November 29, 2013 More From the Pompidou- all about texture

Continuing to explore the Pompidou, we marveled at an amazing variety of art forms, the works of many European artists we did not know about as well as unfamiliar works by artists we knew. 

The many textures of Allan Kaprow’s Rearrangeable Panels, 1957-1959, immediately drew me to them.  The panels could be re-arranged in many different combinations and was one of the first works to make the exhibitor responsible for choosing the arrangement.  The piece was part of the first happening in New York.

A couple of details:

Waiting for us in a room of its own was a heart-stopper, Ghost, 2007, by Kader Attia.  The piece, shaped from leaves of aluminum foil, seemed to drain the space of air into complete stillness, yet with a faint memory of the sound of crunching aluminum.  Attia’s work concerns itself with feelings of alienation and trying to determine identity.

More wonderful textures in Magnus von Plessen’s, Trepe, 2003.  The large flat repetitive brush strokes forming flat strips allude to an architectural rendition of a staircase with lots of movement drawing the eye around the work.

Sections of this work, viewed as details, could almost be separate abstract works of their own.