PERGOLA AT PALAIS DE TOKYO

‘1916: Le Corbusier builds a “Turkish Villa” at La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland), the Villa Schwob, flanked by a pergola. A few years later, he publishes photos of it in L’Esprit Nouveau. On the ground, in front of the villa, a white mark indicates a retouch. The pergola has disappeared. Less than a century later, the Iraki journalist Mutazer Al-Zaïda throws one of his shoes at George W. Bush’s head.’
The mysterious first show at Palais de Tokyo for the new decade consists of 3 individual mini exhibitions from artists Valentin Carron, Charlotte Posenenske and Raphaël Zarka, plus two special projects by Serge Spitzer and Laith Al-Amiri. As was the case for the last two shows here, Pergola creates a slightly uneasy atmosphere: there is nostalgia in the form of Zarka’s old skateboarding films, modernity in Posenenske’s robust and industrial metal structures, and a feeling of unrest created by the vast and drab wall installed the length of the gallery or the Iraki artist Al-Amiri’s larger-than-life shoe.
Until 16 May
www.palaisdetokyo.com/