Paris has a stunning new museum, and perhaps a dash of controversy over what it does with the art it displays in giant multi-media exhibits.
The Atelier des Lumiéres, located in an old foundry in the 11e arrondissement, projects 3D images works by well-known artists on 10-metre-high walls using hundreds of laser projectors, accompanied by a 50-speaker high-tech sound system that provides a “motion design” for the display.
Its main gallery, called La Halle, is focused on Viennese painting, especially the work of Gustav Klimt. There are also works by Egon Schiele and more recent work by Hundertwasser. A smaller room, Le Studio, features the work of lesser-known and emerging artists.
The entire installation is a project of Culturespaces, a cultural management organization that operates a number of monuments and historic buildings around France, as well as the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris.
Its president, Bruno Monnier, explains the project: “People do not learn about culture as they did in the past. The practices are evolving and cultural offering must be in step with them. The marriage of art and digital technology is, in my opinion, the future of the dissemination of art among future generations.”
