Fun and games in Céret : Constellations
With Ellen Turner Hall
The new exhibition in The Museum of Modern Art is chock full of fun-fair treats. My favorites were a singing and dancing sculpture, a polka-dot playroom and a wall of Where’s Wally.
Featuring contemporary art for people who think they don’t like it, “Constellations” opens up a playful universe of physical, aural and visual tricks. The effect on the visitor is disorienting.
Suspended from the ceiling Julius Rolf’s Four Large Black is a set of four speakers gurgling out what sounds like the Tramontane. At the centre of each one crushed bits of charcoal shake, rattle and roll to the low growling sound.
From there you can enter the red and white polka-dot space of Yayol Kusama, Dots Obsession. The exhibition poster does not do justice to this total immersion experience of floating amidst strange shapes and seeing yourself reflected in the mirrored walls. Think: Alice down the rabbit’s hole!
A series of nine black canvases by Tania Mouraud appears to be composed of a random pattern of lines. The closer you look, however, you begin to discover letters that spell the title of the work Who’s the Enemy?.
Something you can try at home with your children: recreate the universe with the three basic building blocks. Such is the proposition of Masaki Nakayama who photographed human bodies interwoven with metal shapes to form the circle, the triangle and the square.
Picasso experimented with he same three forms to deconstruct a guitar in his 1913 sketch book, on view in a slide show in the permanent collection. As usual, the ultimate child was there before us all.
Practical info
Constellations runs from 13 May to 26 November. During this time many of the artists will be giving workshops. For dates/times, contact: service.educatif@musee-ceret.com.
For all other information: www.musee-ceret.com
Opening Hours
1st July – 31st August
Every day
10am – 7pm
1st September – 30th June
Tuesday – Sunday
10am – 6pm
Tarifs
Full access (permanent & temporary exhibitions)
Adult 10€
Reduced 7€
Find out more about the museum here.
