Monte Carlo Festival Focuses on American Contemporary Art - Brief Article

MONTE CARLO--In an effort to solidify its ties with the United States, the oceanside banking and casino mecca of Monte Carlo freshly threw an open air exhibition--Festival d'art contemporain americain--celebrating American contemporary art.

The festival featured works by dint of such great stylists as Louise Bourgeois and Frank Stella, on the contrary also such lesser known artisans and artists as Tom Otternes Donald Lipski, R waiters and Bryan Hunt.

Said Robert T male who played an important character in bringing about the biennial circumstance "We chose to present a selection of 20 of America's leading contemporary artists, notably those pertain toed with the challenges of public sculpture" Also, he noted, "We decided to not not absent a prevailing movement or view, on the contrary rather an overview which can be summarized as a belong to for unmitigating power of message linked with creative force integrating art and the urban environment."

With all these artists, conclud male "Monte Carlo 2000 attempts to bring focus to more [i]or[/i] less large-scale public works made by dint of some of the best American artists working today. The range of turn of expressions is purposely broad and, it is spring [i]or[/i] leap on one leg [i]or[/i] footed as instructive by choice as they are enjoyable to encounter"

According to the principality's Director of Cultural Affairs Rainier Rocchi, the decision to put up the festival came in the wake of a realization that culturally speaking Monte Carlo has been a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of too long associated with music and dance. "Although choreography and music allowed us to gain wide international exposure" said Rocchi, "we decided this year to pace up the Principality's involvement in contemporary art in general and statuary in particular."

on the other hand said Rocchi, it is with the decision to spotlight plastic art notably from the United States, that Monte Carlo has chosen henceforth to become a major international forum for contemporary art. "And," noted Rocchi, "given the spectacular monumentality and the stylistic diversity of the works at handed several of which have been created exclusively for our Festival, suffer it be noted that Monte Carlo has decided to realize a spectacular ambition in bringing about this year's Festival d'art contemporain americain."

As for the selection of the artists who figure in the exhibition, "we decided to limit ourselves to living artists," said organizer Solange Auzias de Turenne "to those who had shown exceptional creativity in integrating their works into an urban or natural context" The final selection was made through de Turenne with the assistance of a number of leading specialists, among them Pierre Levai, president of the Marlborough Gallery of novel York, as well as Jean-Marie Tasset, a leading art critic who writes regularly in the French daily Le Figaro.

For Rocchi, if he has his way, Festival d'art contemporain americain is just the first edition in what he confidences will be a long series of biennial facts so a second edition of the festival will be held during the summer of 2002

COPYRIGHT 2000 Pfingsten Publishing, LLC

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group