Performing Pictures were as the only Swedish artists invited to represent Sweden in Dans La Nuit, des Images – a prestigious retrospective of the most important visual, digital art work from the last 10 years. At the exhibition, they were accompanied by artists such as Bill Viola, Nam June Paik and William Kentridge and filmmakers such as Chris Marker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Manoel de Oliveira.
The doors to Dans La Nuit, des Images at Grand Palais in Paris were opened on the night of 17 December with a spectacular opening reception. Hundreds of people were waiting in line in the cold winter night to enter into the exhibition with works by more than 120 artists. The nightly manifestation celebrates the illuminated and projected image, which since the Lumière Brothers invention of the cinematograph till our contemporary diversity of powerful projection techniques, have illuminated the world and haunted our fantasies. The Grand Palais has therefore been transformed into a gigantic kaleidoscope of projections, with films, photos, and sounds, as well as interactive installations that allow each person to carve out his own patch in this vast forest of images...
"Dans la nuit, des images," celebrates contemporary artistic creation in Europe and the world in its most innovative form, while at the same time addressing age-old themes: the human face and body, nature and landscape, the city and destruction, the mysteries of imagination and dreams etc. The event takes place at night because the works, which all belong to the realm of photography, film, video, or digital media, and are projected on screens of all sizes, generate their own light. They illuminate the immense tropical greenhouse of the Grand Palais, transfigured into a temple of illusions perfectly in keeping with the original purpose of this magical place, constructed for the 1900 World's Fair. The general public is invited to discover that these works of contemporary art directly involve and address them, that they can be moving, upsetting, seductive, and fascinating, even to those who least expect it.
“Dans la nuit, des images”, a two-week exhibition that celebrates the end of the French Presidency of the European Union and the European Cultural Season is commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture and National Contemporary Art Studio Le Fresnoy. Performing Pictures participation was made possible with the support by Centre Culture Suédois/The Swedish Institute.
The free art extravaganza “Dans la nuit, des images” inside the vast glass nave of the Grand Palais is open 5pm-1am daily from 18-30 December, 5-9pm on 31 December 2008) Read more: http://danslanuitdesimages.net/