Sculpture and Installation: the best of 2016

How about seeing the big picture! Monumental art, even an extraordinary one, here’s the spectacle offered by the public works, booming in our cities and countrysides. Artsper has returned to the creations of 2016, which has been amusing us for the past few months, followed by a foretaste of the ones, awaiting us in 2017.

Public sculptures or installations are destined to make a space lively and sometimes transform them, whether it’s in a city or in the nature. Both in 3D, most of the time installation has the peculiarity of being an open work and there interacts with spectators.

At times short-lived, these public installations and sculptures can be long-term and an integral part of the space they occupy, just like the Burren columns in Paris, an annex of the Louvre museum.

The best of 2016

#1 Christo, the Pontoons of the Iseo lake Iseo

A unique journey, which took shape on the Iseo lake, close to Milan during the summer of 2016. A yellowish-orange which varies according to the light, floating pontoons connect the Monte Isola island to San Paolo. Christo, the famous American visual artist, is at the origin of this project , he never deserved his name, more than today. A true miracle, this installation allowed about a million people to walk on water.

#2 Jr, Olympic Games of Rio

Known for his imposing projects, JR the photographer animates walls, gives them a face and personality. For the year 2016, during the Olympic games in Rio, he puts sports in the spotlight, rather the athletes, by turning them into urban giants. To celebrate the high jump sports, he transformed the building bars into gymnastic bars. A mind blowing visual effect, which proves that the artist has a taste for challenge and is able to surpass his limits.

#3 Olafur Eliasson, Versailles

After Jeff Koons and Anish Kapoor, the famous castle of Louis XIV invited Olafur Eliasson for the celebrations last year. Less controversial than his predecessors, his work is as stunning. The artificial waterfall is magically held up in the air, The Weather Project presented for the first time in 2003, was able to elegantly converse with the sculptures in the Versailles garden.

#4 Pierre Delavie, La Conciergerie de Paris, Nuit Blanche 2016

The Nuit Blanche is the inescapable meeting in public installations. The years succeed one after the other, but are never the same, each edition is always more ambitious than the previous one. The 2016 vintage was no exception: Pierre Delavie created an astounding trompe l’oeil on the exterior facade of the Paris Conciergerie. This work puts together a path throughout the capital, making it a fully-fledged creation.

#5 Ai Wei Wei, F Lotus

At the Belvedere of Vienna, a new kind of lily pond emerged in the water, last July. Thousands of lifejackets were arranged in a circle according to colors, just like aquatic plants in the basin. Together, they call out to the thousands of migrants, whose survival often depends on these lifejackets. The famous visual artist Ai Wei Wei, has marked a new ephemeral installation here, moreover he is committed, and is gradually becoming involved in humanity crisis.

What awaits you in 2017

The coming year has quite a lot of surprises in store. We have chosen two amongst them, to make the wait worthwhile !

Jeffrey Robert

In U.S.A, the architect Jeffrey Robert embarks on the political field, and conveys his dissatisfaction loud and clear about the recent presidential elections. It is a daring project, which is currently taking shape: it hides Trump’s name at the top of one of the eponymous towers in Chicago, with the help of four enormous golden pig balloons. What better reference than Pink Floyd ? Stay with us…

Jeff Koons, Miss Liberty

On the forecourt of the Tokyo palace, a new creation is soon going to make its appearance in 2017. Springing from the ground, a hand proudly holds what might look like a bouquet of tulips. But when one comes closer, these aren’t tulips but balloons, a hallmark of the artist Jeff Koons. Due to a request from the American ambassador in France, Jane D. Harley, this giant sculpture in polychrome bronze and steel will be offered to the motherland, so as to pay a tribute to the victims of the recent attacks.