A curtain connecting the dancers with their public
From July 21-30, 2016, the public attending the performances of the Monte-Carlo Ballet at the Salle Garnier, will be able to admire the new stage curtain conceived fourhanded by the artists JR and Ernest Pignon-Ernest, at the request of the Company’s choreographer and director Jean-Christophe Maillot. The unveiling of this work of art will be a historic moment for the company.
The grand names of the world of art have created stage curtains for the Ballets of Monte-Carlo before: Pierre Alechinsky, Frank Stella, Valerio Adami, Philippe Favir, Ange Leccia, even George Condo and Ernest Pignon-Ernest.
For the Company’s 30th anniversary, Maillot called upon Pignon-Ernest, artist also known for his ephemera images on the walls in Nice and who has worked with him in several ballets, to create yet another curtain, but this time in collaboration with JR, known for his pseudonym as his identity has not been confirmed and who believes that “the street is the largest art gallery in the world.” Both visual artists share the passionate urge to abandon the museum rooms choosing to work on the street level, and love to immerse in the conquest of the urban space and our own reality. Their playground is most of the time outdoors where the streets becomes their palette, and their art feeds on daily life and in total logic, often social, political, sometimes violent but also full of humor and irony. JR exhibits freely on the cement walls or roofs of villages around the world, using his photographic collage. Ernest-Pignon creates images that collapse into the urban architecture, forever changing it.
For the Ballets of Monte-Carlo, the two artists have chosen once again to break away from the idea of making a traditional stage curtain, that usually is flat, smooth and frontal. In this case, the easily recognised pattern of Ernest Pignon-Ernest breaks down an crumples the classic design in two dimensions under the effect of the pleads imposed by JR. Both opposing and complementing each other, with two hands that design and two that crease. The result is striking and shows how two great artists succeeded in overlapping their universe, and managed to create a stage curtain to connect dancers with their public.
To keep a trace of this project, the stage curtain was made into a limited edition stamp signed by both artists. Information and sale: boutique@balletsdemontecarlo.com
Today’s Quotes
“What we see changes who we are.” JR
Monaco Reporter 