Simple shapes by CENTRE POMPIDOU METZ

Press Kit

13.06 > 05.11.14

centrepompidou-metz.fr

en partenariat média avec

Constantin Brancusi, L’Oiseau dans l’espace, 1936, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris. © ADAGP, Paris 2014 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Migeat Graphic design: Bastien Morin

Simple Shapes

Contents 1. General Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 2. Structure of the exhibition .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 3. Interview with Jean de Loisy, PIERRE-ALEXIS DUMAS and Laurent Le Bon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 4. List of the artists.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08 5. Lenders. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09 6. Echoing "Simple Shapes": "simple gestures" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 7. Credits ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 8. Centre Pompidou-Metz and Fondation d'entreprise Hermès. . . . . . . . . . . . 14 9. partners .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 10. Visuals for the Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Simple Shapes

1. general Presentation simple Shapes From 13 June to 5 November 2014 Galerie 2

The exhibition Simple Shapes brings to the fore our fascination with simple shapes, from prehistoric to contemporary. It also reveals how these shapes were decisive in the emergence of the Modern Age.

The exhibition draws on the senses to explore the appearance of simple shapes in art, nature and tools. This poetic approach is balanced by an analytical view of the twentieth century's history.

The years between the 19th and 20th centuries saw the return of quintessential shapes through major universal expositions which devised a new repertoire of shapes, the simplicity of which would captivate artists and revolutionise the modern philosophy. They introduced, within the evolution of modern art, both an alternative to the eloquence of the human body and the possibility that shapes could be a universal concept.

It connects scientific events and technical discoveries with the emergence of modern shapes. Subjects pertaining to industry, mechanics, mathematics, physics, biology, phenomenology and archaeology are equated with objects from art and architecture, which are in turn set alongside their ancient predecessors and natural objects. The Fondation d'entreprise HermĂ¨s is joint producer and patron of Simple Shapes.

Nascent debates in physics, mathematics, phenomenology, biology and aesthetic had important consequences on mechanics, industry, architecture and art in general. While visiting the 1912 Salon de la Locomotion AĂŠrienne with Constantin Brancusi and Fernand LĂŠger, Marcel Duchamp stopped short before an aeroplane propeller and declared, "Painting is dead. Who could better this propeller?"

A catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

Curator: Jean de Loisy, President of Palais de Tokyo

These pared-down, non-geometric shapes, which occupy space in a constant progression, are no less fascinating today. Minimalist artists such as Ellsworth Kelly and Richard Serra, spiritualist artists such as Anish Kapoor, metaphysical artists such as Tony Smith, or poetic artists such as Ernesto Neto are as attentive to simple shapes as were the inventors of modernity.

Associate curators: Sandra Adam-Couralet, independent curator Mouna Mekouar, independent curator Exhibition design: Laurence Fontaine

Simple Shapes

2. Structure of the exhibition 1. Before shape

4. Who could better this propeller?

There are no simple forms in this initial group. Instead, it introduces one of their characteristics: the emergence of the latent form within a still disorganised matter. Movements, silhouettes, faces push their way to the surface, caught in the act of transformation; not yet fully formed but already instilled with life. The works in this section display an energy that shapes the world, stirs its fecundity, accentuates its evolutions. Ritual objects, sculptures, photographs or drawings, they neither duplicate reality nor represent the visible, but mimic or question the vital force that pulsates within all things.

Forms created by the constraints imposed on them; forms adapted to the forces they exert in order to perform their function. The product of technique, they are beautiful because they are the perfect fulfilment of a need. Primitive tools such as a bow or a boomerang already display the perfection which, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, would be that of aero-mechanical engineering, and would captivate artists. At the 1912 Salon de la Locomotion Aérienne with Constantin Brancusi and Fernand Léger, Marcel Duchamp would thus stop short before an aeroplane propeller and declare that "Painting is dead. Who could better this propeller?" Part of the appeal which simple forms held for artists in the twentieth century comes from this fascination with lines that eschew subjectivity; which appear to mould themselves to the forces imposed on them.

2. The moon The mechanism of the world follows a mysterious dynamic, made evident to us by the very simple form of the Moon. Since the dawn of time, Man has contemplated the Moon whose constant transformation has produced multiple legends. Celebrated by poets, hinted at in ceramic, painted, observed, photographed and ultimately brought within reach, it is the very first simple form. Whether the poet’s metaphorical Moon or the scholar’s algebraic Moon, it suggests an autonomous process of transformation which characterises form as a suspended state, a hiatus in time.

5. Breath The expression of life, breath gives form to glass in its temporary molten state. Because of the symbolic nature of this vulnerable substance, this operation takes on vital meaning as soon as these two fragile elements are combined. To create a three-dimensional form using breath is to inject the content of our own body into the object, so as to give it its final shape. It is, by virtue of its plastic qualities, as though suspended between material and immaterial.

3. Flux Form, any form, is a transitional state, a temporary stabilising of matter. A diffusional, expansive energy, it is the materialisation of a permanent activity that resonates deep within elements: stone, fire, air, water. It is this discernible vitality which the monk must meditate, or the artist whose gestures, breathing and rhythm will align to express the vibrations of the cosmos as he experiences or imagines them. Many spiritual doctrines take root in the belief that a concordance exists between objects, beings and the world including, in the early modern era, the Gnostic and theosophical movements inspired by Oriental philosophies.

6. To contain To contain is to mould the properties of a content with form, or rather to stretch or swell so as to duplicate the precious weight held in check. Form symbolises how emptiness and fullness are mutually engendered; how surface tension is determined by the nature of what is inside and by the effort made to prevent it from spilling outside its contours. The dynamic simplicity of archaic forms provides modern silhouettes with a repertoire suited to industrial processes.

7. To cut To cut is a symbolic act whose importance is underscored by the quality of the objects associated with it. They are both tools and emblems that derive their prestige from the finite nature of the act they are designed to perform. Symbolising the original decision, the separation between day and night, life and death, determinate and indeterminate, intimate and cosmic, the blade – and the cut it makes – is a simple form with a powerful theological and political content which, after the Second World War, enabled art to break free and found a new aesthetic.

Simple Shapes

8. Beyond geometry

10. mathematical shapes

Geometry studies, ex nihilo, the properties of space by expressing in numerical form the relationships between point, line, plane and volume. A mathematical and symbolic instrument, geometry serves to depict, calculate and understand how the world is organised and the properties of things. Since the Neolithic age, Man has invented complex forms to express combinations and figures that would become the basis for creation, the best-known example being the five Platonic solids. While artists in the twentieth century believed that geometry, because of its apparent objectivity, could be the path towards a new and universal art, Euclidian geometry is here referred to from a different perspective. Simple forms appear to belong not to the mental permanence of concepts but to the dynamic of life. Their presence is influenced by evolutions in geology and advances in non-Euclidean geometry. They invite us to venture beyond traditional geometry.

By giving form to functions that reveal the invisible movements and physical consequences of their calculations using mathematical objects first described in the 1870s, scientists invented an unexpected repertoire of forms that prompted a sudden shift in artistic references, an abstraction prior to abstraction. Artists' interest in mathematics goes far back, to the invention of perspective. In the twentieth century, mathematicians' new hypotheses gave credence to the ideas of the cubists, constructivists and surrealists. As this desire to represent imperceptible dynamics grew, new simple forms emerged.

11. Nature, biomorphism Since Aristotle, and more specifically over the last two centuries, living things, the life cycle of plants, their morphogenesis, cellular development, diversity, reproduction and decline have given rise to biological studies, illustrations and photographic representations which identify and develop models for their essential stages. The physiological mechanisms of plants' cellular and molecular functioning were described in the early twentieth century. Artists took inspiration from this new repertoire of forms, seizing upon the leaf's contours, pliancy, decorative or symbolic value, or the maturation of a piece of fruit. These are analogies, not representations, which give a newly poetic form to the principles that presided over their creation.

9. Shapes-forces Forces mastered by new material physics and the subsequent possibilities thrown open by the ingenuity of engineers were of critical importance to art. Whereas proportion had always been central to architecture, construction now revolved around analytical reasoning, the Eiffel Tower being an iconic example. New materials such as iron, steel and reinforced concrete, the feat these constructions represent, as well as economies in materials and means produce effects of constraint, tension and balance, and the new emotions they convey became an inspiration for artists.

12. generating shapes The forces of fertility are often symbolised by forms that are associated with generation and the sacred. The cosmic egg, lingam and standing stones express causal principles that are worshipped in numerous religions. The forms which represent them are pure, perfect - like the ovoid form of the egg - and transitory, because they contain life in evolution. Artists of every period have seized upon these forms and made them the subject of symbolic reflection, even though the fundamental principles of fertilisation and embyrogenesis were not understood until the nineteenth century.

Simple Shapes

13. Human Silhouettes

16. Weight of things

Ancient civilisations offer many examples of how the human body can be depicted with extraordinarily simplicity, whether Cycladic heads or the silhouettes of predynastic Egypt. These pure forms immediately captivated western artists when they were rediscovered at the very end of the nineteenth century. Sculptors such as Constantin Brancusi and Alberto Giacometti reproduced Cycladic idols whose stylised, dynamic contours are a condensation of the human form. By representing the body in its most essential aspect, the artist forgoes the notion of identity in favour of a synoptic expression of human vitality. Silhouettes and faces no longer represent a single individuality but humanity as a whole.

Certain forms appear to result exclusively from the destiny of the substance from which they are made and which, allowed to move freely in space and time, is frozen where it falls. This section shows forms which, like a dress whose elegant drape we admire, through the effect of gravity, create new figures. In doing so they show how the materials that compose them resist or accommodate the laws of physics.

17. Enigmas The form offers itself fully, in all its simplicity. Nothing is withheld, yet whoever contemplates it cannot help but see in it a symbol, a carefully composed mystery, an enigma. There is an order, it seems, to its facets yet these mute figures continue to greet us with haughty silence, refusing to deliver the solution. Astonished by such enduring fascination, we read a primordial complexity into this simplicity, as though the very necessity which seems to have presided over their creation had instilled in them an essential revelation which could never be put into words, and which is the ultimate explanation of their power of attraction.

14. animal Silhouettes These animal silhouettes contain and condense the impression of speed associated with their representational form. Certain oceanic stones, in their natural or barely transformed state, embody power and sacred energy in their pure, zoomorphic line, the repository of an ancestor or a divinity. This energy, which defies the image and takes over space, enables the artist to capture its principle through elision, conserving only the alert and powerful efficiency of life. The simple or simplified form suggests the animal as it leaps or flees. It relates movement in exactly the opposite way to chronophotography which, in the late nineteenth century, multiplied the number of views to capture the many details of the animal in motion.

15. Objects with poetic reaction There is an imperceptible stage at which the mind spontaneously completes the as yet still absent form. This is the fragile moment when a stone is still completely a stone, yet already something else; the moment when it is both matter and form. The stones which Charlotte Perriand collected are symptomatic of those objects which from ordinary become "objects of poetic reaction", to borrow Le Corbusier's phrase, because they contain analogical and metaphorical propositions. Whereas found objects are eroded by nature, used objects are eroded by the forces that pitilessly fashion them. New forms appear, intended as the perfect tool, shaped through repeated gestures, carved through matter rubbed against matter. Through the very weakening inflicted by time, the form grows stronger. It relates the persistence of time on matter that elicits emotion, and the ghosts of those who used them appear in the ultimately rarefied material.

Simple Shapes

3. Interview with JEAN DE LOISY, PIERRE-ALEXIS DUMAS and LAURENT LE BON JEAN DE LOISY, PRESIDENT OF PALAIS DE TOKYO AND CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION SIMPLES Shapes PIERRE-ALEXIS DUMAS, PReSIDENT of FONDATION D’ENTREPRISE HERMÈS LAURENT LE BON, DIRECToR of CENTRE POMPIDOU-METZ How did the Simple Shapes project come about?

They are neither simplistic, nor negative, nor rapid, nor minimalist. They are, perhaps, in fact highly complex shapes beneath a seemingly simple appearance.

Pierre-Alexis Dumas: From the very beginning of the Hermès foundation, we wanted to work with cultural establishments on the conception of an exhibition. It's important for us at the Foundation to be able to develop projects and bring them to fruition. The exhibition is the result of our meeting Jean de Loisy, and the discussion that followed on this notion of the simple shape.

J. L.: The simple shape is determined by the artist's arbitrary choices and by the rules of physics. It is always caught between the two, and this tension is central to the exhibition. Modern artists have seized upon these shapes, but where do they originate?

Laurent Le Bon: It's actually a triangle… Jean de Loisy, who'd had this idea in mind for a while, mentioned it to me just as we, at Centre Pompidou-Metz, were putting together a programme of themed exhibitions that would consider art history from a particular perspective. The project then came together around the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, almost three years ago.

J. L.: Historically speaking, these shapes were very much in evidence in archaic societies, then disappeared in the west around the fifth century B.C. They then reappeared – and in this respect the subject is modernity – in the late eighteenth century under a threefold influence. Firstly the archaeological discoveries which fascinated artists, from Egyptomania to the important excavations undertaken in Greece in the nineteenth century, one consequence of which was the rediscovery of Cycladic civilisation. Then technology and all that engineers were able to achieve, Eiffel being a foremost example, as well as a sort of gnosticism which sparked renewed interest in primordial shapes that express the relationship between man and the cosmos. Lastly mathematics and science, particularly biology which at that time was especially focused on the growth of bones, cells, plants, etc. There are some very precise references whereby such and such a biologist influences Henry Moore, or one or other engineer Brancusi.

Jean de Loisy: That's right. I'd spoken to Laurent Le Bon about this idea which was going through my mind. When I met Pierre-Alexis Dumas, it was still just an intention which had yet to take shape. It came up in the conversation, and the exhibition developed on three pillars: art, the hand (the tool, if you will) and nature. What is a simple shape? J. L.: Certain shapes give the impression they have an inner energy. They go beyond their geometric definition without losing their unity.

P.-A. D.: The re-emergence of simple shapes is also linked to disciplines such as anthropology, with the discovery of other cultures and an influx of objects from Oceania or Africa, for example.etc.

P.-A. D.: I would say the simple shape results from a sum of constraints which are imposed on the material. It is the minimum equilibrium between constraints and function; a mystery, and a constant source of wonder and emotions. L. L. B.: I'm tempted to explain simple shapes by antithesis.

Simple Shapes J. L.: Whether it's an Arp, a Matisse, a Brancusi: these are inaugural shapes. Brancusi's Bird in Space is an example. Such a shape had never been seen before, yet it feels incredibly familiar. We aren't surprised by what we see and still we cannot take our eyes off it. We can say the same of the moon or the sea: these are shapes that hold our gaze.

J. L.: Absolutely! The rediscovery of these archaic societies… P.-A. D.: …certain of which are still alive. Every culture has its archetypal shapes which have come through the centuries as small objects, forming an unbroken thread. It's fascinating. J. L.: That's one reason these shapes are so captivating. They are the present aspect of what is generally a very ancient memory.

Is there a universal quality to the exhibition? J. L.: The utopia which underpinned the invention of the simple shape, in the 1910s and 1920s, developed as part of the hypothesis that a universal modernity did exist. This will be very much in evidence in the exhibition: every culture is mentioned at some point or other, not because we want to give an exhaustive view, but because a Japanese bowl, an Egyptian vase, an Iranian shape or a Syrian idol will feature in the same way as a modern work. An axe which has been polished in New Zealand, the Pyrenees or the Negev desert is almost the same. There is an attention to shape which all cultures share.

How did this exhibition fit with programming at Centre Pompidou-Metz? L. L. B.: Simple Shapes will coincide with our fourth anniversary. It's more than a symbol; since Masterpieces? in our first year, each summer has been marked by a major event on a specific theme. Simple Shapes is a part of this polyptych which, I think, is gradually forging our identity as part of the Lorraine region.

Is the concept of beauty part of the exhibition equation?

How is the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès contributing to the organisation of this exhibition?

J. L.: In this instance we're looking at a very particular, calm beauty; one that appears as obvious to us as a piece of fruit. More than beauty, I prefer the theme of fascination in the sense that we should be moved by something which seems devoid of complexity. The simple shape affects us with an evident modesty: the artist's ego is absent. Of course we recognise an Arp, but were we to place it next to a Brancusi and an archaic Greek sculpture, the difference would be hard to spot. This is why the foremost artists have approached the simple shape knowing they must relinquish a part of their personality

L. L. B.: This is a long-term partnership and a project centred on dialogue. The Foundation is attentive and has been present from the moment we put the very first ideas on paper. I believe the future of cultural adventures lies with strong, ethical publicprivate partnerships. P.-A. D.: This idea of a collective work is extremely important to us at the Foundation. We are an active contributor to the project at Centre Pompidou-Metz but with no involvement in artistic content or programming. It's highly motivating at a time when we are working to promote a form of patronage that is as virtuous as possible, meaning one that is truly in the public's interest.

P.-A. D.: The individual gives way to an archetypal shape, using their talent to bring a shape into the world. In my mind, beauty is very much present but it constantly eludes us. What do you hope to convey to the public?

The exhibition design emphasises sensations. What prompted this choice?

J. L.: I want the public to think about why they are fascinated by these shapes. There is something that is beyond intellectual comprehension, something which can only be grasped intuitively

J. L.: Because works which have simple shapes appeal directly to the collective sensibility, even if their particular theoretical or historical background can be complex.

P.-A. D.: I hope this exhibition will intrigue people and invite them to reflect on the question of form. We live in a material society, surrounded by objects, and so it seems healthy that we should look again at form.

L. L. B.: It's also a very structured layout which draws on Centre Pompidou's rich collections. Each section has its strengths: if one were missing, the whole architecture would collapse. The same is true of the two hundred works in the exhibition: there isn't a single one that could be easily replaced by another.

J. L.: The exhibition stages a conversation between artists up to twenty thousand years apart. What matters is to show how, using different techniques, they continue to ask themselves the same fundamental questions about man's presence among matter, the universe and nature, and that they can answer these questions with different shapes.

P.-A. D.: Certain shapes are deeply moving. There are several ways to approach the exhibition; most of all though, it will inspire contemplation. I cannot imagine that anyone will be indifferent to the works on show.

This article first appeared in Le Monde d’Hermès, n° 64, January 2014. Interview by Marylène Malbert.

Simple Shapes

4. List of Artists A ARP Jean

J Janssens Ann Veronica

B BACKER Jacob Adriaensz BÉOTHY Étienne (Béöthy István, dit) BILL Max BLOSSFELDT Karl BRANCUSI Constantin BRASSAÏ (Gyula Halász, dit)

K Kapoor Anish KELLER FRÈRES (JeanBalthazar and Jean-Jacques Keller, dits) Kelly Ellsworth KLEIN Yves KRULL Germaine KUPKA (František Kupka, dit)

C CAGE John CÉSAR CÉZANNE Paul CORMÉRY Jean-François Couturier Marc Cruz-Díez Carlos D DOMINICIS (DE) Gino DUCHAMP Marcel DÜRER Albrecht E Eliasson Olafur EVANS Walker F FONTANA Lucio Fritscher Susanna G GABO Naum GESSHIN Wada GIACOMETTI Alberto H HEPWORTH Barbara

L LE CORBUSIER (CharlesÉdouard Jeanneret-Gris, dit) LE RICOLAIS Robert M MAN RAY (Emmanuel Rudzitsky, dit) MAPPLETHORPE Robert MAREY Étienne-Jules MATISSE Henri McCall Anthony MCCRACKEN John McElheny Josiah MOHOLY-NAGY László MOKUAN Obaku MOORE Henry N Neto Ernesto Neu Patrick NEWMAN Barnett P PAIK Nam June PERRET FRÈRES (Auguste and Gustave Perret, dits) PERRIAND Charlotte PEVSNER Antoine

R REDON Odilon Richter Gerhard ROME DE L'ISLE (de) JeanBaptiste Louis ROSSO Medardo S Saulnier Emmanuel SALVIATI Francesco Scheidegger Ernst SCHWITTERS Kurt SÉRUSIER Paul SETSUDÕ Joun Sicilia José María SMITH Tony STEICHEN Edward STRÜWE Carl Sugimoto Hiroshi T Tillmans Wolfgang Tosani Patrick Tsai Charwei U Ufan Lee V Verdier Fabienne W WESTON Edward Y Yonezawa Jiro

Simple Shapes

5. Lenders Germany

FRANCE AVIGNON

BERLIN

Musée Calvet

Neugerriemschneider

CLAMART

Universität der Künste

Fondation Arp

HANOVer

CONCARNEAU

Sprengel Museum Hannover, Sammlung NORD/LB in der Niedersächsischen Sparkassenstiftung

Musée de la Pêche

COLOGNE

LES EYZIES-DE-TAYAC

Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur

Musée national de Préhistoire

LYON

BELGIum

Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon Musée des Confluences

ANtwerp

Musée du quai Branly

Collection Sylvio Perlstein

Musée national des Arts asiatiques Guimet Musée Rodin

United states

Muséum national d’histoire naturelle SAGE Paris

CHICAGO

METZ

The Field Museum

Musée de la Cour d’Or

LOS ANGELES

PARIS

Centre Pompidou Foundation

Archives Perriand

NEW YORK

Bibliothèque nationale de France

American Museum of Natural History

Centre national des arts plastiques

Andrea Rosen Gallery

Centre Pompidou

Collection Bobbie Foshay

César Estate

Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Cinémathèque française

Collection Gian Enzo Sperone

Cité de la Musique – musée de la Musique

Sperone Westwater Gallery

Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine

The Museum of Modern Art

Simple Shapes

Collection André Magnin

SÉLESTAT

Collection Antoine de Galbert

Frac Alsace

Collection David Fleiss

TOULOUSE

Collection FAJ

Les Abattoirs

Collection Galerie Maeght Collection Jean-Christophe Charbonnier

United Kingdom

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti

LEEDS

Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, for the work Souffle, created on special order by Susanna Fritscher, with Les Cristalleries Saint-Louis

Leeds Museums and Galleries

Fondation Le Corbusier

LONDon

Galerie Chantal Crousel

Lisson Gallery

Galerie Kamel Mennour

Tate

Galerie Le Minotaure

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology

Galerie Mor.Charpentier

University of the Arts London –Archives and Special Collections Centre – London College of Communication

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Galerie Tornabuoni Art

OXFORD

Institut Henri-Poincaré

Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology

Les Arts décoratifs

PERRY GREE

Mingei Arts Gallery

The Henry Moore Foundation

Musée Cernuschi, musée des Arts de l’Asie de la Ville de Paris Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris

SWITZERLAND

Musée des Arts et Métiers – Cnam Musée d’Orsay

GENeVa

Musée du Louvre

Collection Ahrenberg

SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE

ZURICH

Musée d’Archéologie nationale et Domaine national de Saint-Germainen-Laye

Fondation Hubert Looser Galerie Gmurzynska

Simple Shapes

6. Echoing Simple Shapes : simple Gestures From 18 September 2014 to February 2015 La Grande Place, musée du cristal Saint-Louis

The mind makes the hand, the hand makes the mind. The gesture which does not create, the empty gesture, provokes and defines the state of consciousness. The gesture which creates exerts a continuous action on inner life. The hand wrenches the sense of touch from its merely receptive passivity and prepares it for experience and action. It teaches man to conquer space, weight, density and quantity. It fashions a new world and leaves its imprint everywhere upon it. It pits itself against the matter it transforms, the shape it transfigures. Educator of man, the hand multiplies him in space and time. Henri Focillon, In Praise of the Hand (1934)

Beginning September 18th 2014, La Grande Place, Musée du Cristal Saint-Louis in Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche will present Simples Gestures as a counterpoint to Simple Shapes.

Since 2008, Fondation d’entreprise Hermès has initiated exhibitions in its six gallery spaces (Brussels, Berne, New York, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo). Simple Gestures will be the first in a programme of exhibitions at La Grande Place, Musée du Cristal Saint-Louis in Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche. Each year, the Foundation will propose two exhibitions whose main focus will be contemporary creation. Thematic group shows for the most part, they will consider glass or techniques, although the door will remain open to other themes.

Simples Gestures highlights man's ability to invent or repeat gestures from which a work, dance, language or other will originate. In doing so, it emphasises the importance of Action when creating a form. The exhibition is staged inside Cristalleries Saint-Louis whose mastery of the art and techniques of crystal is beyond compare. Whereas Simple Shapes focuses on the fascination exerted by the objects themselves, Simple Gestures will instead bring to the fore the ephemeral lines drawn by man in the course of this Action.

Fondation d’entreprise Hermès will invite a cultural institution in the Lorraine region to curate three consecutive exhibitions in this space. Centre Pompidou-Metz is the guest institution for 2014 and 2015.

The artists chosen for this exhibition show how a gesture can become music, dance or sculpture… Curators : Jean de Loisy, President of Palais de Tokyo Sandra Adam-Couralet, independent curator

Simple Shapes

7. Credits

Simple shapes is a Centre Pompidou-Metz And Fondation d'entreprise Hermès Coproduction.

exhibition Curator Jean de Loisy Associate curators Sandra Adam-Couralet Mouna Mekouar Project manager Éléonore Mialonier Scenographer Laurence Fontaine Lighting Design Julia Kravtsova and Vyara Stefanova Graphic design Atelier Bastien Morin, Gilles Beaujard, Julie Lecœur [Julie Gilles]

Metz Métropole Representatives Jean-Luc Bohl President Arlette Mathias Vice President Margaux Antoine-Fabry Community Councillor Patrick Grivel Associate Councillor Hacène Lekadir Community Councillor Pierre Muel Associate Councillor Patrick Thil Community Councillor

Sacha Menasce Public Relations Manager Clémence Miralles-Fraysse Head of project Manon Renonciat-Laurent Head of project SIMPLE ShapeS Team Pierre-Alexis Dumas President Catherine Tsekenis Director Manon Renonciat-Laurent Head of project Frédéric Hubin Head of Editorial Image and Publications Sacha Menasce Public Relations Manager

Centre Pompidou Representatives Alain Seban President Denis Berthomier General Director Jean-Marc Auvray Director of Financial and Legal Affairs Bernard Blistène Director of Cultural Development Catherine Guillou Director of Visitor Services Brigitte Léal Deputy Director of National Museum of Modern Art and collections curator

PRESS

Fondation d'entreprise Hermès The Fondation d’entreprise Hermès supports people and organisations seeking to learn, perfect, transmit and celebrate the skills and creativity that shape and inspire our lives today, and into the future. Guided by our central focus on artisan expertise and creative artistry in the context of society’s changing needs, the Foundation’s activities explore two complementary avenues: know-how and creativity, know-how and the transmission of skills. Pierre-Alexis Dumas President Catherine Tsekenis Director Claire Avignon Executive Assistant Blandine Buxtorf-D’Oria Head of project Frédéric Hubin Head of Editorial Image and Publications Clément Le Duc Head of project

Philippe Boulet Press Officer Ina Delcourt International Press Office Annelise Catineau-Franchet Head of Internation Press Caroline Schwartz-Mailhé Head of France Press

Centre pompidou-Metz

Lorraine Region Representatives Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé Regional Councillor Josiane Madelaine Vice President Jean-Pierre Moinaux Vice President Rachel Thomas Vice President Roger Tirlicien Regional Councillor

Centre Pompidou-Metz is an Établissement Public de Coopération Culturelle (public establishment for cultural cooperation) whose founding members are the French State, Centre Pompidou, the Lorraine Region, Communauté d’Agglomération de Metz Métropole and the City of Metz.

State Representative Nacer Meddah Prefect of Lorraine Region, Defence and Security Area of Eastern France (Zone de Défense et de Sécurité Est), and Moselle

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Alain Seban President Jean-Marie Rausch Honorary President

City of Metz Representatives Dominique Gros Mayor of Metz, home city of the Establishment William Schuman Associate Councillor

Jean-Luc Bohl Vice President

Qualified Contributors Frédéric Lemoine Chief Executive Officer of Wendel Patrick Weiten President of Moselle Department Council Staff Representatives Djamila Clary Chargée des publics et du développement des ventes Élodie Stroecken Chargée de coordination du pôle programmation équipe du Centre pompidou-Metz Management Laurent Le Bon Director Claire Garnier Personal Assistant and Project Coordinator General Secretariat Pascal Keller Interim Secretary General Hélène de Bisschop Legal Advisor Émilie Engler Secretarial Assistant Anne Horvath Secretarial Assistant Cécilia Zunt-Radot Chargée de mission auprès du Directeur et du Secrétariat général Department of Administration and Finance Rodolphe di Sabatino Head of Department Jérémy Fleur Chief Accountant Mathieu Grenouillet Accounts Assistant Audrey Jeanront Human Resources Management Assistant Alexandra Morizet Public Contracts Coordinator Véronique Muller Accounts Assistant

Simple Shapes

Department of Building Maintenance and Operation Philippe Hubert Technical Director Mouhamadi Assani-Bacar AV and IT Assistant Christian Bertaux Head of Building Maintenance Sébastien Bertaux Chief Electrician Vivien Cassar Technical Coordinator Jean-Philippe Currivant Lighting Technical Agent Christian Heschung Head of Information Systems Stéphane Leroy Operation Manager André Martinez Head of Security Jean-David Puttini Painter Department of Communications and Development Annabelle Türkis Head of Department Charline Burger Communication and Events Officer Noémie Gotti Communication and Press Officer Marie-Christine Haas Multimedia Communications Officer Anne-Laure Miller Communication Officer Amélie Watiez Communication and Events Officer Department of Production Olivia Davidson Head of Department Charline Becker Project Manager Alexandre Chevalier Galleries Registrar Jean-Pierre Del Vecchio Systems and Networks Administrator Jennifer Gies Project Manager

Christine Hall AV and IT Technical coordinator Thibault Leblanc Live Performance Technician Éléonore Mialonier Project Manager Fanny Moinel Project Manager Marie Pessiot Live Performance Production Officer Irène Pomar-Marcos Project Manager Marianne Pouille Works Manager Julie Schweitzer Project Manager Jeanne Simoni Project Manager Amandine Such Production Assistant

Anne-Marine Guiberteau Youth Programming and Educational Activities Officer Benjamin Milazzo Visitor Relations and Membership Officer Anne Oster Schools Relations Officer Accountant Jean-Eudes Bour Trainees Morgane Bielmann Élise Blin Marie-Claire d’Aligny Mélissa Hiebler Mélodie Saillard Sophie Smenda

external service providers

Department of Programming Hélène Guenin Head of Department Claire Bonnevie Editor Géraldine Celli Auditorium Wendel and Studio Programming Officer Hélène Meisel Research and Exhibition Officer Alexandra Müller Research and Exhibition Officer Dominique Oukkal Manufacturing Coordinator Élodie Stroecken Coordination Assistant

Museographic Layout Lumidéco : Bruno Ischia and his team Painting Debra Frères : Jacques Debra and his team Electrical Set-up and Lighting Cofely Ineo GDF Suez : Christophe Lere and his team MPM Équipement : Laurent Capron and his team AV Installation JCD Groupe : Fréderic Pernot and his team Cottel : David Cottel and his team

Pôle publics Aurélie Dablanc Head of Department Fedoua Bayoudh Visitor Relations and Tourism Officer Djamila Clary Visitor Relations and Sales Officer Jules Coly Visitor Relations, Information and Accessibility Officer

Shipping and Packing André Chenue S.A. : Julien Da Costa Noble and his team Hanging Services Artrans Axal : Pierre Heinrich and his team Installation, framing and basing Version bronze : Patrick Ribeiro and his team

Constat d'état des œuvres Pascale Accoyer Élodie Aparicio-Bentz Artwork Insurance Blackwall Green : Robert Graham and his team Inspection Dekra Industrial : Émilie Grandclaudon Security Groupe SGP Fire Safety Service départemental d’Incendie et de Secours de la Moselle Mediation Phone Régie Nettoyage Lustral

Friends of CENTRE POMPIDOU-METZ Friends of Centre PompidouMetz is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to accompany the Centre in its cultural projects, and to enlist the support of the business world and private individuals who wish to make their contribution. Jean-Jacques Aillagon Former Minister of Culture President Ernest-Antoine Seillière Vice President Philippe Bard President of Demathieu & Bard Treasurer Lotus Mahé Secretary General Lisa Cartus Assistant to the Secretary General

Simple Shapes

8. Centre Pompidou-Metz and Fondation d'entreprise Hermès Fondation d'entreprise Hermès is concerned with the creativity man employs to shape an object, a tool or an artefact. The Foundation and Centre Pompidou-Metz have therefore joined together to give a wide audience a new view of objects in their purest shape, and of the creative energy released through the interaction of man and nature.

Centre Pompidou-Metz and Fondation d'entreprise Hermès have joined together to devise and produce Simple Shapes. Centre Pompidou-Metz is the first offshoot of a major French cultural institution, Centre Pompidou, in partnership with regional authorities. An independent body, Centre Pompidou-Metz benefits from the experience, expertise and international reputation of Centre Pompidou. It shares with its older sibling values of innovation and generosity, and the same determination to engage a wide public through multidisciplinary programming.

Fondation d’entreprise Hermès supports people and organisations seeking to learn, perfect, transmit and celebrate the skills and creativity that shape and inspire our lives today, and into the future. Guided by a central focus on artisan expertise and creative artistry, the Foundation’s activities explore two complementary avenues: know-how and creativity, know-how and the transmission of skills.

Centre Pompidou-Metz produces temporary exhibitions which draw on loans from the holdings of Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne. With more than 100,000 works, it is the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe and the second largest in the world.

The Foundation develops its own projects: exhibitions and artists' residencies in visual arts, the New Settings programme for the performing arts, the Prix Émile Hermès international design award, the Skills Academy, and projects in favour of biodiversity. It also supports partner organisations working in these areas around the globe.

Centre Pompidou-Metz also develops partnerships with museums around the world. A programme of dance, music, films, lectures and children's workshops further explore themes raised in the exhibitions.

The Foundation's unique mix of programmes and support is rooted in a single, underlying belief: Our gestures define us.

www.centrepompidou-metz.fr

www.fondationdentreprisehermes.org

Simple Shapes

9. partners of Centre Pompidou-Metz Centre Pompidou-Metz is the first offshoot of a major French cultural institution, Centre Pompidou, in partnership with regional authorities. An independent body, Centre Pompidou-Metz benefits from the experience, expertise and international reputation of Centre Pompidou. It shares with its older sibling values of innovation and generosity, and the same determination to engage a wide public through multi-disciplinary programming. Centre Pompidou-Metz produces temporary exhibitions which draw on loans from the holdings of Centre Pompidou, MusĂŠe National d'Art Moderne. With more than 100,000 works, it is the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe and the second largest in the world. Centre Pompidou-Metz also develops partnerships with museums around the world. A programme of dance, music, films, lectures and children's workshops further explore themes raised in the exhibitions. Financial support is provided by Wendel, its founding sponsor.

G R A N D M E C E N E D E L A C U LT U R E

Simple Shapes

Founding Sponsor G R A N D M E C E N E D E L A C U LT U R E

Wendel, Founding Sponsor of the Centre Pompidou-Metz "A Founding Sponsor since 2010, Wendel is extremely proud to pledge its fiveyear commitment to the Centre Pompidou-Metz, an initiative which will enable the company to support a flagship project for the Lorraine region, birthplace of the Group and its founding families. We wanted this partnership to adhere to our corporate values of long-term investing, which is a synonym for loyalty and solidarity in our commitments, innovation, which we believe is key to creating not only economic value but also human and artistic activities, and the ambition to step up our international influence in a French region located in the heart of Europe," highlighted Frédéric Lemoine, President of Wendel’s Executive Board, and Ernest-Antoine Seillière, Vice President of the Friends of the Wendel Foundation and a benefactor of the Centre Pompidou-Metz. Wendel is one of the leading investment companies in Europe, acting as an investor and professional shareholder, promoting the long-term development of companies which are global leaders in their sectors: Bureau Veritas, Legrand, Saint-Gobain, Materis, Stahl and Mecatherm. Founded in 1704 in Lorraine, Wendel Group was committed during 270 years to the development of various activities, especially of the steel industry, before beginning a longterm investor in the late 1970s. The Group is supported by its reference family shareholder, made up of more than one thousand individual Wendel family shareholders, who are united in the family company Wendel-Participations, which owns 35% of Wendel. Press Relations: Christine Anglade-Pirzadeh : + 33 (0) 1 42 85 63 24 c.angladepirzadeh@wendelgroup.com Christèle Lion + 33 (0) 1 42 85 91 27 c.lion@wendelgroup.com www.wendelgroup.com

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10. Visuals for the Press Visuals of works in the exhibition, amongst them the images below, can be downloaded at the following address: centrepompidou-metz.fr/phototheque

Pyramidion of Ben-neben-sekhaef, Egypt, 21st Dynasty, 1069-945 B.C.

Charwei Tsai, Circle II

Limestone, 47 × 48 × 50.5 cm Department of Egyptian Antiquities, Musée du Louvre, Paris © Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais - © Georges Poncet

KUPKA (Kupka Krantisek, known as), Abstraction Noir et Blanc [Black and White Abstraction], circa 1930-1933

Colour video, silent, 56 seconds Courtesy of the artist and galerie Mor.Charpentier, Paris

Black and white gouache and graphite on paper, 28.3 × 28 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Gift from Ms Eugenie Kupka, 1963

Etienne Béothy (Beöthy Istvan, known as), Rythmes entrecroisés, 1937 [Interwoven Rhythms] Amaranth wood, 115 × 27.3 × 26.5 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris © ADAGP, Paris 2014 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMNGrand Palais / Philippe Migeat

Constantin Brancusi, L'Oiseau dans l'espace [Bird in Space], 1936 Plaster, 183.5 × 14 × 15.5 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Bequest from Constantin Brancusi, 1957 © ADAGP, Paris 2014 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMNGrand Palais / Philippe Migeat

Constantin Brancusi, L'Oiseau dans l'espace [Bird in Space], black marble, vers 1936 Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne, Paris

GE90 Design Team, Jet Engine Fan Blade (model GE90-115B), 2011

Barbara Hepworth, Single Form, Holly wood, 1937

Composite fibre resin, polyurethane coating, titanium, 121.9 × 58.4 × 43.2 cm The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Simple Shapes

Rhyton, Italia (?), second half of Ist century A.C.

Marcel Duchamp, Air de Paris [Air from Paris], 1919/1939

Kandéla, 3Grèce, Ancient Cycladic I (3200-2700 B.C.)

Anthony McCall, Line describing a cone, 1973

Mouth-blown glass ; height 20 cm, diameter 6 cm Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Musée du Louvre, Paris Collection E. Durand, 1825

Miniature reproduction of the original, edited for la Boîte-en-valise Glass, 4 x 2,5 x 2,5 cm Collection David Fleiss, Paris Galerie 1900-2000, Paris

Marble, 28 x 28 cm Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Musée du Louvre, Paris Anonymous gift in memory of E. Bizot, 1993

Cinematic installation, varying dimensions Collection of the artist

Barnett Newman, Untitled (The Break), 1946

Top, Borneo Island, Dayak people, undated

Anonymous, Steel piece for a plane, vers 1943

Robert Le Ricolais, Pre-tensionned Monkey Saddle, 1958

India ink on rag paper pasted on canvas, 91,5 × 61 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Gift from Ms Annalee Newman, 1986, through Georges Pompidou Art and Culture Foundation

Sculpted wood, height 13,5 cm, diameter 23 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne, Paris Donation Daniel Cordier, 1989 ; location: Les Abattoirs, Toulouse

Silver gelatine print, 20,6 x 25,4 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne, Paris

Lacquered and bent steel tube, tension cables, 18.5 × 53 × 55 cm Centre Pompidou Foundation Location: Musée national d'art moderne, 2010

Max Bill, Unendliche Schleife, version IV, (1960-1961)

Man Ray (known as), Radnitzky Emmanuel, Objet mathématique [Mathematical Object], 1934-1936

Yonezawa Jiro, Bridge, 2007 Bamboo, cane, cedar roots, lacquer, 21 x 103,5 x 13,6 cm Mingei Arts Gallery, Paris © Photo Pascal Goetgheluck © Mingei Arts Gallery, Paris

Bequest from Constantin Brancusi, 1957

Grey granite from Wassen, 130 × 175 × 90 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Purchase by the State, 1962

Silver gelatine print, 30 × 24 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne, Paris Bequest, 1994

José María Sicilia, The Instant, 2013 Gold (18 kt), bird song (nightingale), 3.50 x 12.20 x 7.50 cm Courtesy from the artiste and Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris © Rebecca Fanuele

Simple Shapes

Jean Arp, Bourgeon [Bud], 1935 Plaster, 40,5 x 19 x 20 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Seizure by the Customs Administration, 1996 ; location: Fondation Arp, Clamart © ADAGP, Paris 2014 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMNGrand Palais / Adam Rzepka

Edward Steichen, Le Commencement du monde [The Beginning of the World], 1920 Silver gelatine print, 25,6 x 20,1 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne, Paris Bequest from Constantin Brancusi, 1957 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMNGrand Palais / Guy Carrard © The Estate of Edward Steichen / Adagp, Paris, 2014

Standing stone, Syria, Tell Brak, middle Bronze age (600-1400 av. J.-C.) Basalt, 73 x 53 x 40 cm Department of Oriental Antiquities, Musée du Louvre, Paris Gift from Cdt Muller and father Poidebard, 1930 © Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Etienne Revault

Jean Arp, Coquille formée par une main humaine [Shell formed by a human hand], 1935

Karl Blossfeldt, Aristolochia clematitis. Aristoloche clématite, Pointe foliaire [Leaf Point]

Plaster, 47 × 74 × 43 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Seizure by the Customs Administration, 1996 ; location: Fondation Arp, Clamart

Silver gelatine print, 30,1 x 20,1 cm Archives, collection Karl Blossfeldt, Université des Arts, Berlin ; location: Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne © L’Université des Arts de Berlin

Karl Blossfeldt, Equisetum hyemale. Prêle d’hiver, Extrêmité d’une jeune pousse [Winter Horsetail. End of a Young Shoot], avant 1926 © L’Université des Arts de Berlin, Archives, Collection Karl Blossfeldt, en dépôt de longue durée à Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne © L’Université des Arts de Berlin

Syros Group, Head of a female figurine from Keros,Greece, ancient Cycladic II (2700-2300 B.C.) Marble, 27 × 14 × 10 cm Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Musée du Louvre, Paris Gift from Rayet, 1873 © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Hervé Lewandowski

Man Ray (known as), Radnitzky Emmanuel, Lampshade, 1919-1954 Painted aluminium, 152,5 x 63,5 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'Art moderne Bequest, 1994

Constantin Brancusi, Le Poisson [The Fish], 1924

Brassaï (Gyula Halász, known as) Oiseau 2 [Bird 2], 1960

Bleached plaster, 13,5 x 43 x 2,5 cm Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Bequest from Constantin Brancusi, 1957

Black marble, 11 × 5.5 × 1.5 cm

Mortar and pestle, Abri des Marseilles (Dordogne), Middle Magdalenian, (15th-14th millenniums B.C.)

Odilon Redon, Le Boulet [The Ball], vers 1882

Limestone, 34 × 28 cm Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, musée national de Préhistoire

Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris

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Notes

GE90 Design Team, Jet Engine Fan Blade (model GE90-115B), 2011, The Museum of Modern Art Jean Pigozzi, © 2014.Pompidou, Digital image, Thenational Museum of Modern Art,Paris New © York/Scala, Florence Centre Musée d’art moderne, Jean Pigozzi / Centre Pompidou, Mnam-Cci, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image courtesy CAAC – The Pigozzi Collection Graphic design: Bastien Morin

Contacts presse

Press contacts Centre Pompidou-Metz

Annabelle Türkis Annabelle Türkis Head of Communications and Development Responsable du pôle +33 (0)3 87 15 39 66 Communication et Développement annabelle.turkis@centrepompidou-metz.fr +33 (0)3 87 15 39 66 annabelle.turkis@centrepompidou-metz.fr

Noémie Gotti Chargée de communication et presse +33 (0)3 87 15 39 63 noemie.gotti@centrepompidou-metz.fr

Claudine Colin Communication

Noémie Gotti

Diane Junqua Communications and press Officer +33 (0)1 42 72 60 01 +33 (0)3 87 15 39 63 centrepompidoumetz@claudinecolin.com

noemie.gotti@centrepompidou-metz.fr