Palais de Tokyo: Contemporary Counterculture
January 21st, 2002: the highly-anticipated inauguration of new exhibit space at the Palais de Tokyo, sure to appease baby-boomers disenchanted with the increasingly bourgeois and conformist society. But the project doesn’t exactly adhere to the “sans toit ni loi” (“no roof, no law”) leitmotif of the 1960s cultural revolution, what with ample funding from the usual sources (Hennessy, Pioneer, Bloomberg, etc.) and subsidies from the Minister of Culture. Ladies and gentlemen, we now present the official underground art scene of Paris.
The official inauguration by Lionel Jospin and Catherine Tasca of this 4,500-square meter space was attended by hundreds of journalists, gallery directors, contemporary art specialists, and other tuned-in aficionados who wouldn’t miss it for the world. The first impression was one of chaos: did a bomb explode in the venerable Palais de Tokyo?
And does art really belong to the entire world, as the immense blank panels by Jun’ya Yamaide seems to suggest? The artist has placed hundreds of crayons at the disposition of every visitors: each person adds some words or a doodle, rediscovering the childhood pleasure of coloring.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Palais de Tokyo 13, avenue du Président Wilson. Paris 16e. Tel. 01 47 23 38 86 Open from Tuesday to Sunday from noon to midnight. Admission : 5€ (3€). Free under 18 and every first Sunday of the month.
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