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October 23, 2016

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Shanghai show for Pompidou’s classic art

LOCAL art lovers have a treat in store, with a Pompidou exhibition in town until January. “Masterpieces from the Center Pompidou 1906-1977,” organized by the Center Pompidou, Paris and Shanghai Tix Media, is at the Shanghai Exhibition Center through January 15, 2017.

The Center Pompidou is named after former French President Georges Pompidou, who decreed that the vacant site of the Plateau Beaugourg be used for the construction of a multidisciplinary culture center of an entirely new type in 1969. Sadly, President Pompidou didn’t live to see this center become one of Paris’ top three iconic art venues, along with the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay.

The Shanghai exhibition showcases French art from 1906 to 1977, featuring the work of 72 artists, varying from paintings and installations to sculpture and photography.

Masterpieces on display include Picasso’s “Muse,” Matisse’s “Blue and Yellow Interior,” Chagall’s “Double Portrait with a Glass of Wine,” as well as creations considered art history icons. These include Robert Delaunay’s “Eiffel Tower” and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photograph “Behind Saint-Lazare Station,” both evoking Paris and its modernity.

One of the highlights is Marcel Duchamp’s “Bicycle Wheel,” one of the most important milestones in 20th-century sculpture.

The exhibition opened in Japan at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in June and Shanghai is the second stop on its international tour.

Laurent Le Bon, former director of the Center Pompidou-Metz, Center Pompidou’s new branch in western France, and curator of the current exhibition, explained the significance of the dates association with this exhibition: “1906 is the year which marks the advent of Fauvism in France, one of the main movements in avant-garde and the development of modern art, and a milestone for the history of 20th-century art. 1977 is the year when the Center Pompidou, designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, opened to the public.”

Unlike other exhibitions, there is a timeline for only one work per artist and per year. To emphasize the playfulness of the exhibition, the four primary colors of the Center Pompidou building in Paris are used in the scenography: blue for air pipes, green for water, red for circulation, and yellow for electricity.

However, the carefully and intricately designed exhibition hall in Shanghai still can’t make up for the limited space that houses too many works.

“I have been to the almost exhibition in Tokyo, and I have to say I prefer the atmosphere there, here it is too chaotic and crowded,” said visitor Wang Yan. “The exhibition space here can’t be compared with the professional museum space, which doesn’t give a comfortable art experience.”

Shanghai is a city the Center Pompidou never forgets.

Early in 2006, it held a press conference, announcing it would build a new branch in Shanghai showing part its collection. The site was carefully chosen on Huaihai Road M., in the heart of the former French concession. It was said to occupy an area of 10,000 square meters with a children’s gallery, a library and a gift shop.

But the plan didn’t come to fruition.

In 2005, the Center Pompidou together with the Guggenheim also planned to build a new art center in West Kowloon in Hong Kong, but that didn’t happen either.

Pompidou has been in communication with China since 2000, perhaps echoing the booming of China’s contemporary art on the international stage.

In 2003, the Center Pompidou held China’s Contemporary Art Exhibition inviting about 50 Chinese artists such as Wang Guangyi, Fang Lijun and Zhang Peili.

Two years later, “New Wave Movement — the collection from Pompidou” opened at Shanghai Museum.

“Opening a new Shanghai branch of Pompidou is always our hope, it was a pity that the project finally didn’t start,” said Didier Ottinger in 2012 during an interview when he was curating a Pompidou collection exhibition at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai.

“At that time, we all thought that it was critical to open our branches around the world, like the Guggenheim. But now we feel it is important to have more Pompidou exhibitions around the world. We are seeking our museum partners in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities.”

Now besides the new branch in Metz, the only Pompidou branch outside France is its Malaga branch in Spain. According to Michael Schischke, the director of international relations at the Center Pompidou: “It is a five-year contract, plus only one time of renewal, which means that the duration for our cooperation is about 10 years at the most. But we would give our help and support our partner to nurture a group of people who will focus on contemporary art, and all the collection comes from the Center of Pompidou.”

Schischke also revealed that the Center Pompidou is considering a feasibility project with Seoul, similar to its practice in Malaga.

Early in 2012, the Center Pompidou announced a plan to build up its own “museum on the Internet.”

One thing is for sure, that based on its abundant collection and brand, the Center Pompidou will have its international expansion through more flexible and temporary projects with partners around the world.




 

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