|
Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain: Beat Takeshi Kitano Gosse de peintre - 11 Mar 2010 to 12 Sept 2010 Current Exhibition |
||||
|
Beat Takeshi Kitano
Image � Office Kitano Inc |
|||
|
||||
|
||||
|
Beat Takeshi Kitano Gosse de peintre March 11 � September 12, 2010 �With this exhibition, I was attempting to expand the definition of �art,� to make it less official, less conventional, less snobby, more casual.� Beat Takeshi Kitano With pleasure, humor and seriousness, Beat Takeshi Kitano has thrown himself into Gosse de peintre, an unusual project that subtly, if impertinently, alights in the realm of childhood. Entirely created by Beat Takeshi Kitano, this site-specific exhibition for the Fondation Cartier pour l�art contemporain will be presented from March 11 to September 12, 2010. With paintings and videos, astonishing objects and settings, whimsical and fantastic machines, Kitano leads the visitor through surprises, gags, and games, all the while mocking contemporary art, experimenting with knowledges, and toying with clich�s associated with his country. A Singular Personality Filmmaker, actor, TV presenter, comedian, painter, writer, Takeshi Kitano, also known as Beat Takeshi, is a singular personality. Famous throughout the world for his films, Beat Takeshi Kitano commands an unequalled popularity in Japan as a comic and TV celebrity. Irrepressibly curious, passionate about the acquisition and passing on of knowledge, he adroitly switches genres and idioms, moving from violence to comedy, from over-the-top performances to deeply restrained ones. An Invitation from the Fondation Cartier While this insatiable artist finds inspiration everywhere, two leitmotifs occur frequently within his work: his fascination and nostalgia for childhood, and his relationship with the image, which is fundamental to his creative approach. This passion for the image is also evidenced by a prolific output of paintings, many of which appear in his films. Reluctant to institutionalize his artwork, which he deems essentially a private endeavor, Kitano has never submitted to the numerous requests of museums to exhibit his work. His decision to accept the Fondation Cartier�s invitation resulted from meeting with its director, Herv� Chand�s, and their numerous discussions during which arose the idea of a site-specific exhibition geared toward children, designed as one gigantic installation. The Exhibition In creating Gosse de peintre, a kaleidoscopic project with clear autobiographical references, Beat Takeshi Kitano subverts the very idea of an exhibition. Inviting visitors to interact and participate, he has transformed the museum into an amusement park in which all the worlds of Beat Takeshi Kitano take stage. Popular culture and scientific inquiry, the imaginary and the satirical, tradition and education, the beautiful and the kitsch, all co-exist in a setting that is at once diverse and cohesive. Attractions Meandering along a path studded with bizarre images, interactive workshops, gags and games, visitors enter a universe as joyful as it is rich and complex. Beat Takeshi Kitano lays bare his theory on the disappearance of the dinosaurs, proposes mathematical problems and scientific metaphors, and even presents documents and secret plans of the Imperial Japanese army. Transgenic fish�pre-stuffed with delectable sushi rolls�intermingle with chimeras and imaginary animals while a recalcitrant criminal escapes hanging (Beat Takeshi Kitano�s way of playing with the death penalty still existent in Japan). A gigantic, clattering, laughably inefficient sewing machine serves as an ironic metaphor for contemporary art. After having first visited an array of fun fair attractions such as a waffle stand, a cabinet of curiosities and a marionette theater, visitors young and old get to test their own artistic talents in various workshops. Paintings Gosse de peintre also presents a large collection of Beat Takeshi Kitano�s paintings, exhibited here for the first time. Despite his prodigious output, Beat Takeshi Kitano considers himself an amateur painter. Figurative, even narrative in style, his recent paintings, some of which were produced for this exhibition, seem to explode in colors and are reminiscent of na�ve art. While recovering from a motorcycle accident that almost cost him his life, Beat Takeshi Kitano realized in 1996 disturbing paintings depicting hybrid animal-flower creatures and presented in his film Hana-bi. These are displayed with a collection of Venetian vases inspired by these unsettling images and produced expressly for this project. The Moving Image Video and the moving image are significant in this exhibition. Excerpts from his TV comedy shows, previously unseen in France, are screened in a setting that features Beat Takeshi in his most outlandish costumes. As an exclusive for the Fondation Cartier, Beat Takeshi Kitano has shot short comedies featuring a humorous exploration of western clich�s associated with Japan and a variety of experimental painting acts similar to those depicted in his most recent film Achilles and the Tortoise. This first exhibition of Beat Takeshi Kitano is one of the most ambitious projects ever created for the Fondation Cartier. It is designed for children, but speaks to adults. With Gosse de peintre, Beat Takeshi Kitano takes children seriously and invites them to think, to dream and to join the show. |
||||
re-title.com
International contemporary art
SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS
SIGN UP for ARTIST MEMBERSHIP
SIGN UP for GALLERY MEMBERSHIP
Click on the map to search the directory