Where does the time go?
Paris, for weeks on end, has been lifting up her summer skirt and showing off the warmer wares. And I, like a bad boyfriend, have hardly noticed the show.
Well, time and Paris’ patience are running out. The city’s skin, sex & spectacle will soon be packed away for another season. Currently on the outs:
Last skin: Like hair-filled sand through the hourglass, so are the days of Paris Plage. If you haven’t yet taken your bikini for a walk along the quai, you have until August 20 to do so. Look forward to rain and average temperatures of 69 degrees.
Last sex: Desire is creepy year-round in the Place Pigalle, but you only have until September 3 to see Cindy Sherman. Her retrospective show at the Jeu de Paume isn’t all about sex pictures, but it’s her series of the same name that draws the most open-mouthed stares. Note to Cindy about an obvious follow-up to Masks and Clowns: why not Bloggers?
Last spectacle: A city with this much arts funding is never really short on spectacle. But Machines of Spectacle will last only through Sunday. Le Grand Répertoire show at the Grand Palais is an odd amalgam of sculpture, street theater and suds. Top off your visit at le Sale Verre de la Peur (the dirty glass of fear) – the little bar/perch on the mezzanine offering a perfect view of the Canon à neige.
Other ephemeral delights:
Outdoor movies: the Cinéma en Plein Air festival at the Parc de la Villette will conclude August 13 with a showing of Imamura's L’Anguille. The Cinéma au Clair de Lune runs one week longer, to August 20.
Tropico-Vegétal: Lost in Paradise. This bizzaro program at the Palais de Tokyo’s “Site de Création Contemporaine” will breathe its last on August 27.
Usually wary of art that's accompanied by a DJ, I found myself quite enjoying James Cochrane at the Point Ephémère. The aeresol pointillism, in particular, is pretty great.
Bar Ourcq. One of my favorite places in the city along the Bassin de la Villette, I heard a rumor that this will be its last summer. Can anyone set me straight?
Outdoor (world) music. In parentheses because the Scenès d’Eté series, set to finish August 20, will soon be replaced at the Parc de la Villette by outdoor jazz. More specifically, by an outdoor jazz series called (in English) “Black Rebels.” Which sounds, I expect, much cooler if you’re French.
With so much bared for my summer enjoyment, I feel compelled to show Paris a little love. Make her feel like she didn’t shave her legs for nothing...
3 comments:
I went to the Cindy Sherman exhibit on Wednesday and it was awesome! Super compelling and sometimes almost painful to look at but you couldn't take you eyes off of them...
What is the Point Ephemere? A gallery or a bar?
Hiya Lady,
The FMR, as those clever kids abbreviate it, is all that you mention. But along with a bar and gallery space, they offer a restaurant, concerts, meet-ups (young poets, for example), music studios, dance classes, artist residences...
They have a fairly detailed website (some in English)explaining everything at http://www.pointephemere.org
As someone who actually makes art, you should get y'self over there.
Last Saturday, we rented bicycles and cycled along the canal, and I finally figured out where the Bar Ourcq is. I hope it's not its last summer, as it's such a cute little place. It is kind of hidden away though, far from any major streets or attraction points, perhaps they don't get much traffic
Post a Comment