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Place de l’Europe I, 2011 Archival ink, paint markers and graphite on paper Dimensions: 105 x 142 cm The work Place de l’Europe I and II take the famous painting Pont de l’Europe (1876) by the Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte as its point of departure, a work that depicts different classes of people side by side before an ironwork symbol of modernity. Today, the location—which was also painted by Jean Beraud, Monet, and famously photographed by Henri Cartier Bresson—is a wasteland with a prestigious name dominated by a traffic circle, parked cars, passing buses, and exhaust filled air. On every sign, pole, and parking meter, the space is dominated by signs and symbols, which speak to the extreme left and right of the French political spectrum (e.g. “Ni patrie, Ni frontière – Liberté de circuler!”, “Fédération anarchiste”, “Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste”, “Les nationalistes sont de retour!”, “Le métissage généralisé détruit la diversité!”, “Paris projet apache”). On the periphery stand personal ads and appeals ranging from people looking for work to a family looking for a lost loved one. Photographer David Oliveira |
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