Eric Stephany: Out Of Date/Material-2003-2006
"everyones sayin Paris is just no longer the city of life and that we have to deal with London now
and that Paris' becomin like a museum !! no more updates !! only history !!"
Ray from wherethelight'send blog posted this sentiment earlier today on TI which made me go..realllly? Maybe because I'm such a complete outsider when it comes to contemporary French cultural life, but there seems to be so many dynamic young artists circulating in Paris. In fact the perfect hotel in paris in my mind would be one perched on top of the Palais de Tokyo. Speaking of dynamic young artists, Eric Stephany is IT right now for TI. I think he's going to acquire a lot of momentum in the near future, primarly because of these brilliant "pixilation" sculptures he has been doing recently. He's vital!
French Non-Exposure
Ray's words ring with some truth, I believe. Politics, buzz, and money play a huge role in the success of anything in today's world and in this regard, Ray is probably right. But I don't believe French artistry and creativity ever disappeared, it just hasn't been embraced and exposed in recent years. I could go on about how I attribute a big part of this (speaking from an American perspective) to the "freedom fries" sentiment toward the French after Bush invaded Iraq but I'd rather not get too political here. The UK and Italy (especially the UK) reaped the benefits of the US cultural disconnect with Paris. Everything out of London became cool, from food to fashion. But things have changed lately and suddenly, Paris and France are buzzwords, and in a good way. Sarkozy and Bruni notwithstanding, travel magazines are showcasing Paris on its covers again. It's "OK" now to think of Paris as "cool". Personally, I've thought much of London's influence has been overrated and overblown and I welcome a return to Paris and it's artistic offerings. Whether it will ever catch up with London again in terms of spotlight time remains to be seen.
ray
haha there's even a tag for me !! sweet
but to be honest i read in some very intellectual mag and in an american mag like the Observer or even in the Time that french culture was alsmot dead !! havent u see the cover of Time mag ? here is a link !! http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1686532,00.html
and as a french i feel like the artists and intellectual are going away
London is just perfect !! they welcome artists like Jeff Koons or the great, my very favorite Damien Hirst !! the singers are popular like Amy Winehouse or Pete Doherty !! and Joss Stone and the actors and actress like Keira !! and the models like Moss or Deyn and the brand like Burberry or Westwood & young rebellious crew (Pugh, Holland, Kane.....) and litterature with Harry Potter even tough i dont consider this as smart and brilliant but anyway !! it's clear that Paris was the city of light in the 19century then NY city in the 20th and now it's time for London to shine !
in a way im quite sad to realize it but i guess it's now true and known by almost everyone !! only the taste of what Paris was,remained !! as if everyone knew the taste of the "madeleine de Proust" but that no one ever ate !!