Exhibition, 30 Jun 2012 - 16 Dec 2012

Klein - Byars - Kapoor

MAMAC - Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain de Nice, Nice, France

For the fiftieth anniversary of Yves Klein's disappearance, Nice had to reinterpret this tutelary figure of contemporary art, emblematic of the Côte d'Azur and the museum, by associating it with two other equally charismatic artists.

MAMAC therefore organized an exhibition bringing together Yves Klein, (Nice, 1928 - Paris, 1962), an extraordinary personality who has changed the world of art, James Lee Byars (Detroit, 1932 - Cairo, 1997), American artist and Anish Kapoor (Bombay, 1954), who, based in London since 1972, breathes new life into contemporary sculpture with his monumental installations such as Leviathan for Monumenta in 2011 at the Grand Palais in Paris or the giant structure he currently performing for the London Olympics.

In a desire for total art, they proposed, through installations or performances, sensitive and poetic experiences of the world where monochrome plays a primordial role. MAMAC has attempted to highlight the connections that intimately connect these three monuments of art with specific installations immersing the viewer in a chromatic field: the IKB for Yves Klein, the white for James Lee Byars and the red for Anish Kapoor. Colors, materials and sensations: the volatility and unappeasability of the pure pigment, the hardness and fineness of the marble, the viscosity, the smell and the softness of the wax. At the meeting of these three mythical personalities, adds a unique artistic and sensory proposal that will make this international event a must-see exhibition. This project will also travel to the magnificent ARoS Kunstmuseum in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2013. We therefore wish for a great homelessness to this remarkable initiative based on the permeability of experiences, skills and knowledge.