Monumenta 2008 - Richard Serra
The Grand Palais, a contemporary of the Eiffel Tower, is an exhibition hall built for the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1900. The immense space is 13,500 square meters (or approximately 400 times larger than my apartment) and could be said to resemble a giant Art Nouveau greenhouse. It's difficult to imagine how contemporary art could fit into this decided dated place, but each year the Monumenta program gives an artist the opportunity to present a single new work in this space. The program this year runs from now through June 15 and features "Promenade', by the American sculptor Richard Serra.
Serra is known for his large minimalist steel sculptures. For this exhibition, he has filled the hall with six upright steel panels, evenly spaced across the length of the hall. The panels rise from the floor at slight angles, so they are not perfectly aligned. I had an assignment in a college art class to make a piece of art that required the viewer to move. There is beauty in the way Serra's plain panels interact with the elaborate architecture of the Grand Palais, but the real joy in this exhibit comes from walking among the panels. This is not sculpture that you stand back and admire from a distance - the experience is the art.
The Monumenta program includes lectures and concerts (including one by Philip Glass) as well as Thursday night dance classes in the exhibition space. You can also see more of Serra's sculpture at the entrance to the Jardin de Tuileries and the LVMH headquarters.
http://www.monumenta.com/2008/content/view/3/27/lang,en/