“Muecking” it Up and Night at the Musées

Man floating in pool – Ron MueckMueck sculpture in processThe finished art, installed

One of my friends said, “See, that’s you in a few weeks,” referring to the gentleman on the raft floating cooly on the blue water. But it wasn’t a photo and the man on the raft wasn’t real. Neither was the raft or the water, but you wouldn’t know it, except that he wasn’t the same size as you or me — he was half our size.

This is the work of sculptor Ron Mueck, whose second exhibition at the Fondation Cartier (the first was in 2005) just opened to an immediate success and long lines to enter. Fortunately it’s on till September 29th, so you will have no excuses to NOT go see it, unless there is simply no way you can be in Paris between now and then or if you don’t want to see such blatant reality.

His life-like figures are not for everyone. Some people might find his recreations of the human form in molded plastics a bit too real rather than surreal to be believed. The Web site for the exhibition describes the work best: “His human figures are meticulously detailed, with surprising changes of scale that place them as far from academic realism as they are from pop art or hyperrealism.”

They will either shock you or amaze you. Yes, my friend was right. The gentleman on the raft is just how I imagine myself in the coming weeks given the travel planned for the Summer..all to hot, sunny places to counter-act the cool, gray climate of Paris, where one can be lazy on a raft on a cool body of water, whether it be a pool a lake or an ocean (you’ll be getting Parler Paris from Istanbul, Nice, New Orleans and Corsica between this month and August).

This exhibit may be just the thing for the coming “Nuit des Musées” this Saturday, May 18th — when museums all over France (and Europe) open one night a year free of charge. “The City of Paris’ contribution to this France-wide event includes the Musée d’Art Moderne, Musée Bourdelle, Victor Hugo’s house, the glass-roofed Petit Palais and countless other cultural attractions. These singular venues run a variety of events, and provide their own brand of stuff-dreams-are-made-of experiences.”

The museums will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight, so this is your ‘after-hours’ chance to take in a cultural event you might not otherwise. “Discover by night the Petit Palais, the Musée de la Vie Romantique, a gem in the Nouvelle Athènes quarter (Paris 9th), Musée Zadkine (Paris 6th) or the Victor Hugo house (Paris 4th)…   For more information and a complete listing of all the museums open for visiting that night (be sure your museum of choice will be open!), visit nuitdesmusees.culture.fr, or download a pdf listing of all the museums.

A la prochaine…

Adrian Leeds

Director of The Adrian Leeds Group, LLC 

Respond to Adrian 

P.S. Be sure to tune in to House Hunters International on May 16th at 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. ET/PT for the latest episode, “La Vie en Paris, France“! “After transferring to Paris for her dream job five years ago, Abby Gordon was ready to purchase an apartment to call her own.” We helped her search for the perfect Paris property market to suit her style and budget.

P.S.S. I hope to see many of you tomorrow at Parler Paris Après Midi when Rosemary Flannery, author of “Angels of Paris: An Architectural Tour Through the History of Paris” talks about…angels in Paris! For more information, visit Parler Paris Après Midi for details.