kaitlin rebesco

Barcelona, 2012.

La Sagrada Família. Barcelona, 2012.

Louis Vuitton – Marc Jacobs at Les Arts Décoratifs

This week I finally made it to the Louis Vuitton - Marc Jacobs exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs. It’s a small exhibition with a big visual impact. The first floor is dedicated to Louis Vuitton and the beginnings of the company in the 19^th century, focusing on his beautiful handcrafted trunks and creation of the trademark monogram logo. A small staircase takes you to the second floor and into what feels like a time machine. A floor-to-ceiling display of videos and backlit images quickly propels you through time to the modern day Louis Vuitton under the direction of Marc Jacobs. I can only describe this half of the exhibition as “eye-candy” — an entire wall of handbags and imaginative displays of fashion including pieces created in collaboration with artists Takashi Murakami, Stephen Sprouse, Richard Prince. This exhibition reminded me a lot of the Alexander McQueen show at The Met last year, and it’s wonderful how museums are putting life into what used to be static fashion displays.

Marc Jacobs himself said of the exhibition, “To me, there’s nothing more boring than seeing a bunch of clothes that were once worn by people with interesting lives, on a bunch of still mannequins in a quiet environment. So there’ll be music, there’ll be moving images, animated mannequins; just fantastic imaginative ways of showing the things that were inspiring the parallels past and present.”

Louis Vuitton – Marc Jacobs is on view through September 16 at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris

107 Rue de Rivoli 75001

Tuesday – Sunday from 11 to 6, Thursday from 11 to 9

Photos by Kaitlin Rebesco

Palais de Tokyo

The Palais de Tokyo, Europe’s largest contemporary arts center, re-opened last month after a ten-month renovation and I cannot say enough about this place. After 8 months of photography school, this was such a refreshing experience. In school you are taught the rules – elements of composition, content, what makes a good photograph, etc. Of course these things are important but sometimes they can act as a restraint. It’s easy to get stuck inside the box, thinking about the rules and who will buy your photograph instead of creating for yourself and doing what you want because it’s what you feel.

There are no rules inside the Palais de Tokyo. It’s a place that begs the question, “What is art?” And it seems to answer that question as anything created following these two steps: 1) Self-exploration, and 2) Self-expression. There’s painting, photography, installation, video, mixed media, collage, neon art, flower arrangements, and even live birds. This is art created for the sake of creating. Created for the artist and not the critic, buyer, or collector – pure.

Anyone in need of inspiration should explore the Palais de Tokyo. It is 150,000 square feet of unrestrained creativity and imagination and a totally freeing experience.

Palais de Tokyo

13 Avenue du Président Wilson

75116 Paris

Open everyday except Tuesday, 12pm-12am

Photos by Kaitlin Rebesco

Helmut Newton at the Grand Palais

Now that classes are over, I finally have time to see some of the many exhibitions on display in Paris right now. Yesterday I decided to use my free afternoon to see Helmut Newton at the Grand Palais. A big influence on the development of fashion photography and someone whose work I personally find very inspiring, this was an exhibition I had been looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately, the experience wasn’t quite what I had hoped it would be. After waiting in line for nearly 40 minutes, I found myself in an exhibition space so filled with people that it was impossible to appreciate (or even really see) most of the photographs. Having said that, if you were to take all of the people out of the room, it would have been a really outstanding show. It was filled with many photographs that I had never seen before. Even some of his better-known images were printed so big (life size and in some cases even bigger) and presented in such a way that it was like seeing them for the first time. This exhibition really reinforced the idea that a good photo is meant to be printed and displayed on wall. It’s not meant to exist as an image on a screen. How the work is displayed within a space can have an enormous impact on the overall effect. And, here, the curator did a wonderful job. Everyone should see this exhibition but try to go early or late (it is open until 10pm) to avoid the crowds.

Helmut Newton is showing at the Grand Palais until June 17

Avenue Winston Churchill 75008

Open everyday except Tuesday, from 10am-10pm

Photos by Kaitlin Rebesco

Néon, who’s afraid of red, yellow and blue? at La Maison Rouge

The first Sunday of the month means free admission to all of the national museums in Paris. Unfortunately this also means long lines and large crowds of people (two things which I generally try to avoid at all costs). So today I decided to check out one of the city’s premier spaces for contemporary art (and, thankfully, and non-national museum), La Maison Rouge. Just a short walk along the Seine and I was there. The exhibition currently on display at La Maison Rouge is called Néon, who’s afraid of red, yellow and blue? And, as you can probably guess, is a collection of neon art. The exhibition follows the development of the art form from its beginnings in the 1940s to its modern-day presence and includes pieces by pioneers such as Lucio Fontana from the early 1950s, François Morellet, Bruce Nauman, Stephen Antonakos, Joseph Kosuth and Mario Merz from the 1960s, and some of the many contemporary artists working in this medium, such as Jason Rhoades, Sylvie Fleury and Claude Lévêque. As the first exhibition I’ve been to that was dedicated entirely to neon art, this was really an amazing experience. Interesting as well as visually stimulating, Néon is a must-see.

The exhibition is on at La Maison Rouge until May 20, 2012

10 Boulevard de la Bastille 75012

Open Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-7pm

Late-night Thursday until 9pm

Photos by Kaitlin Rebesco

Blanc. Paris, 2012

Le Marais. Paris, 2012.
© Kaitlin Rebesco — Le Marais. Paris, 2012.

© Kaitlin Rebesco

Silhouette. Paris, 2012.

Regarde le ciel. Paris, 2012.

Outside le Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2012.
© Kaitlin Rebesco — *Outside le Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2012.*

*© Kaitlin Rebesco*

Les Vitrines. Paris, 2012.