Often, the term “Pygmalion” is used to describe artist, Jean-Paul Goude and the intimate rapport he has with his muses. However, instead of sculpting object of desires out of stone, Goude transforms women with whom he cultivates a relationship into his living, breathing works of mythical art. Call it “Goudemalion,” a term reflected in the Musee des Arts Decoratif’s latest exhibition paying homage to the brilliant mind of image maker/art director, Jean-Paul Goude. Continue reading “Jean Paul Goude Retrospective”
Belle Roscoe… “go where the art takes us.”
Australian brother/sister duo Belle Roscoe, aka Matty and Julia Gurry, aren’t afraid of a challenge. Two years ago the pair traded Melbourne’s sunny beaches for a country where both the language and the music market are notoriously difficult to crack: France. Continue reading “Belle Roscoe… “go where the art takes us.””
Diane Arbus at Paris’ Jeu de Paume
Diane Arbus (1923–1971) once said “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know…” The same could be said about Arbus herself. Although this enigmatic photographer has become one of the world’s most influential artists, considerable mystery surrounds her controversial work. Now a 200 picture retrospective at Paris’ Jeu de Paume, including two library-like rooms with notebooks, cameras, contact sheets, books from her home and studio and family pictures, provides some new insights. Continue reading “Diane Arbus at Paris’ Jeu de Paume”
Weekend Away: Avignon
Paris offers enough diversity to satisfy the most demanding tastes, but it is also the best starting point from which to explore the rest of France and, indeed, of Europe. Starting a new series of suggestions of places interesting enough to justify a weekend trip, Martin Hills finds Avignon Continue reading “Weekend Away: Avignon”
The catacombs of Paris
While Paris has been making history in plain view a lot has happened under the paving stones. Located south of the former city gate (the “Barrière d’Enfer” at today’s Place Denfert-Rochereau), a subterranean labyrinth of former quarries holds the remains of six million Parisians, moved there after a decision in the late 18th century to close cemeteries within the city walls for reasons of public health. Opened in the late 18th century, the underground cemetery became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century, and has been open to the public on a regular basis from 1867. This guide written by Gilles Thomas with photographs by Emmanuel Gaffard takes us through the vast ossuary maze of sombre galleries and narrow corridors laden with walls of bones where limestone was once mined. The official name for the catacombs is l’Ossuaire Municipal. Although this cemetery covers only a small section of underground tunnels comprising “les carrières de Paris” (“the quarries of Paris”), Parisians today often refer to the entire tunnel network as “the catacombs”. A fascinating guide to the dark side of the city of light. J.M
Parigramme, (12 euros). http://www.parigramme.com
Remembering 9/11 as Seen from Paris
For the 9/11 anniversary we are re-running a commentary written by Parisvoice’s David Applefield on how this event was experienced by American expats in Paris at that time. The edition with these observations appeared two weeks after 9/11. Continue reading “Remembering 9/11 as Seen from Paris”
Jane Evelyn Atwood Interview
© Jane Evelyn Atwood. Moules de jambes en plâtre pour la fabrication de prothèses. Centre orthopédique, Maputo, Mozambique, novembre 2001
Paris based American photographer Jane Evelyn Atwood is one of the world’s leading photographers. She is featured this summer with a major retrospective of her work “Photographs 1976-2010” at the Maison Europpeenne de la Photographie (until Sept 25). Her work reflects a deep involvement with her subjects over long periods of time. Fascinated by people and by the idea of exclusion, she has managed to penetrate worlds that most of us do not know, or choose to ignore. Atwood is the author of eight books, including “Exterieur Nuit,” on the blind and “Too Much Time,” her landmark 10-year photographic study of women in prison. The exhibition ranges from her first reportage on prostitutes “Rue des Lombards” to her four-year study of landmine victims that took her to Cambodia, Angola, Kosovo, Mozambique and Afghanistan to recent pictures taken in Haiti.
She made these comments about her work. Continue reading “Jane Evelyn Atwood Interview”
Sunday by the Seine
You don’t need a car or a fat bank balance to experience the pleasure of lunch by the river within an hour of Paris. But you do need a sense of adventure. Continue reading “Sunday by the Seine”
Getting around Paris
Paris Metro consists of 16 lines spanning all of the city and its suburbs. The metro is classified into 5 zones, with the first two zones covering Paris and the rest traveling to outer neighborhoods. Each of the lines are identified by a color and a number making it easy to locate the correct line on a map. The direction of travel is marked by the last stop on that line. To make finding destinations easier, the Parisian transport agency (ratp), provides a destination locater on their website under the link “finding your way”. Continue reading “Getting around Paris”
La Seduction. How the French Play the Game of Life
Voltaire once said “It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.” Most anglos have a negative view of the word and would agree with the Merriam Webster Dictionary definition that seduction implies “the enticement of a person to sexual intercourse or the act of leading aside… “But Elaine Sciolino with her new book tells us that for the French there is a lot more to the story. In France —especially Paris— seduction is a way of life with its own set of rules and codes that take most people who are not born here a lifetime to figure out. Continue reading “La Seduction. How the French Play the Game of Life”
Edith Piaf… “No Regrets”
The iconic French singer comes to life in this enthralling biography written by Australian author Carolyn Burke, who captures Edith Piaf’s immense charisma along with the time and place that gave rise to her unprecedented international career. Burke’s previous biographes include “Lee Miller: A Life” and “Becoming Modern: The Life of Mina Loy.”
Raised by turns in a brothel, a circus caravan, and a working-class Paris neighborhood, Piaf began singing on the city’s streets, where she was discovered by a Champs-Elysées cabaret owner. She became a star almost overnight, seducing Paris’s elite and the people of its slums in equal measure with her powerful, passionate voice. Continue reading “Edith Piaf… “No Regrets””