I Prefer Paris

Sophie Calle Prenez soin de vous

If you received an unexpected, devastating email (not even a letter, mind you) from your lover breaking up with you, what would you do? Probably cry, be by yourself for days and not want to talk to anyone. Not artist Sophie Calle. At a loss in not knowing how to answer the email, she decided to share it with 107 women of different professions and see what their interpretation was. The result is a fascinating, brilliant show of videos letters, texts, photos, and drawings all analyzing and advising Calle what to do. Part of the brilliance of the exhibit is having it the magnificent, stately Labrouste reading room of the Bibliotheque Nationale giving it an added literary dimension. Videos with legendary Jeanne Moreau, aging bimbo Ariel Dombassy, quirky Laurie Anderson, and Spanish siren Victoria Abril among others are insightful, humorous, and sometimes moving. One with a woman dragging out blow up sex dolls and doing demonstrations with dildos is a hoot. On a more serious note, a lawyer advises Calle in a point-by-point analysis on how she may be able to sue him for financial damages based on certain statutes. What makes it so rich is the variety of professions the women she asked to participate: lawyer, actress, clown, opera singer, songwriter, painter, stand up comedian, police commissioner, performance artist and others.

Read the full letter in English so you make your own interpretation and then post it in the comments section.

Put this and the Richard Serra exhibit at the top of your Paris must do list.

Take care.

Prenez soin de vous till June 15
Bibliotheque Nationale Richelieu
81 rue Richelieu, 2nd arr.
Metro: Bourse, Palais Royal, or Pyramides
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 10AM- 8PM,Thursday10AM-10PM
Sunday 12PM- 8PM

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Richard Serra’s Promenade for Monumenta 2008 at the Grand Palais

Spellbinding.

That’s the best word I can use to describe the Mounmenta 2008 Richard Serra Promenade exhibit at the Grand Palais.

Monumenta is a three-year series of art exhibitions where the Grand Palais invites a major international artist to display his work. The organizers promote it as a challenge, since the artist has to fill the largest existing ironwork and glass structure in the world, a Belle Epoque style palace built in 1900, measuring a whopping 162,000 square feet. Last year it was the incredible Anselm Kiefer Falling Stars and in 20010 it will be Christian Boltanski.

My friend Diane Pernet went to the opening on Monday, where Richard Serra spoke about the installation. He said his favorite time to see it was at night, as it takes on a much different feel to it then the daytime.

I went last Friday night at about 10PM with Diane and some friends. It was a beautiful clear, balmy spring night. Once I walked into the exhibit, I was awestruck. It was almost devoid of people and the silence of the vast space struck me. Five tall metal, slightly curved, walls towered over me and I was filled with peace and solitude, much like the experience of being in a sacred religious temple. I walked around for about an hour, viewing from it from every angle I could, and each place I stood was a unique opportunity to marvel this masterpiece.


Looking above at the complex, spiraling skylight, outside the French flag was waving. It took my breath away. It reminded me again how lucky I am to be living in this amazing city, a place that symbolizes art and beauty more then any other place I’ve ever been.

There’s not much else to say than this is a must if you are in Paris in the next month.

Monumenta 2008:Richard Serra Promenade
May 7 till June 15
Grand Palais
Ave Winston Churchill, 8th arr.
Metro: Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau
Monday & Wednesday 10AM-7PM
Thursday to Sunday 10AM-11PM
Tickets http://www.fnacspectacles.com/recherche/rechercheRapide.do?search=monumentaa>

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Best of EPP:Christian Lacroix, Histoires de Mode

I'm taking a blogging siesta for a few weeks and posting some of my favorite and your favorite former posts. Enjoy, and will have all new posts starting again on Monday, April 14.

I am a pushover for costume exhibits and Christian Lacroix’s Histoires de Mode nearly knocked me to the ground. Give me some flounces, frills and feathers and I am a happy camper. Lacroix provided them in spades.

The new show at the Musee de Decoratifs is one of the best I’ve seen in years. The museum in the past few seasons has had some innovative, clever costume shows including the Jean Paul Gaultier/Regine Chopinot: Le DéFilé and Balenciaga Paris shows, but thanks to Lacroix, it has surpassed itself by light years with this eye popping visual orgy of color, pattern, and exquisite craftsmanship.

Consisting of 30 vitrines on 2 floors, the timeline is from the late 1800’s till the present. The almost overwhelming exhibit starts with the basics, the first 2 vitrines only showing white clothes on hangers on a simple rolling rack. Then the carnival of color and texture starts in the following room with a series of categories with names of patchwork, historique, noir, lame, fleurs coloeurs, texture, and mixages and each one was fantastically showing off it’s name. The usual suspect designers including Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, Vionnet, Dior, Pierre Cardin, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Gres, Martin Mangiela, and many more too numerous to mention, were well represented.

The cherry on the cake of the exhibit was 3 of Lacroix’s creations in front of each vitrine, thus still giving him a much deserved retrospective of his master works and showing his genius. I tried singling out some favorites/standouts but it was like trying to pick your favorite color M&M.


Lacroix himself was there giving interviews, surprisingly dressed in a dark jacket and jeans, as I was expecting him to dress as flamboyantly as his creations.

In addition to being one of the most brilliant designers and couturiers of our time, Lacroix can now add great curator to his resume.

Christian Lacroix, Histories de Mode
Le Musee de Decoratifs
107 Rue de Rivoli
Tuesdays to Fridays from 11AMto 6PM
Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m
Open till 9PM on Thursdays.Closed on Mondays
Metro: Palais Royal/Musee de Louvre
Till April 27,2008
http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/

Lacroix,the genius

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Best of EPP:Ten Insider Tips for Paris Museums & Monuments

I'm taking a blogging siesta for a few weeks and posting some of my favorite and your favorite former posts. Enjoy, and will have all new posts starting again on Monday, April 14.

Visiting Paris museums and monuments are the things you most want to do here. However, they can be crowded, overwhelming, and expensive. Here are 10 insider tips to make it smooth,efficient, and sometimes cheaper.

1. Go at Night
Some of the larger museums are open at night.
• The Louvre- Wednesday & Friday till 10PM( but they start chasing you out by 9:30PM)
• D’Orsay- Thursday till 9:45
• Quai de Branly- Thursday till 9:30PM
• Palais de Tokio- 11:30PM every night except Monday

2. Go Early
The Louvre opens at 9AM, so be an early bird and catch the Mona Lisa first

3. Buy Advance Tickets or a Museum Pass
You can buy advanced tickets in person or on the internet for most museums, monuments, and exhibits at Fnac

Museum Pass-If you plan on going to at least 2 museums a day, than a pass is a no-brainer and you cut through the lines.
Passes are good at over 50 museums & monuments in Paris & surrounding areas.
2 day Pass- 30 euros
4 Day Pass-45 euros
6 day Pass-60 euros
Available at most museums
Click here for official site www. Parismuseumpass.com

You can also order in advance and have passes delivered to your home or hotel for an additional cost.
http://www.gotoparis.net/musee.html

4.Fast Louvre Tickets
Inside the Carrousel de Louvre (the shopping mall in the Louvre) there is a Tabac that sells tickets.Closed on Tuesdays.

5.Metro Stop for the Louvre
The metro stop is Palais Royal-Musee de Louvre off the 1 & 9 lines, not the Louvre-Rivoli stop.

6.Free Admission
Many Paris museums are free on the first Sunday of the month. Click here for the list.

7. Small Museums with Free Admission
Some of the best Paris museums are small gems with free admission.
Click here for list- http://parisnotes.com/museums/parismuseums.html

8.Fastest Entry to Eiffel Tower
The fastest way to get into the Eiffel Tower and bypass the lines, is to make reservations at Altitude 95 restaurant on the first floor.
Instructions
• Call Altitude 95 @ 01 45 55 20 04 and make reservations as far in advance as possible .Ask for window seats. Average price per meal :50 euros per person.
• When you arrive, go to kiosk on the left between the legs of the tower, when you are facing the front.

9. Guided Tours of Louvre, D’Orsay, & Versailles
The most informative and efficient way to see The Louvre, D’Orsay, & Versailles is to go on a private or group tour.

Group Tours Given by the Museum
Louvre- Tours are in English and last 90 minutes.
Times: 11AM, 2PM, & 3:45PM everyday except Sundays & Tuesdays.
Cost: 5 euros in addition to entry fee.

Musee D’Orsay- Tours are in English and last 90 minutes.
Times: 11:30AM &2:30PM everyday except Monday.
Cost: 7.50 euros in addition to entry fee.

Versailles- Tours of private rooms are in English and last 90 minutes.
Times: 11AM, 1PM, 2PM, & 3:45PM everyday.
Cost: 7.50 euros in addition to entry fee.

I highly advise tours with a private guide and can recommend some excellent, very experienced ones. Email me and I will send you their information.

10. Best View of Paris-Bell Tower at Notre Dame
Climb 250 steps up the bell tower and see where Quasimodo rang those bells. Most experts and historians say this is the best view of Paris, showing mostly the older part of the city.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about including small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

As I mentioned in my San Sebastian post the other day, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Guggenheim Bilbao.

From the day it opened in 1997, the Guggenheim Bilbao has been high on my travel destination list and I was excited by finally having the opportunity to see it. We took the pleasant, comfortable bus coach from San Sebastian and arrived in Bilbao in an hour and ten minutes. We hopped a tram near the bus station for the short ride to the museum, and the little we saw of the city was lackluster and architecturally uninteresting.

Posed upon a murky green river against a modern suspension bridge, the museum, a glass and titanium layered behemoth, is a stunner. The gray hues of the building meshed into the gray clouds above, created a perfect neutral palette for photo taking. I slowly walked around the perimeter of the amazing structure, taking pictures from every conceivable angle and every few steps finding another breathtaking shot. The 30-foot Louise Bourgeois steel and marble sculpture Maman, the largest spider I’ve ever seen, loomed over the landscape with a menacing presence. After 20 minutes of clicking away the outside, we were ready to enter the museum but couldn’t find the entrance or even a sign for it. Finally, there was a small, almost undetectable sign pointing to the entrance, which was up a long stairway. After schlepping up the tiring stairway, we had to go down another one to get to the entrance. We were peeved about how un-user friendly the museum was. In between the stairways was the massive and amusing Jeff Koons Puppy of green leaves and planted red, yellow, white, and orange flowers. It looked like a Chia pet experiment gone very wrong.

Once inside, we were so exhausted from trying to find the entrance, we decided to have a nice, long lunch for Rosemary’s birthday in the museum restaurant. The very tasty and well-executed three-course lunch with wine was an excellent food value for 18 euros.

Finally, we were ready to take in the art. Oddly enough the dramatic and strong lines of the outside of the building didn’t translate to the inside. Exhibition spaces were a hodgepodge of disjointed rooms with no flow. The best piece in the museum was Jenny Holzer’s “Installation for Bilboa, 1997”, a mesmerizing electronic sculpture. Going almost from floor to ceiling, the six, narrow message board towers spelled out English and Spanish messages in red on the front and Euskadi messages in blue on the back. The reflection of the blue words against the back wall creates a lunar-like atmosphere.

Jenny Holzer Installation,1997

I love Richard Serra’s sculptures, but like too much of a good thing, too many of them fill a cavernous room and become repetitive, losing their uniqueness.

The current show, Art in the U.S.A.: 300 years of Innovation, was a generic, mish-mosh of American artists (even the title is uninspired) from Sargent to Warhol, and looked like the permanent collection of most decent American county museums.

With all the pomp and circumstance of Richard Gehry’s showy architecture, it seems as though the art in the Guggenheim Bilbao took a major back seat to the design. Like a Hollywood starlet, she’s beautiful on the outside, but much ado about nothing on the inside.

For more photos, click on the Guggenheim Bilbao photo album on the right sidebar

Guggenheim Bilbao
Bilbao, Spain

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Les Sapins de Noel des Createurs is a fabulous exhibit of Christmas trees by top fashion & interior designers. Festive creations by Gaultier, Chanel, Paul Smith, D-Squared, Kenzo, Valentino, Sonia Rykiel, Castelbajac, Hermes, Swarovski, and many others adorn the sterile lobby of the Ministry of Culture and turn it into Christmas wonderland. The trees go to auction and the proceeds benefit the Sol en Si association, which assists children with HIV or AIDS and their families.

Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication
182, rue Saint Honore, 1st arr.
Metro: Palais Royal
Monday-Friday 9-7pm, free entrance
Till January 2

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

I stumbled on a new exhibition space for the 30th anniversary for Yves St. Laurent’s Opium perfume with my good friend Sharon Haver from New York on Sunday. Set behind some ominous gates of one of those amazing but all too common 17th century mansions in the Marais, there was a subtle sign in front of it that said Opium. Curious to see what this was, a genial young man standing outside waved us in to see the space.

Inside was a fantasy loft space dedicated the Yves St. Laurent’s world of Opium. The intoxicating smell of the cinnamon scent permeated the room along with oversized fashion photos and cartoon close-ups of master Yves himself. A large square structure in the middle of the room with black lacquered walls embossed with flowers and cinnabar archways contained pedestals with different Opium products. The perimeter of the space was flanked with tall vertical rows of black branches dramatically lit from behind by red & white light. On one side were three dark intimate rooms and one, with rice paper lanterns, was the “den” where you could lie on chaise and be sprayed and brushed with “opium”. One of the other rooms had a video with images of far away mystical places.

An inviting stairway leads you upstairs to a lounge area with tea tables and low furniture. Coffee table books and current fashion & design magazines were stacked on the floor so one can enjoy them while sipping tea.

Ensconced in this world of sensual pleasure for all the senses, it was hard to leave.

Opium Express
46 rue de Sevigne (off Parc Royal), 3d arr.
Open Tuesday- Sunday 10am to 7:30pm
Until Jan. 20th
Metro: St. Paul

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

I am a pushover for costume exhibits and Christian Lacroix’s Histoires de Mode nearly knocked me to the ground. Give me some flounces, frills and feathers and I am a happy camper. Lacroix provided them in spades.

The new show at the Musee de Decoratifs is one of the best I’ve seen in years. The museum in the past few seasons has had some innovative, clever costume shows including the Jean Paul Gaultier/Regine Chopinot: Le DéFilé and Balenciaga Paris shows, but thanks to Lacroix, it has surpassed itself by light years with this eye popping visual orgy of color, pattern, and exquisite craftsmanship.

Consisting of 30 vitrines on 2 floors, the timeline is from the late 1800’s till the present. The almost overwhelming exhibit starts with the basics, the first 2 vitrines only showing white clothes on hangers on a simple rolling rack. Then the carnival of color and texture starts in the following room with a series of categories with names of patchwork, historique, noir, lame, fleurs coloeurs, texture, and mixages and each one was fantastically showing off it’s name. The usual suspect designers including Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, Vionnet, Dior, Pierre Cardin, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Gres, Martin Mangiela, and many more too numerous to mention, were well represented.

The cherry on the cake of the exhibit was 3 of Lacroix’s creations in front of each vitrine, thus still giving him a much deserved retrospective of his master works and showing his genius. I tried singling out some favorites/standouts but it was like trying to pick your favorite color M&M.


Lacroix himself was there giving interviews, surprisingly dressed in a dark jacket and jeans, as I was expecting him to dress as flamboyantly as his creations.

In addition to being one of the most brilliant designers and couturiers of our time, Lacroix can now add great curator to his resume.

Christian Lacroix, Histories de Mode
Le Musee de Decoratifs
107 Rue de Rivoli
Tuesdays to Fridays from 11AMto 6PM
Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m
Open till 9PM on Thursdays.Closed on Mondays
Metro: Palais Royal/Musee de Louvre
Till April 27,2008
http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/

Lacroix,the genius

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

It was Paris contemporary art week last week, which included FIAC 2007, one of the largest annual art fairs, smaller satellite fairs like Show-Off and various gallery openings all over the city. I ended the busy week with going to a fun and lively opening called Graffiti at Magda Danysz Gallery near the Bastille in the 11th arr.

I had been invited to a private dinner last Sunday at the gallery for a preview of the show, where the artists were just beginning to paint a series of murals on the walls. I instantly hit it off with one of the artists, a fellow Brooklynite from Williamsburg, Maya Hayuk, and bonded immediately, talking about art, life in NY & Paris and other things that touched our hearts. The new, vast 3-floor gallery space is sparse with just simple fluorescent tube lighting, and is located in an up and coming fringe area for galleries, between the Marais and Bastille. Magda Danysz, the owner, is a smart, charming and ambitious art entrepreneur, who not only owns the gallery but also produced and created Show-Off, the alternative art fair to FIAC.

Vivacious Magda Danysz

Maya Hayuk,The Evening's Star

Artist in Residence

Graffiti is described as an exhibition that shows the cultural impact graffiti has today and how it is one of the most powerful art movements in recent history. The sketchy, unformed shapes and forms I had seen on Sunday had been transformed into stunning, stimulating art. Maya’s mural, vibrant, complex, and a little psychedelic, was reminiscent of Peter Maxx at his best. Fellow artist Nunca from San Paolo, painted a smashing and richly detailed wall of wood with shapes of food and body parts. There was even a work in progress, as one of the artists was on a ladder still painting his masterpiece. I bought Maya’s wonderful child-like storybook of her work. “Just Good Vibes”, and she lovingly signed it “Richard, You have Good Vibes”.

I want to thank my good friend Patrice Snoeck for introducing me to Magda and for my fun experience on Sunday and Thursday night.

Graffiti
Galerie Magda Danysz
78 rue Amelot, 75011
Open Tuesday to Friday, 11AM to 7PM
Saturday 2PM to 7PM
Metro: St. Sebastien Froissart, line 8
Till November 18
Tel. 01.45.83.38. 51
www.magda-gallery.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Dear Subscribers,
You might have missed this important post the other day because it was on the bottom of the Techno Parade post. I look forward to your comments and feedback.


The opening of Vincent Gagliostro’s exhibition “If I Should Lose You” last Thursday night, was a fun and glamorous affair. The Champagne flowed and the chatter was high as friends, clients, groupies, and even some unexpected surprise guests came to celebrate Vincent’s first Paris exhibition.

The ambitious show of paintings, drawings, photos and one video is about loss on a personal and global level. Although it’s about loss, it was not depressing and evoked a sense of reflection of loss rather than the sadness of it.

Most of the crowd was fixated on the wall of 144 small abstract framed photographs. The affordable (80 euros) and accessible photos printed on high gloss metallic paper have a unique interactive approach: when someone purchases one, they write on a card something or someone they have lost and place the card where the picture hung. When the crowd cleared, they had happily decimated the wall and left their messages behind.


The Great Wall - of photographs.

The centerpiece of the show is a wall of eight stunning floor to ceiling drawings of graphite, collage and latex on Japanese drawing paper.

The video has powerful images that jump from Peter Pan to an extreme close-up of George Bush, to innocent young boys at the sea with a haunting, score that includes music from Maria Callas and Nina Simone’s “If I Should Lose You”. I love the juxtaposition of the sometimes harsh, in your face images with the romantic music in the background. A large part of the video focuses on Vincent Galgliostro’s work as an AIDS activist in New York in the early 90’s and shows scenes from ACT-UP demonstrations (ACT-UP is a controversial AIDS organization that powerfully changed the face of the disease) and movingly commemorates friends he lost to the epidemic.

The Glamorous Crowd

Roger Nilsson,Man of Evening Vincent Gagliostro, Alain Chiglien, and Moi

Michael O'Brien, Vincent & Diane Pernet

Hollywood Glamour- Christos and Advice Goddess Amy Alkon from LA

Artist Rosemary Flannery and Moi

My Eye Prefer Paris tour clients Kathy, Emily, Jenny, and K.C.

Chic Paris Boys

Patricia LaPlante Collins

There was even some star power: French superstar and actress Carole Bouquet, who is a client of the gallery owned by Alain Chiglien and Roger Nilsson, had innocently dropped by the gallery on Tuesday to drop off some home made jelly she made for them. She ended up spending almost 45 minutes marveling at the work and sadly said could not attend the opening but promised she would come back to see the show.

Carol Boquet

Don’t miss this moving, provocative and highly personal show.

If I Should Lose You
Exhibit till October 13
Galerie NEC/Nilsson & Chiglien
117 rue Vielle du Temple
01.42.77.88.83
Tuesday-Saturday 11-7:30PM
Metro: St. Paul, Filles du Calvaire
gagliostro.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Guggenheim Bilbao

As I mentioned in my San Sebastian post the other day, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Guggenheim Bilbao.

From the day it opened in 1997, the Guggenheim Bilbao has been high on my travel destination list and I was excited by finally having the opportunity to see it. We took the pleasant, comfortable bus coach from San Sebastian and arrived in Bilbao in an hour and ten minutes. We hopped a tram near the bus station for the short ride to the museum, and the little we saw of the city was lackluster and architecturally uninteresting.

Posed upon a murky green river against a modern suspension bridge, the museum, a glass and titanium layered behemoth, is a stunner. The gray hues of the building meshed into the gray clouds above, created a perfect neutral palette for photo taking. I slowly walked around the perimeter of the amazing structure, taking pictures from every conceivable angle and every few steps finding another breathtaking shot. The 30-foot Louise Bourgeois steel and marble sculpture Maman, the largest spider I’ve ever seen, loomed over the landscape with a menacing presence. After 20 minutes of clicking away the outside, we were ready to enter the museum but couldn’t find the entrance or even a sign for it. Finally, there was a small, almost undetectable sign pointing to the entrance, which was up a long stairway. After schlepping up the tiring stairway, we had to go down another one to get to the entrance. We were peeved about how un-user friendly the museum was. In between the stairways was the massive and amusing Jeff Koons Puppy of green leaves and planted red, yellow, white, and orange flowers. It looked like a Chia pet experiment gone very wrong.

Once inside, we were so exhausted from trying to find the entrance, we decided to have a nice, long lunch for Rosemary’s birthday in the museum restaurant. The very tasty and well-executed three-course lunch with wine was an excellent food value for 18 euros.

Finally, we were ready to take in the art. Oddly enough the dramatic and strong lines of the outside of the building didn’t translate to the inside. Exhibition spaces were a hodgepodge of disjointed rooms with no flow. The best piece in the museum was Jenny Holzer’s “Installation for Bilboa, 1997”, a mesmerizing electronic sculpture. Going almost from floor to ceiling, the six, narrow message board towers spelled out English and Spanish messages in red on the front and Euskadi messages in blue on the back. The reflection of the blue words against the back wall creates a lunar-like atmosphere.

Jenny Holzer Installation,1997

I love Richard Serra’s sculptures, but like too much of a good thing, too many of them fill a cavernous room and become repetitive, losing their uniqueness.

The current show, Art in the U.S.A.: 300 years of Innovation, was a generic, mish-mosh of American artists (even the title is uninspired) from Sargent to Warhol, and looked like the permanent collection of most decent American county museums.

With all the pomp and circumstance of Richard Gehry’s showy architecture, it seems as though the art in the Guggenheim Bilbao took a major back seat to the design. Like a Hollywood starlet, she’s beautiful on the outside, but much ado about nothing on the inside.

For more photos, click on the Guggenheim Bilbao photo album on the right sidebar

Guggenheim Bilbao
Bilbao, Spain

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Les Sapins de Noel des Createurs

Les Sapins de Noel des Createurs is a fabulous exhibit of Christmas trees by top fashion & interior designers. Festive creations by Gaultier, Chanel, Paul Smith, D-Squared, Kenzo, Valentino, Sonia Rykiel, Castelbajac, Hermes, Swarovski, and many others adorn the sterile lobby of the Ministry of Culture and turn it into Christmas wonderland. The trees go to auction and the proceeds benefit the Sol en Si association, which assists children with HIV or AIDS and their families.

Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication
182, rue Saint Honore, 1st arr.
Metro: Palais Royal
Monday-Friday 9-7pm, free entrance
Till January 2

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Opium Express

I stumbled on a new exhibition space for the 30th anniversary for Yves St. Laurent’s Opium perfume with my good friend Sharon Haver from New York on Sunday. Set behind some ominous gates of one of those amazing but all too common 17th century mansions in the Marais, there was a subtle sign in front of it that said Opium. Curious to see what this was, a genial young man standing outside waved us in to see the space.

Inside was a fantasy loft space dedicated the Yves St. Laurent’s world of Opium. The intoxicating smell of the cinnamon scent permeated the room along with oversized fashion photos and cartoon close-ups of master Yves himself. A large square structure in the middle of the room with black lacquered walls embossed with flowers and cinnabar archways contained pedestals with different Opium products. The perimeter of the space was flanked with tall vertical rows of black branches dramatically lit from behind by red & white light. On one side were three dark intimate rooms and one, with rice paper lanterns, was the “den” where you could lie on chaise and be sprayed and brushed with “opium”. One of the other rooms had a video with images of far away mystical places.

An inviting stairway leads you upstairs to a lounge area with tea tables and low furniture. Coffee table books and current fashion & design magazines were stacked on the floor so one can enjoy them while sipping tea.

Ensconced in this world of sensual pleasure for all the senses, it was hard to leave.

Opium Express
46 rue de Sevigne (off Parc Royal), 3d arr.
Open Tuesday- Sunday 10am to 7:30pm
Until Jan. 20th
Metro: St. Paul

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Christian Lacroix, Histoires de Mode

I am a pushover for costume exhibits and Christian Lacroix’s Histoires de Mode nearly knocked me to the ground. Give me some flounces, frills and feathers and I am a happy camper. Lacroix provided them in spades.

The new show at the Musee de Decoratifs is one of the best I’ve seen in years. The museum in the past few seasons has had some innovative, clever costume shows including the Jean Paul Gaultier/Regine Chopinot: Le DéFilé and Balenciaga Paris shows, but thanks to Lacroix, it has surpassed itself by light years with this eye popping visual orgy of color, pattern, and exquisite craftsmanship.

Consisting of 30 vitrines on 2 floors, the timeline is from the late 1800’s till the present. The almost overwhelming exhibit starts with the basics, the first 2 vitrines only showing white clothes on hangers on a simple rolling rack. Then the carnival of color and texture starts in the following room with a series of categories with names of patchwork, historique, noir, lame, fleurs coloeurs, texture, and mixages and each one was fantastically showing off it’s name. The usual suspect designers including Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, Vionnet, Dior, Pierre Cardin, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Gres, Martin Mangiela, and many more too numerous to mention, were well represented.

The cherry on the cake of the exhibit was 3 of Lacroix’s creations in front of each vitrine, thus still giving him a much deserved retrospective of his master works and showing his genius. I tried singling out some favorites/standouts but it was like trying to pick your favorite color M&M.


Lacroix himself was there giving interviews, surprisingly dressed in a dark jacket and jeans, as I was expecting him to dress as flamboyantly as his creations.

In addition to being one of the most brilliant designers and couturiers of our time, Lacroix can now add great curator to his resume.

Christian Lacroix, Histories de Mode
Le Musee de Decoratifs
107 Rue de Rivoli
Tuesdays to Fridays from 11AMto 6PM
Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m
Open till 9PM on Thursdays.Closed on Mondays
Metro: Palais Royal/Musee de Louvre
Till April 27,2008
http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/

Lacroix,the genius

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

FIAC 2007, Show-Off, and Graffiti

It was Paris contemporary art week last week, which included FIAC 2007, one of the largest annual art fairs, smaller satellite fairs like Show-Off and various gallery openings all over the city. I ended the busy week with going to a fun and lively opening called Graffiti at Magda Danysz Gallery near the Bastille in the 11th arr.

I had been invited to a private dinner last Sunday at the gallery for a preview of the show, where the artists were just beginning to paint a series of murals on the walls. I instantly hit it off with one of the artists, a fellow Brooklynite from Williamsburg, Maya Hayuk, and bonded immediately, talking about art, life in NY & Paris and other things that touched our hearts. The new, vast 3-floor gallery space is sparse with just simple fluorescent tube lighting, and is located in an up and coming fringe area for galleries, between the Marais and Bastille. Magda Danysz, the owner, is a smart, charming and ambitious art entrepreneur, who not only owns the gallery but also produced and created Show-Off, the alternative art fair to FIAC.

Vivacious Magda Danysz

Maya Hayuk,The Evening's Star

Artist in Residence

Graffiti is described as an exhibition that shows the cultural impact graffiti has today and how it is one of the most powerful art movements in recent history. The sketchy, unformed shapes and forms I had seen on Sunday had been transformed into stunning, stimulating art. Maya’s mural, vibrant, complex, and a little psychedelic, was reminiscent of Peter Maxx at his best. Fellow artist Nunca from San Paolo, painted a smashing and richly detailed wall of wood with shapes of food and body parts. There was even a work in progress, as one of the artists was on a ladder still painting his masterpiece. I bought Maya’s wonderful child-like storybook of her work. “Just Good Vibes”, and she lovingly signed it “Richard, You have Good Vibes”.

I want to thank my good friend Patrice Snoeck for introducing me to Magda and for my fun experience on Sunday and Thursday night.

Graffiti
Galerie Magda Danysz
78 rue Amelot, 75011
Open Tuesday to Friday, 11AM to 7PM
Saturday 2PM to 7PM
Metro: St. Sebastien Froissart, line 8
Till November 18
Tel. 01.45.83.38. 51
www.magda-gallery.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

If I Should Lose You Opening

Dear Subscribers,
You might have missed this important post the other day because it was on the bottom of the Techno Parade post. I look forward to your comments and feedback.


The opening of Vincent Gagliostro’s exhibition “If I Should Lose You” last Thursday night, was a fun and glamorous affair. The Champagne flowed and the chatter was high as friends, clients, groupies, and even some unexpected surprise guests came to celebrate Vincent’s first Paris exhibition.

The ambitious show of paintings, drawings, photos and one video is about loss on a personal and global level. Although it’s about loss, it was not depressing and evoked a sense of reflection of loss rather than the sadness of it.

Most of the crowd was fixated on the wall of 144 small abstract framed photographs. The affordable (80 euros) and accessible photos printed on high gloss metallic paper have a unique interactive approach: when someone purchases one, they write on a card something or someone they have lost and place the card where the picture hung. When the crowd cleared, they had happily decimated the wall and left their messages behind.


The Great Wall - of photographs.

The centerpiece of the show is a wall of eight stunning floor to ceiling drawings of graphite, collage and latex on Japanese drawing paper.

The video has powerful images that jump from Peter Pan to an extreme close-up of George Bush, to innocent young boys at the sea with a haunting, score that includes music from Maria Callas and Nina Simone’s “If I Should Lose You”. I love the juxtaposition of the sometimes harsh, in your face images with the romantic music in the background. A large part of the video focuses on Vincent Galgliostro’s work as an AIDS activist in New York in the early 90’s and shows scenes from ACT-UP demonstrations (ACT-UP is a controversial AIDS organization that powerfully changed the face of the disease) and movingly commemorates friends he lost to the epidemic.

The Glamorous Crowd

Roger Nilsson,Man of Evening Vincent Gagliostro, Alain Chiglien, and Moi

Michael O'Brien, Vincent & Diane Pernet

Hollywood Glamour- Christos and Advice Goddess Amy Alkon from LA

Artist Rosemary Flannery and Moi

My Eye Prefer Paris tour clients Kathy, Emily, Jenny, and K.C.

Chic Paris Boys

Patricia LaPlante Collins

There was even some star power: French superstar and actress Carole Bouquet, who is a client of the gallery owned by Alain Chiglien and Roger Nilsson, had innocently dropped by the gallery on Tuesday to drop off some home made jelly she made for them. She ended up spending almost 45 minutes marveling at the work and sadly said could not attend the opening but promised she would come back to see the show.

Carol Boquet

Don’t miss this moving, provocative and highly personal show.

If I Should Lose You
Exhibit till October 13
Galerie NEC/Nilsson & Chiglien
117 rue Vielle du Temple
01.42.77.88.83
Tuesday-Saturday 11-7:30PM
Metro: St. Paul, Filles du Calvaire
gagliostro.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com