Do you have someone close to you who regularly gives you the same gift, tie or other scented candle? Well, next September, the Pont-Neuf will become “The Pont Neuf Wrapped”, the Pont-Neuf “empaqueté” or “packaged”. Like a sense of deja vu…
« Large rock formations temporarily connecting the right and left banks of the Seine »: the announcement was made by the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation. The installation of the visual artist JR will be “ an immersive installation inspired by the legacy of the artist couple » to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the wrapping of the monument by Christo. Behind this Luna Park side, the author of Contemporary art, manipulation and geopoliticsAude de Kerros, first sees business: “ This event will bring Christo's rating and that of JR to lifeshe explains to BV. A whole microcosm has an interest in editing. »
Systemic contemporary art
Who is this JR? To be himself, the man always wears a little hat and sunglasses and calls himself a “photograffiti”. He posts photos all over the planet in support of women, young people from the suburbs and migrants. It embraces the entire spectrum of conformism, inclusive writing included: “Displaced∙e∙s” is currently being performed in Stockholm. JR is a foal of Emmanuel Perrotin, owner of galleries in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Los Angeles. “ For several years, contemporary art has been recovering artists who are a little less “financial product”, working in street art or outsider art – but never art where form and meaning are linked. », comments Aude de Kerros.
About this —
We are here in the middle of the “contemporary art” system: globalized art responding to ideological injunctions, operating on the basis of international galleries, fairs (also international) and institutional recognition. In 2017, François Hollande inaugurated, in Clichy-Montfermeil, a work by JR, created with the virulent Ladj Ly and which has just entered the collections of the Center Pompidou. With this Pont-Neuf operation, “ JR confirms that he is moving from the rank of street-arter to the rank of official artistaccording to Aude de Kerros. It falls into the category of financial products in which one can invest. In summary, we have here a model of manufacturing a brand, its rating and its value. »
The soft power in action
By commemorating the 1985 packaging, contemporary art celebrates itself. “ Packing up the Pont Neuf, one might find it funny, part of a truly European self-mockery, but deep down, in 1985, it was making fun of Paris », analyzes Aude de Kerros. We touch on the political domain, which also explains the packaging of the Reichstag (1995). As Berlin once again became the German capital, there were fears that the monument had embarrassing historical resonances. “ By accepting that Christo packs the Reichstag in 1995, the Germans broke the fantasies around this monument, so that we would not take them seriously », Deciphers Aude de Kerros.
Likewise, when Macron accepts the packaging of the Arc de Triomphe (2021), Christo's posthumous work, he sends a message, according to her: “ France must step aside behind the European Union. There is a humiliation of France. » Conceptual art combines business and soft power (strategy of influence through culture). But whatever, the mayor of Paris is delighted. “ I am delighted with this gift offered to Paris and to all those who love it », reacted Anne Hidalgo, unconscious or complicit in this new #SaccageParis.
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