For its eleventh exhibition of contemporary art, the Palace of Versailles invites the Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto this autumn in a new emblematic place. The Japanese artist will invest the gardens of the estate of Trianon inviting art, architecture and performance.
The exhibition
During the exhibition time, the Present breathes new life into the Past at Versailles. Hiroshi Sugimoto settles his installations in several spaces in the Estate of Trianon: Petit Trianon, Flat Pool, Belvedere, Queen's Theater, French Pavilion and the Garden Room. The artist presents the shadows of greats personnages who lived or marked the places: from Louis XIV who set up Montespan here to Marie-Antoinette who put the finishing touches to its aesthetic, it is a whole historic facet that Sugimoto reinvents through his installations.
His art questions our relationship with photography and time: it is a practise that blends the modernist project with Japanese tradition and takes place in a unique and historical place: the Estate of Trianon.
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Napoleon Bonaparte, 1999, tirage argentique. Courtesy de l'artiste © Tadzio
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Louis XIV, 2018, tirage argentique. Courtesy de l'artiste © Tadzio
Glass Tea House Mondrian, Bassin du Plat-Fond, Versailles, 2018, commissionnée à l'origine par Pentagram Stiftung for LE STANZE DEL VETRO, Venice. Architectes : Hiroshi Sugimoto et Tomoyuki Sakakida / New Material Reasearch Laboratory. Courtesy de l'artiste & Pentagram Stiftung ©
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Surface of Revolution, 2018, aluminium, acier. Courtesy de l'artiste © Tadzio
Cérémonie de thé à la Glass Tea House Mondrian, Bassin du Plat-Fond, Versailles, 2018
Tea Master So'oku Sen of Mushakoji Senke © Tadzio
The artist
Born in Tokyo in 1948, Hiroshi Sugimoto moved to the United States in 1970 to study photography. A multi-disciplinary artist, Sugimoto works in photography, sculpture, installation, and architecture. His art bridges Eastern and Western ideologies while examining the nature of time, perception, and the origins of consciousness. In 2009 he established the Odawara Art Foundation, a charitable nonprofit organization to promote traditional Japanese performing arts and culture.
Sugimoto’s art works have been exhibited around the world and are in numerous public collections including The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery in London; and the National Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo.
Hiroshi Sugimoto © Tadzio
Contemporary art in Versailles
Since 2008 the Palace of Versailles has put on a number of exhibitions dedicated to French or foreign artists, each one lasting a few months. Jeff Koons in 2008, Xavier Veilhan in 2009, Takashi Murakami in 2010, Bernar Venet in 2011, Joana Vasconcelos in 2012, Giuseppe Penone in 2013, Lee Ufan in 2014, Anish Kapoor in 2015, Olafur Eliasson in 2016 and the group show “a winter journey ” in 2017 : these artists have all created a special dialogue between their works and the Palace and Gardens of Versailles.
For the first time, the artist Hiroshi Sugimoto will install his creations within the domain of Trianon, a domain dedicated to the privacy of sovereigns. His exhibition, "Surface de Révolution", will settle in several places in the estate of Trianon.
Curators
Jean de Loisy, President for the exhibition SUGIMOTO VERSAILLES – Surface de Révolution and president of the Palais de Tokyo
Alfred Pacquement, curator for contemporary art in Versailles
