Pictures of Belleville Artists' Open Studios in Paris - 2012
From May 11-14, 2012, scores of artists in the Belleville district of Paris opened their studio doors to the public as part of an open-house event that takes place every spring in the city of light. Known locally as the Portes Ouvertes -Ateliers d'Artistes de Belleville (Belleville Artists' Studios Open House), the four-day event draws Parisians from all over town to get an inside look at the way local artists live and work, inevitably leading to interesting and constructive conversations and exchanges.
Artists working in mediums from painting to woodworking, photography, video or performance art participate in the Open House. It's also a way to see the interiors of some of the city's more interesting buildings-- in cosmopolitan and traditionally working-class Belleville, many of the artists' studios and homes have been converted from former industrial spaces.
This year's theme was "Cash-Cache," a French play on words that alludes to both France's current political focus on the economy with the solidarity practiced among the artists of Belleville. With more than 140 open studios to explore, activities for children, musical performances, and films, the resulting friendly atmosphere that spilled onto the streets produced its own form of art.
Pictured here: Visitors at the 2012 Belleville artists' Open House event explore one of the many spaces open in the area for the occasion.
NEXT:Navigating the Belleville Studios
Hitting the Streets: Navigating the Belleville Studios
After taking a look at the map, I decided to walk up Rue de Belleville to Rue Piat, stopping at the picturesque Parc de Belleville. I then found myself winding up Rue des Pyrenees, where more than a dozen artists' studios are located within the surrounding side streets alone. My first stop was along Rue Denoyez, a small street that is completely (and legally!) covered in graffiti and street art. Along the vibrant red wall in the Frichez studio, paintings of machete-wielding skeletal figures threatened to attack under the thumping of hip-hop music, while more calming landscape scenes and vintage clothing racks greeted me at La Maison de la Plage next door.
Read related feature: Inspiring Street Art in ParisÂ
Back on the main drag, I walked through a narrow alleyway to happen upon the studio of Asian artist Pat Cam. The accompanying artwork featured the traditional Chinese painting style depicting the focal points of Belleville. Standing in the middle of an artist's studio (which often serves as a home as well), I felt both excited and somewhat like an intruder, allowed to enter a very private space where the intimate process of artistic work unfolds.
NEXT:Michiyo Yamashita: Ceramics and Painted Frames
Michiyo Yamashita: Ceramics and Painted Frames
The festival features artists of every medium-from painting and sculpture, to photography and ceramics, to the genuinely avant-garde. This shot shows the original ceramic and painted works of artist Michiyo Yamashita, whose work depicts figures of humans with animal heads along with children's faces delicately painted into frames.
NEXT:A Conversation With Parisian Painter Alfred Rozelaar Green
A Conversation With Parisian Painter Alfred Rozelaar Green
Each participating space was easy to locate as posters were displayed on studio doors. The artists themselves were also all present and eager to engage in conversations about their work. The most memorable conversation, however, came from speaking with 94 year-old artist, Alfred Rozelaar Green, who moved to Paris in 1937 from England. Listening to him speak about his time in Switzerland during World War II, the various places he has lived in Paris, and how he dropped out of Cambridge to pursue his artistic dreams proved an incredible experience.
Sadly, Rozelaar Green passed away in 2013, a year after this piece was published, at the age of 95. You can read his obituary here (at the Guardian).
NEXT:The Art of Oil: Sophie Herszkowicz's studio
The Art of Oil: Sophie Herszkowicz
I was transported into another era at Sophie Herszkowicz's studio at the top of a corridor in the 20th arrondissement. Her large-scale oil paintings, so rich in color and life, filled me with happiness that this classic art form is still practiced in the often over-saturated age of modern and contemporary art.
NEXT:Enjoying the Open Air...and Sandrine Boutte's "Mobilhome" Studio
Enjoying the Open Air...and Sandrine Boutte's "Mobilhome" Studio
With a cloudless day, the view of the Paris skyline from the top of Parc de Belleville provided not just a quick repose, but also a reminder that art and beauty are all around us. We just have to slow down our pace and turn our gaze from our determined destination in order to see it. On a picnic bench situated in the middle of the circular viewing point, children worked intensely on projects of their own in sessions led by local artists.
Their focus was not to be interrupted, so I continued on to gaze at the wonders found within the Mobilhome studio. The contemporary art work and sculpture from artist Sandrine Boutte took up several rooms in the massive space, with the opening area dedicated to modern sculpture and the back room serving as an installation space for illuminated and fluorescent work. The steep basement steps led directly into a room with thick white beach sand serving as the floor, where additional wooden sculptures set in a circle, seemed to be conducting a private artist counsel of their own.
NEXT:Street Mural in Belleville
Belleville, a major locus for street artists, is dotted with murals and artistic graffiti, like the one we see in this shot. Wares from another artist were displayed outside for the occasion of the Open House event, creating an interesting contrast.
Read related feature: Fascinating Examples of Street Art in Paris (A Photo Essay)
NEXT:Last Stop: The La Forge Artists' Commune
After exploring numerous eclectic studios and courtyards that I never knew existed, it was time to say goodbye to one of the most renowned among them. The La Forge artist commune (pictured here), a former key factory turned artist hub in 2001, was recently purchased by new developers who plan to close the squat house right after the festival, forcing the artists to vacate a week after. I returned to the CFDT gallery before making my way home to view the last official exhibition from the artists working within the space.
The dark basement setting produced the feeling of an era already gone by. A line of white placards illuminated by a production light set on the floor, featured the variety of styles practiced at the commune. Perhaps the most symbolic, though, was the exhibition by artist Mili Presman, whose floor light focused on a live goldfish swimming in a glass bowl set on top of a silver table in front of a wall of various photographs taken on the Paris metro. Each photograph had an image of the fish inserted into it, reminding us that although places and people may change, beauty and life still thrive, even in the unlikeliest of places.
From May 11-14, 2012, scores of artists in the Belleville district of Paris opened their studio doors to the public as part of an open-house event that takes place every spring in the city of light. Known locally as the Portes Ouvertes -Ateliers d'Artistes de Belleville (Belleville Artists' Studios Open House), the four-day event draws Parisians from all over town to get an inside look at the way local artists live and work, inevitably leading to interesting and constructive conversations and exchanges.
Artists working in mediums from painting to woodworking, photography, video or performance art participate in the Open House. It's also a way to see the interiors of some of the city's more interesting buildings-- in cosmopolitan and traditionally working-class Belleville, many of the artists' studios and homes have been converted from former industrial spaces.
This year's theme was "Cash-Cache," a French play on words that alludes to both France's current political focus on the economy with the solidarity practiced among the artists of Belleville. With more than 140 open studios to explore, activities for children, musical performances, and films, the resulting friendly atmosphere that spilled onto the streets produced its own form of art.
Map in Hand: The Visit Begins
On a wonderfully sunny Saturday afternoon, I started my journey at CFDT, a gallery that also served as one of the three information points for the four-day event. Arriving there, I was greeted with a wall of hand-painted "petits originaux" (small originals). Each participating artist had made one for the event, and for only €45 each, I wasn't surprised that many had already been purchased. The information area also offered a collage of one-sheets featuring each of the artists, an example of their work, and their corresponding studio number. It was here that I equipped myself with a pocket map. I was ready to start exploring...Pictured here: Visitors at the 2012 Belleville artists' Open House event explore one of the many spaces open in the area for the occasion.
NEXT:Navigating the Belleville Studios
Hitting the Streets: Navigating the Belleville Studios
After taking a look at the map, I decided to walk up Rue de Belleville to Rue Piat, stopping at the picturesque Parc de Belleville. I then found myself winding up Rue des Pyrenees, where more than a dozen artists' studios are located within the surrounding side streets alone. My first stop was along Rue Denoyez, a small street that is completely (and legally!) covered in graffiti and street art. Along the vibrant red wall in the Frichez studio, paintings of machete-wielding skeletal figures threatened to attack under the thumping of hip-hop music, while more calming landscape scenes and vintage clothing racks greeted me at La Maison de la Plage next door.
Read related feature: Inspiring Street Art in ParisÂ
Back on the main drag, I walked through a narrow alleyway to happen upon the studio of Asian artist Pat Cam. The accompanying artwork featured the traditional Chinese painting style depicting the focal points of Belleville. Standing in the middle of an artist's studio (which often serves as a home as well), I felt both excited and somewhat like an intruder, allowed to enter a very private space where the intimate process of artistic work unfolds.
NEXT:Michiyo Yamashita: Ceramics and Painted Frames
Michiyo Yamashita: Ceramics and Painted Frames
The festival features artists of every medium-from painting and sculpture, to photography and ceramics, to the genuinely avant-garde. This shot shows the original ceramic and painted works of artist Michiyo Yamashita, whose work depicts figures of humans with animal heads along with children's faces delicately painted into frames.
NEXT:A Conversation With Parisian Painter Alfred Rozelaar Green
A Conversation With Parisian Painter Alfred Rozelaar Green
Each participating space was easy to locate as posters were displayed on studio doors. The artists themselves were also all present and eager to engage in conversations about their work. The most memorable conversation, however, came from speaking with 94 year-old artist, Alfred Rozelaar Green, who moved to Paris in 1937 from England. Listening to him speak about his time in Switzerland during World War II, the various places he has lived in Paris, and how he dropped out of Cambridge to pursue his artistic dreams proved an incredible experience.
Sadly, Rozelaar Green passed away in 2013, a year after this piece was published, at the age of 95. You can read his obituary here (at the Guardian).
NEXT:The Art of Oil: Sophie Herszkowicz's studio
The Art of Oil: Sophie Herszkowicz
I was transported into another era at Sophie Herszkowicz's studio at the top of a corridor in the 20th arrondissement. Her large-scale oil paintings, so rich in color and life, filled me with happiness that this classic art form is still practiced in the often over-saturated age of modern and contemporary art.
NEXT:Enjoying the Open Air...and Sandrine Boutte's "Mobilhome" Studio
Enjoying the Open Air...and Sandrine Boutte's "Mobilhome" Studio
With a cloudless day, the view of the Paris skyline from the top of Parc de Belleville provided not just a quick repose, but also a reminder that art and beauty are all around us. We just have to slow down our pace and turn our gaze from our determined destination in order to see it. On a picnic bench situated in the middle of the circular viewing point, children worked intensely on projects of their own in sessions led by local artists.
Their focus was not to be interrupted, so I continued on to gaze at the wonders found within the Mobilhome studio. The contemporary art work and sculpture from artist Sandrine Boutte took up several rooms in the massive space, with the opening area dedicated to modern sculpture and the back room serving as an installation space for illuminated and fluorescent work. The steep basement steps led directly into a room with thick white beach sand serving as the floor, where additional wooden sculptures set in a circle, seemed to be conducting a private artist counsel of their own.
NEXT:Street Mural in Belleville
Belleville, a major locus for street artists, is dotted with murals and artistic graffiti, like the one we see in this shot. Wares from another artist were displayed outside for the occasion of the Open House event, creating an interesting contrast.
Read related feature: Fascinating Examples of Street Art in Paris (A Photo Essay)
NEXT:Last Stop: The La Forge Artists' Commune
After exploring numerous eclectic studios and courtyards that I never knew existed, it was time to say goodbye to one of the most renowned among them. The La Forge artist commune (pictured here), a former key factory turned artist hub in 2001, was recently purchased by new developers who plan to close the squat house right after the festival, forcing the artists to vacate a week after. I returned to the CFDT gallery before making my way home to view the last official exhibition from the artists working within the space.
The dark basement setting produced the feeling of an era already gone by. A line of white placards illuminated by a production light set on the floor, featured the variety of styles practiced at the commune. Perhaps the most symbolic, though, was the exhibition by artist Mili Presman, whose floor light focused on a live goldfish swimming in a glass bowl set on top of a silver table in front of a wall of various photographs taken on the Paris metro. Each photograph had an image of the fish inserted into it, reminding us that although places and people may change, beauty and life still thrive, even in the unlikeliest of places.
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