Jean-Michel Othoniel at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents new work by French sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel from April 29 to May 29, 2006. Born in 1964 in Saint-Etienne in the Loire, Jean-Michel Othoniel is a young artist of international renown; he has participated in exhibitions such as Documenta IX in Kassel in 1992 and the Kwangju Biennal in Korea in 2000. In 2000, to celebrate the centenary of the Paris metro, Othoniel created "Le Kiosque des Noctambules" at the subway-entrance of Palais Royal Musée du Louvre.
The installation at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection will consist of 7 Murano glass sculptures that will adorn the façade of Palazzo Venier dei Leoni overlooking the Grand Canal. The largest of these takes the form of a necklace. It will be installed the full height of the palazzo and visitors will walk over and through it as they pass from the Grand Canal terrace to the museum galleries. The 9-meter high work will form, with 4 other sculptures, a cross ornamented with multi-colored glass pearls. Geometric Lovers, in green and red glass, will secure the two sides of the necklace, while smaller Chandeliers will hang over the balustrade of the terrace where Marino Marini’s equestrian statue is placed. The installation will be completed by 2 suspended glass sculptures in the palazzo windows.
With this installation that evoke a sense of celebration along the Grand Canal, nine years after his first exhibition in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection garden, Othoniel renders homage to Venetian glass masters, whose production has inspired his work in recent years.
The project has been supported by Nicolas Hélion and Emmanuel Perrotin.