Paris on a Grand Scale

Last year I was fortunate enough to visit the wondrous Grand Palais in Paris.

This immense building was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris and is a truly unique building............an architectual miracle in my view.

The exhibition, Monumenta, is staged each May in the glass-roofed nave of the Grand Palais, with a well-known contemporary artist invited to create a work especially for this monumental space.

Last year, the incredible Anish Kapoor was the featured artist.

Walking in and through Anish Kapoor's enormous aubergine sculpture was unforgettable.  Almost spiritual.   He created a 13 500 square metre aubergine cave that allowed minimal amounts of light through its semi-transparent blood red roof.  Spellbinding!

The guest artist of 2012 is to be Daniel Buren.  Daniel Buren created those famous black and white columns (see below) in the main courtyard of the Palais Royal - one of my favourite spaces in Paris.

The Buren Columns in the main courtyard of the Palais Royal

I'll visit Monumenta 2012 (10 May 2012 to 21 June 2012) and write a post about it.  I know it will be thrilling.

Should you want a virtual discovery of the Grand Palais go to http://www.grandpalais.fr

The red images (the blood red roof of the sculpture) were taken inside the enormous aubergine sculpture.

Can you believe the scale of this sculpture?  13 500 square metres!

And just for fun, voici les grandes dames - elles sont magnifique.

You may also like my post on:
http://parisallons-y.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/parisian-havens.html