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"One of my wildest obsessions has been the fact that we see ancient sculptures without their original multi-coloured appearance. Our idea of classic artworks is inevitably linked to the whiteness of the marble. It's as if Calvin Klein had washed out all the colour from the history of Roman and Greek sculpture. On the contrary, the Pantheon was painted, those sculptures we admire at the Louvre had colours and gold leaf and faceted stones. So I thought: let's bring some colour back!"
-Francesco Vezzoli
I couldn't believe our luck when Hannah told us about the 24 Hours Prada Museum. We would be in Paris on that day, had no plans and were only a few metro stops away from the Palais d’Iéna.
The museum which opened for 24 hours only on Tuesday 24th January was kicked off with an invite-only dinner the night before and then an exclusive after party which all took place in the central metal cage formed by grills of neon lights. The next morning the museum was open from 7am - 12pm and then again from 2 - 4pm to the public. The closing event was from 6.30 - 8.30pm by which time the musuem closed forever.
It was a pretty sensational experience to see such a grand installation, Rohan and I stayed for quite a while enjoying the complimentary mini breakfast, coffee and juice while admiring the artwork. The three sections, titled historic, contemporary and forgotten showcased the artist Francesco Vezzoli's 'tribute to the eternal allure of femininity'. "They are my icons turned into sculptures and placed onto marble pedestals" he explained, the inspiration coming from sculptures on display at the Louvre, propoganda material, a cubed room filled with neon lights at The Berlin Biennale 2010 and the Salon des Refusés at Versailles.
All photos taken by Rohan and I.
I'm so glad you ended up going - and that there was free breakfast!!! sounds like a fantastic one day and one day only museum. I really like art installations that use those fluorescent lights, I remember seeing something by Tracey Emin in New York at the Gagosian (I think?? i can't really remember haha) years and years ago now and I was with my friend's dad and he actually does art installations for a living and he said some of the older pieces made 10, 20 years ago now, the bulbs for the lights don't exist anymore, so they don't know what to do when they run out of supply. If they use more modern bulbs then the piece won't be the same, the light will be brighter and more overpowering. Less muted. And also several ones that use red lights don't exist at all anymore so it would have to be a different colour. It's so interesting! To think that these artworks will be constantly changing over time. It's almost like they are organic.
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Oh I love this Hannah! I am obsessed with lighting installations, I have an idea for one I will tell you about when we have coffee next. Dream big!
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