiration for collectors of modern art, because they are taking real risks, just like when a few people decided to buy the Van Gogh paintings that everybody thought were terrible.
It is also true that it has perhaps become too easy to create certain things and call them "art" which is obviously what just about all of us think when we see a pile of old paper bags or broken plastic toys in a museum.
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Post by tod2 on Jul 28, 2014 16:34:11 GMT
Kerouac - I'm so releived. I don't reject everyting, but I am looking at modern art through tired old eyes and very little time to educate the "arts" in my lifetime. So glad you have the energy and curiosity to want to check it out! I can't thank you enough.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 7, 2014 16:19:36 GMT
Good grief! Can't imagine where I was or what I was doing, but I completely failed to see this BRILLIANT thread until late last night. (It was listed in "More topics from this board" at the bottom of another thread.)
Went through it twice last night & just enjoyed -- if that is the right word -- it again. Beyond the quality of the various works of art, the curating of the exposition is beyond perfect. The perfection of the matching of art work to space is an art form in itself, with art and space resonating in harmony and also individually.
I am curious about how much of the art was solicited specifically for this exhibit. The photos of people waiting for their imprisoned loved ones, for instance -- do you suppose that was already part of Lambert's collection?
Whatever, the website's lyrical description gives some insight, but your unfolding of your visit there really is an eye-opener, both to the art and to the reality of prison life. As you wrote: A very important part of the experience was to see what prison conditions were really like. Despite the empathetic feelings of despair and fear those conditions evoke, your text and and the accompanying images of Suddenly the ceiling became playful artfully balance not only truths of human existence, but gracefully bounce our consciousness back to the art work.
Thank you for enduring the heat to bring us this remarkable event!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2014 17:11:58 GMT
Thanks. Actually, I think I missed posting a few of the interesting pictures, so I will have to search my files again.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 10, 2014 16:12:57 GMT
I wish you would!
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