Yesterday, after a wonderful lunch at Saveurs Veget’Halles, we walked to and down Rue Rivoli, until we returned to 59 Rue de Rivoli, a place we had walked past before with the intent of returning and actually touring the “Aftersquat.” We were met at the door by a gentleman named Sandi (sp?) who explained a bit about the different floors of the artists’ residences and workshops, as well as about the gallery on the Rez de Chaussee and first floor. When I asked where we could donate/ become supporters of 59 Rivoli. (Anyone can do this with a small donation of 5 euros.) Sandi explained that we should look for a person named “Anita,” who was in charge of this. So, we proceeded through the door of the Gallery. The Gallery had some wonderful paintings that were 3- dimensional paintings of well known figures (e.g. Barack Obama, Thelonious Monk, Martin Luther King), as well as some sculptures. We then exited the Gallery and proceeded up to the 2nd floor (European 2nd) to tour the different workshops. There was a range of artists’ work, both in quality and in medium of expression. There were simple collages, and complicated, intricate ones. There were “paintings” made of chipped, burnt, pressed, melted and cracked metal, glass, and other substances. There were limestone sculptures in progress, paintings made dimensional with lace, abstract, modern, realistic, as well as photographs. There were artistic expressions made of found objects uniquely incorporated into art, such as a pink cow sculpture with pink, bicycle handlebar horns and floppy ears made of shoe sole inserts painted pink. There was an artistic sculptural depiction of Big Pharma which utilized only prescription medication boxes to form an illuminated robot-like sculpture in perfect symmetrical form. There were amazing origami sculptures made from commonplace paper items such as Metro tickets, or magazine pages – as well as a large chandelier fashioned from soda cans. We stopped to speak with a few of the artists who had taken a break and were not, at the moment, too deeply engrossed in creation. There was an artist, whose name I believe was France (that’s what I could see from his paintings), who, instead of just doing a charcoal outline of his paintings and then filling them in, chose a process by which he would freely paint, change the painting in some way by means of dilution, addition of some medium, etc. and would watch the result and see what evolved. If a face came forward from the painting, he would go back and emphasize a face or other figure that seemed to emerge from the painting. Some paintings, he said would happen quickly. (He showed us a painting of what appeared to be a painting of a face that looked half savage animal and half human. If you stared at it long enough you could see that at the same time it looked very diabolical, it also looked innocent and sweet. He said this painting happened very quickly.) Some paintings he said, would take a much longer process. Sometimes, he said, a painting would start out as a tree or building and suddenly he would begin to see a face, which he would begin to paint and bring out, help to emerge, and the painting would change drastically from how it had started out. It was fascinating. We studied the abstract paintings of another artist who was busy working, painting all in shades of a deep aqueous blue. Abstract paintings need to be very unique for both Tom and I to be attracted to them, and these blue paintings drew us towards them immediately. There was a kind of soul, or spirit, or feeling, that the artist had imbued into these blue, amorphic paintings – it caused a wondrous transcendence immediately in both of us . The paintings were captivating. That an artist can have such an effect on those who view the art is truly amazing. Outside of his workshop against the wall, were many others of his paintings that were of more impressionistic, less abstract, figures that were more easily identifiable – also quite beautiful. We found “Anita,” to whom we each donated 5 euros to support the artistic enterprise. In one section, we quietly observed one of the artists working intently at making a three dimensional painting, where the face seemed to take on life and start to project its way out of the painting and into the reality of the room. We wove our way through and up the winding staircase of the building, through about eight levels of workshops, past the mural-decorated staircase walls and banisters, and finally to the top where a fabulous, large skylight window bathed us in bright sunlight where we entered and experienced the last set of workshops. We had seen artists at many stages of honing their talent in many different mediums of expression. We left 59 Rivoli awed and inspired. I had every intention to talk to Tom about his impressions as we headed toward a café for tea and wine. We bumped into two young American women who heard us talking and asked us if we were American, and if we were stranded, too, by the air transportation freeze caused by the erupting volcano in Iceland. They had been in Paris for three weeks, hopefully had a flight out on Tuesday, and asked for some suggestions for things to do in Paris that were not so “touristy”. They were so sweet, listened intently, and made us feel as if two “old people” had something important to say. We shared some impressions of Paris, talked for quite a while, and then, we had to leave in order to arrive at a Vivaldi Concert at Paris’ oldest church, St. Julien le Pauvre, on the left bank, Latin Quarter. The concert was amazing – first Mozart, then Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. We had front-row seats about 10 inches away from the string quintet. We floated out of the church down the street, at the end of the concert, and right into Le Grenier de Notre Dame, one of our very favorite vegetarian restaurants in Paris for a delicious late-night supper. It wasn’t until this morning (Sunday, 18 April 2010) that Tom and I had a chance to reflect about 59 Rivoli. We were both enchanted by the place. It made me want to get busy and start painting/creating art again. It also gave us both the same impression: Paris (France) is one of those places in the world where art is held in high regard. They value the creative artistic process, the honing of skills. Not everyone at 59 Rivoli is ready to emerge this moment as a famous and professional artist (and some may never rise to that level,) -- but that is not the point. There are places in Paris (in France, in Europe), where this creative process is not only appreciated, but supported and protected by public agencies. These are places where artists develop and flourish without completely starving. It is to the credit of the mayor of Paris, that 59 Rivoli has been ”legitimized.” In Paris, many artists display their art along the sidewalk, for everyone to see, appreciate and perhaps, buy. Just the other day, we met an artist from East India (Khan was his last name). He had lived 36 years in Paris. After perusing through a line of his artistic creations, we bought two of his prints. We talked for a while. He encouraged me to take up the piano again. (I had studied for 4 years when I was younger, and had not played for many years.) He spoke of his own return to playing the piano and said that he was amazed that it had breathed a gusto for life,and music, in him that he had thought , at his age, was long gone. Every day, somewhere in the United States, an art program, a music appreciation program, a fine arts program, that engenders new, young, budding artists and musicians in public schools, is being eliminated because it’s not “cost effective.” So many more programs are barely hanging on, permitted to survive a little longer because someone is wise enough to see the value in keeping this precious portal open for generations to come. Tom made the point that this “safe place” for business exists – someone is always happy to pay for new, creative thinkers that will bring more revenue to an area, or for creative management techniques that will make the worker bee more “productive” in a monetary sense. It came to me that, sadly enough, this does not exist in education in the U.S. As educators, we are often criticized ( by infinitely less creative, less innovative educators and administrators) in our evaluations for doing things that are creative, “fringe,” innovative practices that do not follow the “cookie cutter” delineation of what is acceptable in the education process. Or, sometimes, perhaps more regrettably, we are just ignored for educational creativity, and something that is vital, and would be infinitely useful, goes by the wayside in education because we do not value creativity enough. I was so very fortunate to have a district superintendent Dr. Waters, a principal, Bill Cox, a department chair, Katherine Watson, and an assistant principal, Dr. Gloria Smith, who appreciated the creativity in my approach to instruction. I was permitted to develop and flourish as a young instructor. Unfortunately, though, in recent years, there is less freedom for creativity and innovation in education – in a very real sense, teachers are punished if they are not on the same word on the same page of the same book at the same exact minute of the hour. In my field of languages, there are so many cookie cutter teachers who have been trained, very poorly, to teach in a cookie cutter fashion, who will teach in that same fashion and will never identify or encourage a future master of literature. I cannot even imagine how badly this would stifle creativity if this same approach were applied to art. Picasso’s scribbles might have lined the bottom of someone’s birdcage at best. How much have we already lost in the U.S.because of this attitude? --Kathleen Gallier, Paris, April 18, 2010 |
| My Two Cents |