Perhaps with hindsight, it was a
mistake to jump from seeing two exhibitions typifying the joie de vivre of La Belle
Epoque in archetypal romantic Paris locations straight into one with hard edged twenty first century contemporary
globalised art! It may have been too
much of a stylistic and conceptual leap with a touch of exhibition exhaustion
thrown in for good measure, but this Triennale (the first such event I have
ever visited) really disappointed. Even my friend living in Paris did not know
it was taking place and no publicity was seen around the city during my
stay. We walked around the cavernous
interior of the Palais de Toyko desperately hoping to come across something
interesting, exciting or even controversial, but nothing materialised. Even the dilapidated architecture of the 1937
building proved more interesting that many of the exhibits. With 120 contributors, the Triennale brochure
talked of the show being inspired by early to mid-twentieth century ethnography
and exploring the nodes where art and ethnography converge in a renewal of
fascination and estrangement, an intersection of the French art scene and
global sites of production…….!
These motifs were apparent in a number of the work on
display (for example from Carrie Mae Weems) but the challenge was rooting these
out from the relentless assault of sub-standard unmonumental installations,
gratuitous female genitalia and unengaging video work, most of which teetered
on the edge of disappearing completely within dilapidated building.
Despite a number of big names (Chris Ofili, Adrian Piper,
Ellen Gallagher) sprinkled around the contemporary French artists, there were
only two highlights for me in this entire show – Annette Messager’s Motion/Emotion (2009-2011) and Dominik
Lang’s Sleeping City (2011)
installations, oh and the very funky café and delicious coffee (so all was not
lost)!..........
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