L'Homme a La Tete de Chou

Just a quick one before I go and take my plane to Singapore. Yesterday we went to see the Gainsbourg exhibition at Cité De La Musique (in La Villette). Quite an enjoyable way to waste a couple of hours browsing around the various photos and videos on display and a lot of reading material. It surely is not easy to organise an exhibition on musicians or film Directors. The most amazing I was given to see so far was the Almodóvar exhibition at Musée du Cinéma. I found this Gainsbourg exhibition to be lacking something on the extravagance, independence, exuberance of the character but it still made for an informative visit. I was particularly moved to see the famous original sculpture of l'homme a la tete de chou.

Paintings...

Voila! It is finally done. After a few days sawing, nailing, sticking, assembling wooden chassis, the aboriginal paintings I bought in Australia finally are up on my French walls. And they sit there perfectly. You actually only see a couple of them on this picture (a Ningura Napurrula from Napunya and an Antoni Janima from Stirling Station). There is also a nice bark painting that I brought back from the village of the middle of the Sentani lake (not far from Jayapura, the capital city of Western Papua). It is frustrating not to have a bigger house!

Rapa Nui, Espace Fondation EDF

I am not too sure about what has been attracting me to the Easter Island for years. I know I will visit the place one day. I actually nearly did once but I realised it was the wrong time of the year and settled on Alaska instead. It is a barren land with hardly anything to see and I am usually not particularly attracted by islands but something fascinates me with Rapa Nui. It probably is its inaccessibility and remoteness. Or it is its famous stone giants. Or maybe one of the most intriguing ways of writing, the Rongorongo. It is all there (physically, suggested or documented) at the moment at this very instructive exhibition that is taking place at the Fondation EDF, in the 7th Arrondissement until the 1st of March 2009. A must see.

Papunya Tula

As mentioned earlier in this blog, upon arrival here, I did not know very much about Aboriginal painting even though I appreciated it from day one. Visiting galleries, talking to people, reading books I am now starting to have a much better idea and comprehension of all the different movements and schools as we would call them in Europe. There are so many different styles from the Arnhem bark paintings depicting the local wildlife to the Central desert dot painting through the Western Desert amazing ochres. Visiting galleries inspire me so much but kind of make me feel dizzy because of this explosion of colours and creativity Aboriginal Artists seem to be gifted with. The most famous movement was initiated in the 70s in Kintore / Papunya station over 200 km from Alice Springs and a wonderful book which details the lives of all the contributors to the Papunya Tula movement was issued last November. Essential!

In the picture my favourite living Artist, Walangkura Napanangka.

Arthouse Movies

I just saw two very good movies back to back. I always enjoy it to ‘discover’ movies I had never heard about before. As I go there with no expectations I am rarely disappointed. First we went to the Flix festival in Darwin yesterday to watch the latest Claude Lelouch movie entitled ‘Roman De Gare’. What a plot!? I have always been a bit wary of Lelouch and don’t remember actually liking any of his movies. It’s probably due to the fact that I went to watch ‘Les Uns et Les Autres’ when it came out and let me tell you it was a real torture for a 12 year old kid. Maybe I would appreciate it now but I can’t face the idea of watching it again. As a result, ‘Roman De Gare’ came as real revelation. I would never have suspected it was a Lelouch movie.
Tonight was a completely different atmosphere, far from the twists and actions of yesterday’s flick. ‘The Band’s Visit’ is an amazing account of an Egyptian musical police band lost in a desolate Israeli town. It is based on a true story and I decided on it simply on the ground of the last lines of the synopsis: “Not many people remember this story, It was not that important”. I knew I would be in for a special story indeed!

Aboriginal Art

I have always enjoyed Aboriginal Art and even more so since I have been confronted to the amazing collection of the Ian Potter Centre in Melbourne some years back. Now that I am in the Northern Territory there is no better place to acquire a better knowledge of what is going on but also to acquire a few paintings myself. I have started to look around in a few galleries and gather information about the Art on display. Prices can easily go as high as 30 or 40 thousand dollars for some pieces. I am now keeping an eye some paintings from Walangkura Napanangka who belongs to the Pintupi people but who also is part of the famous Papunya Tula school of Artists. She amazingly only started to paint a dozen years ago but her works have already gathered quite an international acclaim. Now if you want to donate a few dollars to help me buy some paintings, feel free to do so :-)

A closer look

Here's a closer look at the 'Art' painted on the fire tank at Vopak fuel terminal in Darwin. I tried to get more information and I understood that this colourful and powerful design was painted by several aboriginal artists from the Larrakia Nation’s Art Centre. The ‘Tank Art Project’ was carried out on the instructions of Vopak and the government of the Northern Territory. The paint might not be suitable for the fuel tanks themselves and it is a shame as it would be very nice to have all them decorated as such.

Tank Art Project

Public Art is often so subtle or in reverse so 'over your face' that you sometimes do not notice it. For example, there is so much street Art in Singapore that it took me sometimes weeks to realise there was actually a sculpture located on my way to a place I used to pass by dozens of times a week. Maybe it is because I am generally less used to see Aboriginal Art in the streets but I seem to be more receptive or to notice all the displays in the Darwin area more than I would usually do. That said, it is difficult to miss the fire water tank that is located at the Port Fuel Terminal!

Tokyo Art

Tokyo surely hosts its own share of galleries and museums. From the lovely and tiny Gallery éf in Asakusa to the bigger Museum of Contemporary Arts (MOT). The latter organises its collections quarterly and while we were around the exhibition on display was concentrating on its latest acquisitions. Japanese favorites Yayoi Kusama and Yoshimoto Nara were well represented but what intrigued and delighted me the most was the video installation from Julian Opie (remember that Blur cover?). A delight for the senses. And it is ironic the most Japanese influenced works of the whole exhibition space might be from a Brit.

Fernando Botero

The Art exploration continues in the streets of Singapore. I was telling you about Niki de Saint Phalle the other day so here is one of the Botero sculptures. This one is temporary but there are quite a few of his sculptures in the streets of Singapore. Whoever is in charge of the Art commisionning for Singapore City must have had something for Botero. Actually, I read somewhere there was an exhibition organised by the Singapore Art Museum some 4 years ago and featuring at least 20 of his pieces. At over 1 Ton each, it is possible Singapore preferred to purchase them rather than paying for the shipping back and forth. (Probably not the case, but anyway...)

Art in the Streets

You could be forgiven for thinking you are in Paris. The Niki de Saint Phalle composition you can see on this picture is one of the numerous Art pieces currently displayed in the streets of Singapore. You have some imposing statues from Fernando Botero, numbers from Robert Indiana, characters from Jean-Michel Folon and other pieces scattered around the busiest streets of the City. It is quite amazing to observe the hordes of pedestrians passing by without even noticing what is on display. Shopping seems to be much more interesting...

Opera Gallery

Hidden in a corner of Ngee Ann city (Takashimaya on Orchard) you can find the Opera Gallery. It has branches in Paris, New York, London, Venice, hong Kong, etc... and is very active on the Arts scene. It is quite amazing though to discover some Picasso, Dali, Calder, Miro or Vlaminck in a small gallery like this. If it were Europe, you would have to queue and purchase an expensive ticket to view these artworks, but as it is in Singapore, it is for free and there is hardly anyone visiting the gallery.

Singapore Biennale '08

Singapore's City Hall has been invaded by maggots! No, it's not a joke...! Or is it? The Singapore Biennale '08 is on and one of the places of choice to see some of the sharpest modern Arts in the area is in the old City Hall that has temporarily been converted into an exhibition hall. Yemenite Zadok Ben-David's Blackfield, Desiree Dolron's portraits, Taiwanese E Chen's installation, Korean Jong-Gun Han's bottle gourds or Argentinian Charly Ninjensohn's video installation are some of the highlights. But the creatures nobody can avoid are the giant maggots invading the corridors leading to City Hall's former restaurant. This comes from the creative mind of Vietnamese Artist Ngoc Duong Pham. The biennale is on until the 16th of November so don't waste time...

Aboriginal Petroglyphs in the Pilbara

The Burrup Peninsula between Karratha and Dampier is recognised as the most prolific Aboriginal art site in Australia (and in the world). Over 40,000 individual rock engravings and etchings have been identified in the area. It is quite amazing to find yourself in the middle of 20,000 year old etchings in the vicinity of a booming mining as well as oil and gas industry. Thankfully all this is protected and the memory of the Ngaluma and Yindibarndi people who are traditional landowners within this region should continue to remain there for ages.

Darwin - Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory

I had time to branch to the Museum s and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory and on exhibition was the 25th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Lots of very interesting aboriginal paintings, bark paintings and three dimensionals. I was mostly impressed by a work by Suzy Evans called 'Bengerang'. Her own words describe it best: "Most signposts came to me after seeing the Sidney Nolan exhibition and after the apology. There are 57 aboriginal people and 1 Ned Kelly. A community infiltrated by outlaws".

Tucker at Heide

The big three: Nolan, Boyd and Tucker. They are like the trio of modern Australian painters which had a huge impact on Australian painting in the middle of the 20th Century. I raved about Sidney Nolan on numerous occasions on these pages. I actually discovered him some years back at the Heide Museum and the others logically followed. There currently is a great exhibition of Tucker paintings called 'Hinterland' covering his memories of the Australian landscapes while he was expatriated in Europe. Such a depth. So organic. So captivating. Another must see.

Photograph: Swans at Metung 1969.

Singapore Arts Museum

I was reading in the newspaper today how the Arts events saw a huge jump of over 25% this year in Singapore. It is absolutely fantastic when more and more people can have an easy access to Culture. Actually, there are quite a few museums in the city with a great potential. They just lack big international exhibitions and many spaces remain underused but it is true that lots of effort are put in to attract the punters and there are many festivals highlighting the various cultural fields all year long (Many music, films, modern arts, multimedia, etc, events). There are also a non negligeable quantity of Art galleries concentrating on the local Asian Art scene, which is extremely vibrant (China and Indonesia being the two hottest things worldwide right now). Another important fact is the number of school groups you never fail to notice in the museums. In my opinion, that is the major factor to develop an awareness to Arts for the future generations.

Seeing. Feeling. Being: Alberto Giacometti

I was introduced to Alberto Giacometti as a teenager through the Jean Genet biography. I have since seen quite a few sculptures and oils and canvas from the Artist but hardly a handful of drawings. The series that was showing until today at the Singapore Arts Museum based mostly on the 'Paris Sans Fin' lithographs gave me an entirely different perspective into his work. Most of them might look like rough sketches to the uninitiated but they are an excellent insight into his Parisian life, his favourite subjects and representations of man.

Awaking!

The Singapore Arts Festival is a strange thing... It is the kind of festival you would expect in the West. It is very experimental. So experimental indeed that I did not dare to see most of the performances. I am quite interested in Arts in general but it needs to talk to me and when it is a bit too off the way I have problems understanding it. Tonight's show was nothing to be scared of though. It was still a bit strange but not for being unfamiliar. The musical piece I saw, entitled Awaking, was actually more like three performances in one. Musicians from the Singapore Chinese Orchestra on one side, musicians of the British Globe theatre on the other and the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre in the middle. The bards colliding with the Ming dynasty. Shakespeare confronted to the Kunqu Opera.

A Tree Frog Pretending To Be A Warlord Frog

My two favourite artists are Japanese. Takashi Murakami and Hisashi Tenmyouya. The former has been showing a lot of his work around galleries in Europe and the States and it is pretty easy and affordable to get hold of some of his merchandising like badges or mini characters for people like me who cannot afford original artworks. The latter is more difficult to get by. The last time I saw something from him was in Berlin at the Berlin-Tokyo exhibition over two years ago. Since then... nothing. I did not even succeed in getting hold of his last Artbook nor the DVD from the 'artists at work' series that is also currently showing at Shibuya Rise cinema in Tokyo. Does it mean that I will have to travel all the way up there? I am seriously considering it...