Tadashi Kawamata Takes Over the Palais de Tokyo with His Monumental Installations
Internationally acclaimed for his monumental wood sculptures, Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata is taking over the Palais de Tokyo for the first time. Featuring two massive site-specific installations, ‘Le Nid, la Tornade’, the piece embodies the artist’s long-standing commitment to environmental issues.
Hanging above the main staircase, ‘La Tornade’ is an imposing artwork made from three tonnes of recycled wood, spanning twenty metres in diameter. The structure is best appreciated from below, where visitors find themselves in the eye of the storm, confronted with the fragility of humanity and our constructions. On the museum’s façade, ‘Le Nid’ clings to a column, perched fifteen metres above the ground. This second wooden installation stands as a refuge in the heart of an urban environment, a bastion of fragile nature. By appropriating the interior and exterior of the Palais de Tokyo, the Japanese visual artist challenges our relationship with the world through these ephemeral constructions.
At the opening of this exhibition, sponsored by Ruinart and Galerie Mennour, we met Kamel Mennour, Frédéric Dufour, Sarah Andelman, Thomas Lélu and many others.
Photos; Jean Picon & Edouard Ecuyer
