In the middle of the emblematic towers of the capital, art has for decades been used to color the serious and concrete district of La Défense where gray reigns supreme. In recent weeks, seven works have been added to the traditional creations by Buren, Miro or Moretti. These are part of the Extatiques project, an outdoor contemporary art exhibition, installed from June 22 to October 1 between the Parisian business district and the Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Initially planned as a “one shot” in 2017 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of La Défense, the exhibition is now celebrating its sixth edition. Between the Agam fountain and the Takis basin, a stroll among the various works is offered to onlookers. This year, the exhibition focuses on the four elements. Each creation is linked to fire, water, air or earth. Eclecticism is in order with artists from 27 to 75 years old. It is directed for the fifth time by Fabrice Bousteau, bulimic editor-in-chief of Beaux-Arts Magazine and curator of numerous successive exhibitions around the world.
On the place of Agam, the brain of Neptune inaugurates the visit. It is an radiant sculpture by Jérémy Gobé whose structure is reminiscent of that of a coral. A fervent defender of the environment, the young man from Cambrai recently patented an innovative ecological concrete recipe.
A few cobblestones below, the flashy flags of Amélie Bertrand guide us towards Winter and Spring, two of the four statues of Four Season, the work of the American Philip Haas in homage to Guiseppe Arcimboldo. Autumn and Summer, who complete the quartet, are at the Seine Musicale.
Behind these plant-men, an exhibition within the exhibition appears. It is the result of a partnership with the advertising panel company JCDecaux and establishes a satire of the visual pollution generated by the latter. Fifteen metal panels are thus aligned, each displaying the message of one of the artists on his vision of the four elements.
Three other creations then complete the signposted visit to the Takis basin. First, Faucon Fire, an inflatable bird of prey attacked by flames and pollution, shaped by Julien Salaud. Then two sculptures by the Austrian Erwin Wurm, shapeless stylized clothes which are “A means of questioning the relationship to appearance” according to Fabrice Bousteau. Finally, three green boats filled with woven bamboo, set up by Bob Verschueren, float on the basin to “break the verticality of this vertiginous place”. The whole thing offers a pleasant and colorful stroll for passers-by accustomed to the ambient greyness.
Nine kilometers away, the second part of Les Extatiques sits on the roof of the Seine Musicale. From the Marsouin d’argent by Julien Salaud to the kite birds by Joëlle Allet and the funny animated benches by the German artist Cornelia Konrads, the works decorate the pleasant Bellini garden which overlooks the Seine.
These two “Ecstatic” places are well worth the detour and two separate walks since they are half an hour from each other. Along the Seine dear to Apollinaire and in the middle of the still modern towers of La Défense, these works, which evoke birds, sea creatures and Arcimboldo, will immerse the stroller, during a walk, in the four elements.