Thursday, September 06, 2018

Lights and Artwork

I was in Paris for a few days meeting my husband who flew to the States for a brief hiatus. I couldn't wait to see him again but his flight didn't arrive until the evening so I was in Paris alone for the day.
What to do?
There are some things we haven't done that I wanted to visit, but I wanted to wait for Earl so we could see them together. So I decided to visit Les Ateliers des Lumieres in Paris.
You may recall that we visited a similar exhibit in Provence back in April and I wrote about it here. I loved the exhibit in Provence of the Spanish masters and 60s pop art.
In Paris, the main exhibit is Gustave Klimt.
I walked in during the middle of the show, assaulted by walls full of flowers, bathed in the colorful light.

 Unlike the cavern in Provence, this show is presented in a warehouse, so there are doors and scaffolding. An article I read says this is a former factory.


Apparently, during the summer, the lines were out the door and around the block. Now, at the beginning of September, I waited less than five minutes before being directed to one of the ticket windows for a 14.50 euro ticket.
 I love the colors here.

You may be saying, Gustave Klimt, now which one was he? This is the painting he's most famous for. Here it's projected on a wall, and the wall next to it, and next to it...

The whole room could be transformed into a cathedral. And the floor was amazing too. 


Sometimes children would skip from flower to flower on the floor, or people would stand in the center of a spinning circle. It was definitely interactive art.


A mirrored room, with floor and walls of mirrors reflected the paintings over and over. I laid down on the floor to watch it for awhile. 
I stood against one wall and took a picture of the artwork projected on me too.

Truthfully, the still pictures are amazing, but nothing can compare to the movement. The exhibition finds the action in the paintings and adds it before moving on to more details. I can't think that the artist would be upset at the changes made to his/her artwork, instead, I have to think artists would be thrilled to have so many people immersed in it. 
So I had to include a few minutes of video from my Youtube page. 
This first video shows the opening of the Klimt exhibit.



This is a clip from the middle of the exhibit. 



The photos alone don't do it justice. There's nothing like standing in the middle of the colors and the movement.
You'll find L'Atelier des Lumieres at 38 rue Saint Maur 75 011 Paris

4 comments:

Just Me said...

I know you've given us just a taste but it's pretty fantastic.

Jeanie said...

Paulita, I have some questions for you on this -- which looks to die for. I'm planning on being in Paris October 5,6,7 and this is the only thing on my list. (Not my first Paris Rodeo!). But tell me -- do you see it start to finish or if you come in at the end can you see what you missed? How long is it? Once you're in can you stay as long as you want or do they kick you out? Are you seated on the floor, seats, above, able to move from up above to down? It looked like you were above in the video. Where do you recommend being or is it long enough you can be anywhere? I'll check the website for times, and all but would love your take. Can't WAIT to see this!

Sim Carter said...

Ah! I wish I had a good reason to ask the kinds of specific questions Jeanie is asking! It looks amazing!

Paulita said...

Just Me, Yes, it's worth a trip! Come over.
Jeanie, I'm so happy that you'll get to experience it! When you walk in, you might be in the middle of the show. There are two other short shows in between the Klimt exhibits. You can stay for as long as you want. You can watch it over and over. I recommend watching it once without taking pictures just so you can experience. I moved around to different places to figure out which was the best vantage point. Different walls have different projections, but they all end up on all the walls, just at different times. The mirrored room was cool but missed a lot of the moving artwork, so I wouldn't spend too much time there. I went up high, but I didn't think the view was great from there either. There are some seats on the balcony, but they were taken while I was there. People sat on the floor, on the stairs. Just find a big wall and watch. Take the time to stay again and see it from another vantage point. I don't think you could ever notice everything. When I was standing on the floor, I suddenly noticed an image slipping beneath my feet. That was cool too. I'd say all three productions lasted probably 45 minutes. Can't wait to hear what you think about it.
Sim, If you needed a reason to visit...

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