Art and Wine in Provence

If you are in the Luberon Valley in Provence and tire of the myriad hill towns and lavender fields (I know, it's hard to get tired of that, but just try and use your imagination), there is an exciting new and relatively unknown art project going on in the region of Aix-en-Provence at a property called Chateau La Coste.

It is, first and foremost, a 250 acre winery tucked in between forests of oaks, fields of almonds and wildflowers. But in 2004, an idea was born to create a place where art, architecture and landscape came together. Artists and architects from all over the world were invited to visit Chateau La Coste and  then encouraged to choose a place that "spoke directly to them" where they could create something that would live there.

The list of names who finally participated is impressive: Tadao Ando built the Arts Centre and welcoming point for visitors. Jean Nouvel designed the wine making cellar and Gehry and Partners built the music pavilion. Artists whose sculptures are dotted around the landscape include Richard Serra, Alexander Calder, Paul Matisse and a surprise entry from Michael Stipe of REM fame!

It is a wonderful project and definitely worth scoping out. The best thing is it really jolts your point of reference because for most of us, Provence is all about ancient hill towns, fields of lavender and poppies, and men in berets playing boules under huge plane trees. But suddenly, this image is disrupted with a more contemporary version of Provence today.

There is a mapped walk you can do to see each piece in its environment. And at the end of a couple of hours of wandering, you return to Ando's streamlined building to eat a heavenly lunch overlooking the vineyards.

To set the scene

Rolling hills of vines, olives and oaks

The clean lines of Tadao Ando's Welcome building

Louise Bourgeois

Alexander Calder

More Tadao Ando

Richard Serra

Liam Gillick

Tom Shannon

Chapel: Tadao Ando, Croix: Jean-Michel Othoniel

View from inside the chapel

Michael Stipe

Politics & Art

"Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, 

just a barbaric one."

- Ai Weiwei

A silent but defiant protest has appeared in front of my work building. It is the work of dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. He was supposed to come here a month ago to open his installation, alongside Mayor Bloomberg. Unfortunately he was and still is regrettably indisposed at the hands of the Chinese government, being held in a place no-one knows where.

"Circle of Animals" is a series of 12 animal heads making up the Chinese Zodiac. They are each cast in bronze and stand majestically, as if on guard of the fountain they reside by. When Bloomberg unveiled the installation, he spoke of New York as a city "that fiercely defends the right of all people to express themselves," and referred to Mr Ai as "one of the most talented, respected and masterful artists of our time."

It seems the world agrees. Although Mr Ai is nowhere to be seen, his voice is heard around the globe as his art continues to be installed. When some new work of his opened in a Berlin gallery recently, it was accompanied by a huge banner by artist Rirkrit Tiravanija asking, "Where is Ai Weiwei?" Another exhibition is currently on at Lisson Gallery in London. 

The crazy thing about all this is that most people outside the art world - myself included - wouldn't have even known who Ai Weiwei is before he was detained. Now, in trying to silence him, the Chinese authorities have only succeeded in making his voice louder and more easily heard.

images: (2) art observed, rest: mine

Stick House

I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens last weekend because I was intrigued to see Patrick Dougherty's sculpture 'Natural History'. It's quite remarkable. And very beautiful. And constructed on site for 3 weeks, made entirely from woven saplings.

Dougherty is based in North Carolina and has constructed over 200 twig art installations all over the world. His work alludes to cocoons, nests, hives and lairs created by animals, as well as woven baskets, haystacks and primitive huts. Some of them look like trees or brush that have been twisted and distorted into some weird shape during a tornado. He creates these pieces by literally weaving branches and twigs together. Personally, I think this particular sculpture looks like a herd of elephants huddled together, until you get up close and then it's like entering some magical fairy or goblin village. When asked to describe what he created for Brooklyn, Dougherty replied, "a place for feral children and wayward adults."

'Natural History' will be in the Gardens for 12 months so we can experience it during all four seasons. Some of his other amazing work is below.

Summer Palace, Philadelphia, PA

Close Ties, Scottish Highlands

Toad Hall, Santa Barbara, CA.

Na Hale 'o waiawi, Hawaii

Runnng in Circle, Langeland, Denmark

Around the Corner, New Harmony, IN.

Sorite de Cave, Chateaubourg, France

If you are interested in reading more about this fascinating artist, you can buy his book Stickwork at Amazon.

Images: (1- 6) mine, (7-13) stickwork, (14) amazon

Storm King

I achieved 2 long term goals today. Firstly, I managed to actually hire a car and find my way off the island of Manhattan via the George Washington Bridge (no mean feat let me tell you and there were alot of terrifying false starts involving expressways I was not supposed to be on) and secondly, I visited the wonderful Storm King Art Centre.
Located 50 miles north of Manhattan, this 500 acre exhibition space provides a background of landscaped fields, rolling hills, water and woodlands for more than 100 incredible 20th century sculptures. It was founded in 1960 by 2 men - Ralph E. Ogden and H. Peter Stern - who had a vision to protect a beautiful piece of land and give something to the community. They started purchasing small sculptures, but the landmark was when they purchased 13 works by David Smith in 1967:

Since then, Storm King has continued to purchase monumental works from Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, Alexander Calder and Sol LeWitt to name a few. The collection is also enhanced by ongoing loans and contemporary  acquisitions of works from artists such as Richard Serra,  Louise Bourgeois and Isamu Noguchi. 

If you read the Storm King website, it describes this Art Centre as "a museum that celebrates the relationship between sculpture and nature.....the exhibition space is defined by sky and land. Unencumbered by walls, the subtly created flow of space is punctuated by modern sculpture. The grounds are surrounded by the undulating profiles of the Hudson Highlands, a dramatic panorama integral to the viewing experience. The sculptures are affected by changes in light and weather, so no two visits are the same."

The name 'Storm King' comes from the mountain of the same name that rises up from the Hudson and protects the valley where the sculptures are placed. My photos do no justice for the majesty of the works or the setting, so it's worth either going to physically view the sculptures or look on the website. I will definitely be going back in summer.

Alexander Liberman - Adonai

Mark di Suvero - Chonk On

Alexander Calder - Black Flag

Alexander Calder - the Arch

Louise Nevelson - City on the High Mountain

Alexander Liberman - Adam

Tal Streeter - Endless Column

Maya Lin - Storm King Wavefield

Mark do Suvero - Pyramidian