Special focus on Saint-Paul-De-Vence outdoor sculptures
Straight Line (2019)
This sculpture from Bernar Venet (b. 1941, Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban, France), an artist who is among the most prominent conceptual artists of New York’s avant-garde movement from the 60s. His torch-cut corten steel sculptures represent straight or twisted lines, arcs and angles, which are often self-sup- porting. These shapes have become the artist’s signature worldwide. This nearly 8 meters-long transversal beam was commissioned by the foundation. Balanced on a rock, it stands as a trial of strength, the artist using mathematical and scientific calculations to leverage the resistance of the metal. The exhibition L’hypothèse de la ligne droite presented at Fondation CAB in Brussels in 2020 also presented a 17 meters-long beam by Venet.
Altered to Suit (Sol LeWitt Incomplete Open Cube 5/9), 1974
Jonathan Monk (b. 1969, Leicester, United Kingdom) draws on the elements of conceptual art to create works that combine tributes, personal references and art history. Each of his works is a new interface between the art world, its historical models, myths, and anecdotes. With Altered to Suit (Sol LeWitt Incomplete Open Cube 5/9), Jonathan Monk spoofs Sol LeWitt’s work by appropriating the artist’s codes and distorting one of his famous Incomplete Open Cubes, thus replaying and revisiting an iconic work of conceptual art.
And Here, As, Or, Se, 2018
Peter Downsbrough (b. 1940, New Brunswick, United States) has developed a practice in the wake of minimalism at the crossroad of conceptual and concrete art. His work focuses on the relationship between space and language. They take the form of simple geometrical shapes and words which specificity is to be often truncated. Peter Downsbrough mostly draws on the plastic repertoire of vertical, horizontal and oblique lines, and the words he chooses are coordinate conjunctions and adverbs. This minimal combination of geometrical and linguistic elements leaves meaning constantly open, allowing for multiple interpretations.
Along the Way, 2021
Richard Long (b. 1945, Bristol, United Kingdom) created this work in-situ for his monographic exhibition held at Fondation CAB Brussels in 2018. Pioneering Land Art artist, he worked around standard geometrical forms such as lines and circles, evocative of the mountains, de- serts, shores, meadows, and rivers he observes during his walks, which greatly inspire him. In his work, Richard Long mostly uses raw volcanic stone, driftwood, water, sometimes slate, but also his own steps. Made of white limestone, the work Along the Way directly refers to nature
All these sculptures are part of our permanent collection that are on display in the sculpture garden of Saint-Paul de Vence.