George did well (Centre Georges Pompidou)

Member Name: freediveheaven

Product:	Centre Georges Pompidou
Date:	08/06/06 (764 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unique at the time and some great works

Disadvantages: Lots of walking so your legs will ache afterwards.

When I fancy a change of scenery in Paris I often find myself gravitating towards the Pompidou Centre as amongst all of those classic old building and great cathedrals the design of Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers stands out as something a bit different. With all the pipe work and escalators on the outside of the building the idea was to make the whole gallery as an open inviting building rather than the traditional closed environment of traditional art galleries.

It had been almost fifteen years since I last visited the centre and I must admit that it was not quite as spectacular looking as my memories but this may have something to do with the fact that 15 years ago this design was quite innovative whereas now it has been copied numerous times and also modern architecture has moved on with even more creative and innovative designs.

Located in the Beaubourg area of Paris the centre in conveniently located a mere five minutes walk from Notre Dame on the right bank. The nearest metro station is Rambuteau which is on the number 11 line with the nearest RER station at Chatelet – Les Halles however this is a meeting point for a number of lines and one of the most confusing stations on the whole otherwise brilliant Parisian train system.

The main reason for visiting the gallery it to see its fantastic display of modern art housed in the top three floors in the Musee National d’ Art Moderne however if this does not flick your switch then the building is still worth visiting just to appreciate the architecture with all of the pipes colour coded to denote their function and inside the main entrance there are some free exhibits to look at and there is also a cinema, shops and a huge library which is often full of students using it as a resource facility.

Entry to the centre is from the right facing side of the building and is a wide sloped area which is often full of people sitting in groups watching the performance artists or posing to have their portraits done by anyone of the numerous artists who ply their trade in the vicinity. The entrance hall itself is very bright, to your right is the main gift shop which sells mostly books and paintings whilst straight ahead is the ticket office. When I visited it cost 10 euro to visit all of the galleries for over 18, accompanied children get in for free. Couple of things to be aware of, entry is free the first Sunday of the month and also that your ticket allows you one entry, it is not possible once you have entered a gallery to leave and then return.

The Galleries

The exhibits cover the top three floors in all however at the time of my visit and right up to January 2007 the fourth floor is under going restoration work and is closed to the public. This is a real shame as the bulk of the galleries permanent exhibits are housed on this floor including the works of Matisse, Miro, Picasso and Dada many of which I was looking forward to seeing.

However I would still recommend a visit to the two remaining floors as there is much to see however the exhibits on the sixth floor are temporary ones. It is worth visiting in part just to get to ride up the escalator which gives a great view across the Paris sky line as you ride up to the sixth floor and you will be able to see Sacre Coeur and the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

On the sixth floor there is a roof terrace restaurant, the prices looked a little expensive however you are paying for the location and the view however it did seem to be rather blowing a gale at that height (it was a sunny day with no wind at all) and I did not fancy spending an entire meal holding onto my plate in case it blew away.

There are two temporary exhibits on the 6th floor, the larger of the two is entitled Los Angeles 1955-1985 – Birth of an Artistic Capital and displays the work of various American artists from this era in a variety of visual, film and audio settings. What came across in this exhibit was the sheer diversity of work to be seen and like all modern art for me some of it worked really well and had a definite “wow” factor while some of it just looked like anything your average six year old could knock out. Indeed some of it was so far up the artists back passage that it was almost funny at how serious they were taking themselves.

Some of the pieces do contain warnings that they may not be suitable for those easily offended and a couple of the films were quite sexually explicit featuring enforced bondage and after the third viewing I was a little offended I must admit. Some of the more interesting stuff was the performance art of Chris Burden (again not for the squeamish) and also the work of Jim Shaw.

The second area was given over to a single piece of work and was contained in a single room. Upon entering you were given a pair of covers for your shoes as in this exhibit you got to walk on the art. Titled Morphosis, the piece was produced by the Los Angeles architect agency of the same name and consisted of a slightly sloped transparent glass screen that was divided up into sections and underneath your feet are twenty four building designs from the agencies portfolio. At the top of the screen is a video screen which plays constant images.

This was a really cool piece of work, the detail on the designs was amazing and covered such diverse projects as a Turf Club in Malaysia to a children museum in Los Angeles and also included the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. It was easy to stroll across the top of the exhibit and I also noticed that access at one side was sloped to allow wheelchairs or push chairs onto the exhibit.

The fifth floor is given over entirely to a huge display dedicated to sound, movement and film. There is a wide central corridor running down the centre with large video screens on either side exhibiting in some cases short films and on others more abstract moving images. On either side of the main corridor area number of smaller galleries, some of which have quite enclosed entrances which you have to stoop down to get through and then you find yourself in a large room.

In this gallery I noticed a Turner prize entrant (it may have actually won a few years back) which was a remake of a scene from a Buster Keaton silent film and also an exhibit that I had first seen at the Tate Modern. You can easily spend a couple of hours on this floor alone as there is so much to see, there are a number of small cinema rooms which have art films showing as well as a number of large sculptures. At the time of my visit this did seem to be the floor most popular with visiting school parties so be aware that it can become crowded particularly while the fourth floor is closed.

General Facilities

Within the centre there are two places to purchase food, the rather expensive Terrace Restaurant and the much more reasonable café which is located on the 2nd floor and over looks the main entrance area. The café had a good selection of cakes and sandwiches and was reasonable priced and can be accessed without the need to buy a ticket which probably helps keep the price down as the Pompidou Centre itself is surrounded by café and bars.

The toilets were nice and clean and were also free which is not always the case in Paris.

Throughout the building there was good access for disabled visitors with few steps and a number of lifts and all the exhibits are well spaced out allowing for those in wheel chairs easy access, the only challenging bit is the slope leading into and out of the centre which is slightly cobbled in places and often crowded.

Overview

If you have the time then the Pompidou Centre is well worth a visit just to appreciate the architecture for a start and then to enjoy the great works of art found within. I found that my visit lasted the best part of four hours which included a coffee and cake break; if the fourth floor had been open I would have probably spent another hour at least.

The galleries are all brightly lit and well set out and whilst, with the exception of the right side of the building when you use the escalator, the building does not always make use of its surrounding by affording views of Paris the ride up the escalator is good fun.

There is a lot of walking so sensible shoes are a must as well as the ability to open your mind to new ideas and imges.

For a great picture of the centre at night and to find out more information check out the following link

http://www.cnac-gp.fr/Pompidou/Accueil.nsf/tunnel ?OpenForm

Thanks for reading and rating my review.

Summary: Modern art museum.