SHARING WITH ME

My night with Kusuma was quite « tranquille ». Those tulips swayed around in my dreams and suddenly it was time to get up and go. The weather was still foul but this time there was a metro to take and then a bus to get to the LaM (Lille metropole of modern and contemporary art). Villeneuve-d’Ascq is not so out of the way until you get to the metro station and have to wait for the bus in the pouring rain. China had taught me how to push and I pushed my way into the shelter where a group of adolescents were hogging benches and a very small dry section. The wait seemed interminable. Dead on 10am when I arrived. Opening time. Yet already there were groups of young children being presented to:-                 Daniel- Henry Kahnweiler and his Painters (Picasso, Leger, Masson). Since Gianni gave me his biography some time ago, written by Pierre Assouline « L’homme de l’art: D-H Kanhweiler" 1884-1979, a book I would certainly recommend to those who follow the painters in question.

Lunch at the Tripostal and I was very happy to drink down a hot soup. It was needed as the wind was still blowing outside. Lille is a strange city. The old town is central - of course - but you seem to go around the centre to visit other parts. Logical but I have never worked out the transport system so end up walking everywhere. I was off to the Beaux Arts. In weather like this museums are very welcome.                                 "A Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch in Congo" Looking down at the exhibition A strange relationship. I am reading Philipp Blom’s »The Vertigo Years » with a chapter and a long one, dedicated to the Congo situation with King Leopold. Some ten million people were killed in the Congo Free State, his personal fiefdom. The title of the exhibition had aroused my attention for several reasons. The association of Jerome Bosch and the Congo. Then Jan Fabre is a fascinating artist for me. How on earth one can work so intricately with beetles

Ajouter une légende I must admit that entering my hotel room in Lille and finding this - made me feel as if I really was sleeping with Yayoi Kusuma.  These tulips were erected in Lille in 2004 for the year of culture event in the same city. « The tulips of Shangr-La ». I love them as they make a very cold and windy square feel a little less open to the elements. I was in Lille for Lille 3000. Was there the last time with Marielle in October 2012, just a year ago. It was mainly to see the Brueghel and Bosch at the Beaux Arts and following this we had done a round of modern and Contemporary Art at the Tripostal and then the LAM.(see FROM LAUSANNE TO LILLE - QUITE A CONTRAST FROM LAUSANNE TO LILLE - QUITE A CONTRAS T )This time I had three exciting events on my agenda. "Happy Birthday Gallery Perrotin" at the Tripostal.  Jan Fabre at the Beaux Arts and then the highlight - or I thought it would be - The Khanweiler Collection at the Lam. After China, I was back in "