In the Nave

Jean Dubuffet, Coucou Bazar
24 October–1 December 2013

Les Arts Décoratifs is paying tribute to Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) by celebrating the 40^th anniversary of Coucou Bazar, the “moving picture” he created in 1970. The culminating work of the Hourloupe series, whose painterly vocabulary consists of hatched red, white and blue compartments on a black ground, either on paper, canvas or on architecture, Coucou Bazar is one of Jean Dubuffet’s most original creations. An ensemble of painted cut-outs, mobiles and costumes worn by dancers, all of which move quasi-imperceptibly, it creates an infinite succession of combinations whose different planes move, disappear or appear as if every part of the picture had a life of its own. The exhibition recreates Coucou Bazar in the Nave at Les Arts Décoratifs. Some of the characters will be played by costumed dancers, with audio and visual archive material from the original performance enhancing this reconstruction. This exhibition again recalls Les Arts Décoratifs’ close bond with Dubuffet’s oeuvre, consecrated by the artist’s exceptional donation of 158 works in 1967, on permanent display in the Dubuffet Room.

Permanent Collections

In the Line of Sight: contemporary jewellery in France
13 September 2013–2 March 2014

This exhibition also takes us on a tour of the museum’s permanent collections, where seventy jewellers and silversmiths have been invited to show their most recent creations alongside Medieval/ Renaissance, 17^th/18^th Century, 19^th Century, Art Nouveau/Art Deco, Modern and Contemporary works, and also in the Contemporary and Jewellery galleries.
This panorama of contemporary French creation shows how jewellery and its role are changing today, in its daring, often spectacular formal experimentation, “questioning” of the contemporary body and identification of new social behaviours.

Fashion Space

Behind the Seams. An indiscreet look at the mechanics of Fashion
4 July–24 November 2013

This exhibition explores the ‘underworld’ of female and male undergarments such as the fly, the pannier, the corset, the crinoline, the bustle, the pouf, the stomach belt, the bra and other vestimentary devices fashioning the body by means of whalebones, hoops and cushions according to the changing dictates of fashion. Modelling the body sometimes to extremes, these “mechanical garments” enabled the wearer to artificially attain the ideal of beauty of the time. This exploration is full of surprising discoveries since, contrary to common belief, these artifices were by no means a 19^th-century speciality. Recourse to these concealed architectures has been constant since at least since the 14^th century until the present day. Illustrating the diversity of artifices and their mechanics with museum pieces rarely shown to the public, this exhibition – the first of its kind – takes us ‘backstage’, into another, behind-the-scenes history of clothing and fashion.

Apeloig-Typorama
21 November 2013–30 March 2014

The Typorama exhibition showcases thirty years of creation by the French graphic designer Philippe Apeloig. It was probably his passion for literature and the performing arts that awakened his interest in graphic design. He discovered this form of expression while he was studying art in Paris, and especially in Amsterdam in the early 80s when he joined Wim Crouwel’s Total design studio. His career began in 1985 at the Musée d’Orsay, for whom he did work for the opening and designed the poster for the museum’s first exhibition, Chicago, birth of a metropolis. Intent on giving typography a conceptual and emotional dimension, Philippe Apeloig has turned the letter into an artistic and painterly object in a field often regarded as merely technical and functional. For him, typography can be choreographic for the October Festival in Normandy, musical for the Théâtre du Châtelet, and landscape in his poster for Voies navigables de France. The many logos he has designed include Musées de France, and recently the Petit Palais in Paris and Maison Puiforcat.
Philippe Apeloig wanted this exhibition to highlight his creative process. His posters, logos, visual identities, books and animations will be shown with the successive stages in the development of each project, and also the major influences in his work.