Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

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Aviary by Stéphanie Beck 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Aviary by Stéphanie Beck 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

It was a rainy day and we decided to visit one of the museums at the Palais de Chaillot, Cité, the architecture museum. It was the last day of of the exhibition and I am really glad we got to see it. It consists of various paper art focusing on architecture like the piece shown above from Stéphanie Beck. The name of the piece is Aviary and if you look carefully you can see birds inside.

Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

The artists for this exhibition are from all over the world, and the art is very delicate and amazingly beautiful.

Circle by Stéphanie Beck 2009. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Circle by Stéphanie Beck 2009. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Maze by Stéphanie Beck 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Maze by Stéphanie Beck 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

Here are some additional pieces by Stéphanie Beck. The top is Neighborhood Arrangement #1 Circle and the bottom is Neighborhood Arrangement #2 Maze. She lives in New York and was born in France. Here is a quote from her website:

“I am interested in ideas of fragility and transience and how these states exist in the architecture of the public and private spaces in which we live. I am inspired by our mental and physical experiences of spaces and buildings as we move through them and/or they change over time. In many ways I see buildings and structures as surrogates for ourselves and use them to investigate and illustrate our human frailties.”

Palais de Challoit by Ingred Siliakius. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Palais de Challoit by Ingred Siliakius. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Coliseum by Ingred Siliakus. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Coliseum by Ingred Siliakus. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
MoMA by Ingred Siliakius 2004. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
MoMA by Ingred Siliakius 2004. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Cosmopolitan NYC by Ingred Siliakus 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Cosmopolitan NYC by Ingred Siliakus 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

Another featured artist is Ingred Siliakius, originally from Egypt/Nepal and now living in Amsterdam. Ingrid Siliakus first discovered paper architecture by seeing work of the originator of this art form Prof. Masahiro Chatani (architect and professor in Japan). He developed this art form in the early 1980's. Ingrid was instantly fascinated by the ingenious manner in which these pieces were designed and by the beauty they radiated. Ingrid studied the originator's work for some years and than started to design herself. Paper Architecture is the art of creating an object out of a single piece of paper! Statement of the artist (for the Holland Paper Exhibition in 2006):

“…Working with paper forces me to be humble, since this medium has a character of its own that asks for cooperation. It is a challenge to find this cooperation with each separate paper brand I work with. Working with paper the way I do, namely by means of cutting and folding creating paper sculptures, asks of me to work with meditative precision. Paper architecture does not bare haste, it is its enemy; one moment of loss of concentration, can lead to failure of a piece…' '…I experience an ultimate satisfaction at the critical moment when the paper, with a silenced sigh, surrenders and becomes a blade-sharp crease. The sound of the paper, which guides this surrendering, to me is incomparable…”

The Short Distance between Time and Shadow by Peter Calleson 2012. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
The Short Distance between Time and Shadow by Peter Calleson 2012. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Erected Ruin by Peter Calleson 2007. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Erected Ruin by Peter Calleson 2007. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Ice Castle by Peter Calleson 2012. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Ice Castle by Peter Calleson 2012. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

Another featured artist was Peter Calleson from Copenhagen, Denmark. In his website he describes his work:

“The paper cut sculptures explore the probable and magical transformation of the flat sheet of paper into figures that expand into the space surrounding them. The negative and absent 2 dimensional space left by the cut, points out the contrast to the 3 dimensional reality it creates, even though the figures still stick to their origin without the possibility of escaping. In that sense there is also an aspect of something tragic in many of the cuts.”

Béatrice Coron. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Béatrice Coron. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Béatrice Coron. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Béatrice Coron. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

Béatrice Coron was represented by the above works. French-born artist Beatrice Coron specializes in making engaging artwork inhabiting a world between dreams and reality. These days her work can be seen in museums, in subways, on t-shirts, cups and other merchandise. She has published art books and exhibited her work all around the world.

Béatrice Coren in a White Papercut Cape. Ted Talks
Béatrice Coren in a White Papercut Cape. Ted Talks
Beatrice Cohen Papercut Dresses
Beatrice Cohen Papercut Dresses

And, of course, dresses. Like the rest of her art, these dresses are multilayered and narrate a distinct story. She refers to these stories as “artist books.”

Slice Town by Mathilde Nivet 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Slice Town by Mathilde Nivet 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Slice Town by Mathilde Nivet 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Slice Town by Mathilde Nivet 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Slice Town by Mathilde Nivet 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris
Slice Town by Mathilde Nivet 2010. Architectures de Papier, Cité Museum, Paris

I really liked these collages made from scraps of “found” paper by Mathilde Nivet who was born in Bourges, France. The pictures give a 3-D look to the montage.

Dream City by Mathilde Nivet 2009
Dream City by Mathilde Nivet 2009

This piece with rear illumination also seems quite special. This is a quote from her:

“I came to the paper medium by chance during my studies of the textile school of applied art. I was interested in the theme of the letter and writing, so I started handling envelopes and gradually explored the many possibilities offered by this material. Now it's been almost 10 years since I have worked on paper and I am not bored. Perhaps it is because of the incredible plasticity of the material that allows a constant passage between 2D and 3D.”

Illustrations for a Press Campaign GDF Suez by Mathilde Nivet
Illustrations for a Press Campaign GDF Suez by Mathilde Nivet
Mathilde Nivet Working with Photographer Ludovic Bollo
Mathilde Nivet Working with Photographer Ludovic Bollo
Christmas windows display for the jeweler Marie Hélène de Taillac, representing the castles of Neuschwanstein and Azay-le-Rideau by Mathilde Nivet
Christmas windows display for the jeweler Marie Hélène de Taillac, representing the castles of Neuschwanstein and Azay-le-Rideau by Mathilde Nivet

I have also added some works that were not in the exhibition. This top is the first Mathilde Nivet advertising illustration, with photography by Ludovic Bollo. The middle is a photo of her working with Ludovic Bollo. The bottom is a Christmas Window display done for the jeweler Marie Hélène de Taillac.

Altogether, we found this exhibition quite beautiful and an opportunity to see original works by artists we have heard of but never seen. We found it interesting how commercially viable this art form has become. Unfortunately the exhibition is now closed, but look for these artists in the future.

References:

Stéphanie Beck: http://www.stephaniebeck.org/

Ingred Siliakius: http://ingrid-siliakus.exto.org/

Peter Calleson: http://www.petercallesen.com/home/

Beatrice Coron: http://www.beatricecoron.com/

Papercut Dresses: http://inspir3d.net/2011/10/31/papercut-dresses-by-beatrice-coron/

Beatrice Coron, Ted Talks: http://www.ted.com/talks/beatrice_coron_stories_cut_from_paper.html

Mathilde Nivet: http://www.mathildenivet.com/