The Monumenta Exhibition in the nave of the Grand Palais has opened for the fifth year. Following in the steps of Anish Kapoor who had been chosen for the 2011 event, is celebrated French artist, Daniel Buren with his wonderfully colourful interactive installation, ‘Excentrique(s).’
The vast exhibition space contains hundreds of overlapping metallic circles of different sizes, containing brightly coloured plastic panels in green, orange, blue and yellow. The circles are supported by black and white steel poles, and the visitors are invited to wander around and investigate the variations of colour and shapes within the spaces, becoming a part of the kaleidoscopic effect of the changing light, as reflected through the enormous glass arch of the nave. The play on light and colour of the installation is accompanied by chanting voices repeating the colours, in 37 different languages. In the evening, the atmosphere changes as beams of light span the space at intervals. Positioned on the floor, in the centre of the exhibition, are several mirrors, reflecting both the visitors and the panelled ceiling above, incorporating everything and everyone, the old and the new, colour and transparency, into the exhibition.
The Monumenta exhibition runs from May 10th through to June 21st, 2012.
