Monumenta 2011 opens 11 May
The Grand Palais, Paris is about to unveil Leviathan, a giant sculpture by acclaimed artist Anish Kapoor.
Each year, Monumenta invites a major international artist to transform the vast Nave of the Grand Palais with a new, site specific work. Monumenta is an artistic interaction on an unparalleled scale, filling a space which measures 13,500m² and 35m in height.
The first three Monumenta exhibitions were hugely successful, drawing in 150,000 visitors over five weeks. In 2007, the first challenge was met by German artist Anselm Kiefer, who resides in France, followed by American artist Richard Serra in 2008 and French artist Christian Boltanski in 2010. For its fourth incarnation, the French Ministry for Culture and Communication has invited Anish Kapoor, the most important sculptors of our time, to produce a new work for the Nave’s monumental space, from 11 May to 23rd June 2011.
Thirty years after his first exhibition in Paris, Monumenta marks Anish Kapoor's return to the French capital.
Anish Kapoor’s work has profoundly enlarged the scope of contemporary sculpture. He has become known for his mastery of monumental scale. His pieces are characterised by colourful sensuality and apparent simplicity of form.