The exhibition constructs five independent spaces from five thematic perspectives, and the layout cleverly echoes the image of urban life – the “streets” meander around the “monuments”, along the “rivers” through the “parks”, and finally lead to the open “squares”. These five interrelated exhibition areas break the traditional linear exhibition logic, creating an immersive experience that is both limited and full of exploratory fun, as if walking through a three-dimensional picture of a modern city.
Architects Lucie Rebeyrol and Ian Ollivier use a series of urban prototype structures to metaphorically represent the modern city in transformation. The plywood walls not only echo the temporary enclosures at the construction site, but also form a dialogue with rough building materials such as cinder blocks and lifting slings – these elements are cleverly dissolved in the original concrete structure of the exhibition hall. The entire installation is based on the ground floor of the building and extends along a symbolic central corridor. This path alludes to the time and space bond between the old city of Paris and the emerging metropolitan area. In the exhibition space, the lime-toned fabrics are like the stone texture of traditional Parisian buildings, which not only unifies the visual language of the five themed exhibition areas, but also gives these urban fragments a heavy historical texture.
The exhibition is jointly presented by Ateliers Médicis, the French National Center for Plastic Arts (Cnap), Magasins Généraux, the Métropole du Grand Paris and the Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris. The exhibition, entitled “Regards du Grand Paris”, brings together the works of 38 artists who participated in the National Photography Commission project of the same name jointly initiated by Ateliers Médicis and the National Center for Plastic Arts from 2016 to 2021. These works are not only publicly displayed for the first time in the exhibition, but also return to their creative source in the form of images – the Paris metropolitan area that witnessed the birth of these artistic perspectives.
he artists’ works are presented in the form of immersive thematic exhibitions at the Magasins Généraux Creative Center, guiding the audience on a visual journey to explore Greater Paris. The exhibition uses a multi-dimensional perspective to deeply explore the public space texture, cultural landscape changes and cultural ecological evolution of this area, and keenly captures the opportunities and challenges faced by this metropolis in continuous transformation.
▼More images ©Max Hart Nibbrig
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