Espace Claude Berri

On March 21st a new contemporary art space opened in Paris. The Espace Claude Berri is a newly renovated gallery space dedicated to the collection of the legendary director and producer, Claude Berri. Since the early 1970s Berri has been amassing an enormous and important collection of modern and contemporary art. Artists range from the early 20th century Italian master-painter of still lifes, Giorgio Morandi, minimalist painter of white, Robert Ryman, to artists such as Bruce Nauman, Christian Boltanski, Paul Mcarthy and photographer Yto Barrada. The space doesn't show a collective exhibition but rather has opened with a large installation by the French artist, Gilles Barbier, of what could perhpas be summed up as a sculptural fantasy of the intestinal hommage to the environmental/political/corporate destruction of the world. Espace Claude Berri plans to change exhibitions every few months so take note of a new space to check out on your regulary Marais outings. Espace Claude Berri, 8, rue Rambuteau.

Batignolles:Le Dix-Sept (17th)

Photos taken in and around the petit parc de batignolles on Easter Sunday....

Cheyney Thompson at Sutton Lane Gallery

“New Works,” is an exhibition by Cheyney Thompson at the Sutton Lane Gallery in Paris of just that, new work. It is a small show, with four oil on canvas paintings, but it is a strong show with work that forms part of a larger project, some of which is included in the current Whitney Biennial. The paintings on view demonstrate Thompson’s ongoing investigations of commodity and the marketplace, uses of repetition and media imagery, and the practice of formalist and history painting. This is the artist’s first solo show with the Paris branch of Sutton Lane. The exhibition runs through April 12, 2008.

design with conscience

Artecnica is a design firm that emphasizes a mix between art and technoogy to, as they say "elevate the value and purpose of everyday objects..." They work with various, international contemporary desginers to produce an interesting line of mostly high-end products. Based in California, they have always had a sustainable approach to design and production, but the most interesting, in my opinion is their project, "Design with Conscience," whereby they pair up a leading designer, say Dutch designers Tord Boontje or Hella Jongerius, with artisans in developing countries, in this case Rio de Janiero and Peru respectively. Working with the non profit Aid to Artisans www.aidtoartisans.org and the British Craft Council, this project creates not only a more affordable product of these designers, more importantly draws out the importance and potential of collaboration, and the links between these two types of designers, artisan and design studio. In addition, these products often have an eco-approach to materials, for example the project between Estudio Campana and artisans from rural Vietnam that uses repurposed scooter tires and natural wicker to produce a unique type of container or the tranSglass line which transforms recycled materials into a beautiful glass-like material that is then crafted by Guatemalen craftsmen into designs by Tord Boontje and Emma Woffenden. It's one of their best selling products. Take a look at their website for more information, www.artecnica.com.

Discovered:Tanya Aguiniga

Thanks to www.designspongeonline.com, the detailed mecca of design information, I just discovered the website of Tanya Aguiniga, www.aguinigadesign.com, a furniture and textile designer based in Los Angeles. The work is amazing and I needed to share the information. Tanya was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico and her work is very much influenced by the culture, border issues and community activism that surround Mexico and the US. As her website states, she is influenced by the interconnectedness of societies, the beauty in struggle and the celebration of culture. Her work encourages people to reconsider the objects they use in their daily lives. Some of my personal favorites are the objects that incorporate an element of the natural world, whether in the series of pieces using birchwood or the chairs covered in felt or the chairs built up from layers of threads which come to resemble a type of loom. The work is really different. It considers new possibilities for pillows, tables and seating. In addition she makes beautiful textile objects that are hand woven.

Eirlys Roberts

From the Guardian newspaper over the weekend I read the obituary of Eirlys Roberts, a woman who led a most interesting life. She was considered the mother of the modern British consumer movement. In 1957 she helped establish the first consumer magazine called Which? Everyone thought it would flop, but she knew the importance of this arena and worked hard to make it happen. She ended up serving as the editor until 1973. Above and beyond that she studied the classics and spoke Greek and Latin. She was always writing and involved with women's magazines early on. She joined up with the British military and political intelligence sector in the mid 1940s living in Greece and Albania, where she reported on the current wars and atrocities and helping with human rights efforts. At heart she always had the interest of the people at hand, which is what led to her lifetime involvement with consumer organizations and concerns--going as far as developing this sector for the European Economic Community. She died at 97.

I had not heard of Eirlys Roberts before yesterday, but felt lucky to have read this and learned about such a pioneering and intriguing woman. It seemed important to share.

French Ceramicist Gregoire Scalabre

French ceramicist, Gregoire Scalabre, has a fantastic new exhibition at the Galerie NeC at 117, rue Vieille du Temple. Gregoire, one of the leading ceramicists in France I am told by his associates, transforms clay, here mainly lush white porcelain, into
contemporary, sculptural work that is at times rather akin to surrealist organic forms.

The smallish, circular-like objects, titled "Temps Moderne," are a recurring form. They often have small holes pierced onto the sides or are open at the base. They suggest something between a children's rattle, an industrial plumbing device and chemistry models for molecules. He places them onto their sides or against one another, sometimes on a layer of small, pentagon shaped tiles and other times a
flat rectangular base. It's a seductive, if not unusual work that can
function alone on a pedestal, as a sculptural, stand-alone object, but
would also be lovely as an object that tied in with other household
pieces like a desk or low table, perching it just so to give it its
space, yet engage with other pieces around it.

In "Fleurs de Grand Feu," tube like shapes about 8-10inches high, sprout up from a flat, rectangular base. With a metallic like patina the piece could almost suggest a late 60s-early 1970s ceramic work. Scalabre also riffs on traditional ceramic vessels in his large cylindrical vessels with handles, or the Tony Cragg like installation of dozens of miniature, white vase-like vessels with cut out centers which are placed on a high pedestal.

Also on view are ink on paper drawings and sketches made both as studies and
preludes to the sculptural work. They are interesting studies of form
and space.

It's is clear that Gregoire is talented, very experienced and
extremely skilled with the possibilities of ceramic as a medium and its
potential to be transformed into contemporary sculpture.
I may be biased because Gregoire was my teacher during my three-month 'stage' at the Atelier de Ceramique,
where I struggled interminably on my quest for zen and just one
centered pot (not). From time to time we had the pleasure of watching
M.Scalabre while he spun his miniature vessels, one after the other from a large dome of porcelain. You can visit his website for more information, www.gregoire-scalabre.com