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Centre Pompidou-Metz present Views from above

Centre Pompidou-Metz present Views from above an exhibition on view May 17–October 7, 2013

Bourke-White On The Chrysler BuildingCentre Pompidou-Metz presents the exhibition Views from above, which considers how the vertical view, from the first aerial photographs of the 19th century to satellite imagery, has transformed artists’ perception.

Some 500 works spanning painting, drawing, photography, film, architectural models, installations and publications by over 160 artists including Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Delaunay, Harun Farocki, Sam Francis, Paul Klee, Zoe Leonard, Kasimir Malevitch, László Moholy-Nagy and Robert Smithson offer a new perspective on modern and contemporary art.

There has been a considerable regain in interest in the aerial view over recent years. From the success of Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s Earth From Above to the popularity of satellite images, we are fascinated by the bird’s-eye view as much for the beauty of the landscapes it reveals as the feeling of omnipotence it inspires. The exhibition draws on this popularity to return to the origins of aerial photography and explore its impact on the work of artists and, consequently, the history of art.

When Nadar took his first aerial photographs from a hot-air balloon, circa 1860, he gave artists their first indications of the world they knew but had never seen from so high. An elevated perspective blurs landmarks and relief, slowly transforming the land into a flat surface whose visual reference points are no longer distinguishable one from the other. Right up to today, painters, photographers, architects and filmmakers have continued to explore the aesthetic and semantic implications of this extraordinary vantage point.

Views from above gathers works from the most prestigious public and private collections in France, Europe and the U.S.A. Many works will be drawn from the collection of Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne.

Curator: Angela Lampe, curator at Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou

Centre Pompidou-Metz.
1, parvis des Droits-de-l’Homme
Metz, France
T 0033 (0)3 87 15 39 39
[email protected]
www.centrepompidou-metz.fr