Antibes

I did a Placement© off the balcony of the apartment we stayed at while in Antibes. The fuzzy white blur in the distance is Jaume Plensa's Le Nomade lit up at night. The sculpture at the harbour was a convenient short walk from our apartment.

I like coming across interesting graffiti in different places. Though it looks like a drawing in this photo, I think it was actually a stencil/spray image.

One day while walking along the town ramparts along the sea, there were a lot of signs up. There was a major car rally as citroen after citroen drove by with the car occupants waving. In every car it was the same: the occupants wore blue-rimmed sunglasses. This sign, though, we figured was probably for the benefit of a wedding cavalcade using the same route as the car rally!

On the Saturday morning we decided to go to the archaeological museum situated near the seafront in a medieval army barracks.  The museum was quite beautiful, consisting of two large tunnel-like rooms with high ceilings.  It was a small museum but had some fabulous artifacts.

Most of the artifacts were found around Antibes, including items from shipwrecks off the coast. It was interesting to see familiar artifacts, like ancient urns, covered in barnacles. And really great not to be separated from the objects by glass.

Le Nomade - Antibes

While in Antibes we of course paid several visits to the fabulous sculpture Le Nomade by Catalan artist, Jaume Plensa. The figure looks out to sea from the rampart above Port Vauban harbour, a short walk from the apartment we stayed at.

The figure is made up of painted stainless steel letters and invites you to enter it and explore both inside and out. The curve of the arms create a seating space inside, and despite the "no climbing" signs, it is very tempting...

Yes, the sky was really this clear and blue while we were there!

Le Nomade continues to impress at night when it is lit up!

Picasso Museum in Antibes!

I just got back Wednesday night from a week in Antibes! It is happily becoming an annual visit. Last Friday I paid a visit to the beautiful Chateau Grimaldi which is home to the Picasso Museum in Antibes.

From below the ramparts one can see the four bronze figure sculptures by Germaine Richier.

This sculpture, Jupiter et Encelade, by Anne & Patrick Poirier is my favourite sculpture on permanent display. Last year when I was at the museum, the initial proposal drawing was displayed inside next to a window overlooking the sculpture, but  I couldn't find it this year. That is one of Germaine Richier's figures on the wall beside it.

There was a fabulous temporary exhibition by Jean Charles Blais on till June 9th so I just got in there in the nick of time to see it. This is one of his more recent silhouette paintings, but it was fabulous seeing a good overview of his oeuvre.

The museum is of course a setting for lots of Picasso's work! This is one of my favourites, La Chèvre, from 1946.

When I was at the museum last summer I fell in love with this Nicolas de Stael painting, Le Concert 1955. To my disappointment it was not on display this year though it is part of the permanent collection. However, I have the museum catalogue so I can fondly flip through pages.

Summer and Street Art

Welcome June and finally some summer weather! I am indoors cooling off as the front of the house is a suntrap. But the sky is totally blue and it is very pleasant to take short bouts of sunshine outside. I have liked Saatchi Gallery on facebook, so I get to see all manner of stuff in various walks of the visual art world. Summertime is bringing out the "street artists" and "graffiti artists". I don't know what the difference in these labels is... The picture below is by French street artist Seth who  installed this piece in Paris recently.

While this piece is by Belgian graffiti artist Smates.  I don't know where this piece is installed. Do street artists get paid or are they officially allowed to do their work and graffiti artists do it on the sly? Someone please tell me if the terms actually mean something different. Regardless, I like these thought out, oversize images more than the bubble words and scrawly signatures normally associated with graffiti.