The Palais de Tokyo has always been missed off my Paris itinerary, so this time we got there straight after breakfast to check out the new exhibition, Chasing Napoleon.
The museum is housed in the original Palais de Tokyo, built in 1937, and opened in 2002 as a vast, concrete and marble space dedicated to French and international contemporary art.
It is more of a cultural centre than just a gallery, as Parisians and visitors are equally drawn to the restaurant, cafe, bookshop, boutique and the roof installation restaurant, Nomiya.
The museum boutique, Black Block, directed by grafitti artist and Le Baron founder André, is one of the greatest museum shops I’ve ever seen! It stocks small trinkets like André badges and La Clique’s illustrated zine, Antijour (I bought a copy) alongside more covetable items like limited edition Nike hi-tops, Japanese gadgets and a collection of tees and leather jackets designed by André.
André took inspiration from a service station in the suburbs of Stockholm (where he grew up), presenting some of the products in big refrigerators with pink neon lights above. There are all sorts of rare and hard-to-find pieces, Monsieur A. emblazoned goodies and some very cool clothes that are hard to find anywhere else.
The Librairie has an enviable amount of coffee table and reference books and a huge display of art, design and fashion magazines from all over the world. It also has a great collection of Japanese and Russian diaries, Fafi notebooks and some alternative paris guides.
I resisted the temptation of buying this journal, not because of the sentiment on the front, but the fact that my desk will actually explode if I buy any more fancy stationery.
Chasing Napoleon presents the work of 18 artists who explore the ideas of isolation, seclusion and withdrawal from the technological world. As soon as I entered the exhibition space, I felt drawn into their world of suspicion and composed state of paranoia.
In the first room, Robert Kusmirowski recreated the Unabomber’s Montana cabin, where he became a self-sufficient hunter-gatherer and later a mail bomber. Theodore Kaczynski was formerly a professor at University of California, Berkeley, and when his mountain retreat was threatened by development, he sent bombs to universities and airlines and promised to stop his rampage if The Washington Post published his manifesto.
Robert Kusmirowski replicated original documents and Kaczynski’s cabin as a relic of his past and anarchic ideology. The Unabomber is still in prison today as is known in America as a ‘domestic terrorist’.
In Tony Matelli’s Fuck It, Free Yourself! 500 euro bills are stay aflame but never burn out. In 1984, Serge Gainsbourg burned a 500 franc bill live on French TV, which was the inspiration for Matelli’s sculpture. Engraved on porcelain enamelled metal, the notes appear to feed the fire, but they will never fully burn. Matelli seems to have taken Serge’s gesture and turned it into a continual dialogue exploring the aspiration and corruption associated with money.
In the same room, Hannah Rickards re-interprets birdsong, learning and transposing it herself, creating an alternative, man-made nature.
One of the most intriguing piece was Italian artist Micol Assaël’s walk-in refrigerator, set to -30 degrees. It looked like a portacabin from the outside and I presumed it was an electricity generator for the building, before spotting the slightly fearful warning sign on the door.
I was a bit nervous to go in, after reading about the electric shocks, but the gallery attendant stood by to let us out. Assaël’s refrigerator is influenced Vorkuta, the former Siberian mining town, whose temperatures of -60 degrees have made it a ghost town.
There is a sense of abandonment with a desolate office and bicycle inside, and it presents nature overcoming man and forming new kinds of technology. It began to get bone-chillingly cold after about one minute, but when I came out, I felt kind of awakened and tingly.
Also in this room is Ryan Gander’s Nathaniel Knows, a purpose-built dark room space with a crumbling corner revealing a ‘secret garden’ outside of the walls.
Just down the steps towards the cafeteria, there’s a graffiti-covered Fotoautomat where you can get four arty, black and white passport photos for just 2 Euros. Steven and I got our photos taken and while they look pretty cool, my chunky snood seems to be the taking over the show.
Lot of Parisians come to the Palais de Tokyo just for the food, and now I can see why. The restaurant, Tokyo Eat, looked amazing, but we were after something a bit lighter, so we hit the cafeteria, Tokyo Self.
The food area looks like a school canteen and you take your meal and sit at concrete communal tables with benches. We went for the potato, Gruyère and smoked saucisson quiche (€6), which came with a delicious rocket salad and red wine vinaigrette. It was very rich and filling, but an excellent price for a museum cafe.
I ate a ridiculous amount of cake in Paris, but we couldn’t resist sharing a piece of rose raspberry cake (€2), which I wolfed down with a café crème (€2.50). You could quite easily spend the whole afternoon in the cafeteria, reading and drinking affordable coffee, and no one bothers you or moves you on. I can imagine Parisian art students hanging out and arguing about art there for hours.
The Palais de Tokyo is a must for everyone with an interest in contemporary art, Chasing Napoleon is very well-curated, with a good range of high profile and emerging artists. There is a running narrative throughout the exhibition and every piece was intriguing and suited to the concept.
Paris museums are much more accessible to the public, with big discounts for students and under 26s. We paid just €5.50 for two and a glossy exhibition guide packed full of artist info and essays that I’m still trying to get through, for just €1. Perhaps the high-flying London museums should take note!
Palais de Tokyo, 13 Avenue du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris
Métro: Iéna / Alma-Marceau