Director of Versailles, Jean-Jacques Ayyagon (Jean-Jacques Aillagon) announced that the Japanese master of pop art of Takashi Murakami (Takashi Murakami) is the latest contemporary artist whose works appear in the royal apartments of the palace. However, he stressed that this decision has nothing to do with the protests of traditionalist organizations claiming to psychedelic sculpture Murakami is not worthy of a demonstration at the residence of Louis XIV. According Ayyagona, contemporary art has come to Versailles, but show it to be elsewhere - for example, in the greenhouse, the Versailles gardens or in the building of the Royal Opera - only because it used the royal chambers once again have no interest.

It should be noted that the fantastic monsters Murakami look at the lush baroque interior of Versailles perhaps better than in the white cubes of galleries, spice dialogue between the two epochs, and adds that the product of the Japanese, bringing at auction and art fairs of millions of dollars, are, like Versailles, symbols sverhbogatstva. Nevertheless, the artistic merit of works Murakami has not yet been "tested by time, and protested against the exhibition confuses his shameless commercialism. The site of one of the organizations, Versailles Mon Amour, says that all efforts on the promotion of such art stars have only one purpose: to increase the value of their creations in the art market. Well, of course, not everyone likes the "cartoon" aesthetic of the artist: conservatives argue that the exhibition of artists such as Murakami and Jeff Koons (whose sculptures were shown at the palace in 2008), entail "disneefikatsiyu" national patrimony. Petition against Murakami, "signed by more than 12 thousand people; Versailles Mon Amour and the other association, Coordination Défense de Versailles (« Council for the Protection of Versailles "), staged during the exhibition opening demonstration.

Jean-Jacques Ayyagon drew attention to the fact that protest groups are not opposed exhibition in 2009 by French artist Xavier Whelan (Xavier Veilhan), - he explains them as "xenophobia". As response, the representative Versailles Mon Amour, the demonstrations were not, as Whelan sculptures were exhibited on the outside and not inside the palace.

Visitors to Versailles can see 22 works Murakami, among which seven sculptures and one video. Half of the works created specially for the exhibition. The exhibits were borrowed from the four collections representative at Versailles refused to say whether the number in their collection of French billionaire Francois Pinault (François Pinault). In 2008, the latter gave to the exhibition Koons six works that were greeted with attacks by the French press, who claimed that he fills that exhibits price.

What about all this fuss thinks himself Murakami? .. In an official press release he states: "I'm the Cheshire Cat, who meets Alice in Wonderland devilish smile and zabaltyvaet her until she wanders through the palace».

Works "Cheshire Cat" will be on display at Versailles until Dec. 12. The next year there will be shown by the French artist, and in 2012 - the creation of Italian Maurizio Cattelan trickster (Maurizio Cattelan).

material was prepared by Julia Maksimova, AI

Sources: theartnewspaper. com , artinvestment.ru