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Lettres d'Uzès #37: Le Grand Atelier du Vers

22/7/2013

11 Comments

 
Hier, vers dix heures, nous roulions vers Vers.

Vers is, of course, the commune in which stands the Pont du Gard, and from the quarries of which come the stone (pierre de Vers) from which the aqueduct is built. These days, it has added Pont du Gard as a suffix to its name, in case anyone forgets its intimate relationship with the third most popular tourist destination in France.

But the Pont du Gard was not the reason for our Sunday morning excursion. This weekend past, Vers celebrated its fifth annual Cours et Jardins des Arts event.
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Le cours Berberian
The name says it all. The residents of this lovely village throw open their courtyards and gardens to exhibit a moveable feast of artworks, most of which is made by residents of the village or near neighbours.

There were 25 locations according to the map, and Jill and I worked our way through them all in numerical order. Yeh, I know, slightly OCD - but the trail was clearly marked with whitewashed arrows on the narrow streets and the beauty of this kind of event is that one never knows when one is going to encounter, in a small garden round the back of the olive tree, a work which makes you pause and give thought.

This happened to us a couple of times over the course of the morning, although the major highlights were those which we could have predicted at the start: Unity Cantwell’s work, about which I have written before; and the paintings and sculptures of M. and Mme. Berberian.

I guess Michel and Christelle Berberian are the golden couple of the artistic scene in Vers. His paintings are well-known, much admired and collected. You can see them and buy them from Saatchi. And you can see them on the walls of friends’ homes. But it was her sculptures which took my eye.

Her work – or at least the work she showed over the weekend – is on a small scale, but it is nevertheless solid and substantial. Heavy.

In most cases, the display did not allow one to circumnavigate a piece: one was forced to view it in a particular way and from a specific angle.

Did we therefore see exactly what the artist wanted us to see? Is the interaction between artwork and viewer, our point of view, being controlled in this way?

I don’t know. But I do know I like the work a great deal. And I propose to return to the Berberian’s gallery when we have time to look more closely at these exquisite but strong and sturdy figures.

What we won’t be able to see on our subsequent visit, of course, is the setting. One of the attractions of art displayed in courtyards and gardens is the access we are given to people’s homes.

We are as nosy as anyone. So we loved our glimpses of other people’s lives: the powerful abstract on the wall of a sitting room we passed through on the way to the rear courtyard, or the beautiful Provençal kitchen we enjoyed whilst pretending to admire a dreadful daub of a St Victoire style landscape.

Thanks to all those who exhibited and provided the exhibition space. 

We will be heading vers Vers again soon. But only after we’ve been to the Grand Atelier du Midi in Marseille …

Today from the everysmith vault: Dexter Gordon, One Flight Up. Long Tall Dexter was one of the best, and most under-rated, tenor sax players of all time. I like to think that my step-grandson, Dexter George Voce, has an affinity with this all star.

11 Comments
Michael
22/7/2013 13:22:31

Enjoyed this. Sounds fun. Marseille as European capital of culture sounds even more so. The whole concept of the grand atelier is brilliant and I envy you our time there.

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Max
24/7/2013 00:36:28

Thanks. Off to Marseille this morning for Van Gogh to Bonnard. Will do Cezanne to Matisse in Aix another time.

Reply
Alison
22/7/2013 13:44:25

Ah yes. You touch on the fundamental point - how we see and how the artist makes us see. Not the same thing at all. Don't know these works - are they in that picture? - but am intrigued by our description. Can you give me a web link?

Reply
Max
24/7/2013 00:38:00

Unfortunately no. Googling Christelle brings up every little. Will research and send email.

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CJ
22/7/2013 13:57:19

Interesting choice. This is an early 60s Bluenote album, recorded in Paris. But it's Gordon at his most restrained. More Donald Byrd and Kenny Drew than Dexter Gordon. Great music,n though.

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Michael mac
23/7/2013 14:18:02

Not restrained but working with other greats. Two ex-pats from Paris and the Great Dane Pedersen on bass. Listen to this guy. He went on to play with Oscar Petersen but was only 18 or so when he worked with Dex. How good is this album? Listen to Coltrane after it.

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Michael mac
23/7/2013 14:23:37

PS huge admirer also of Michel Berberian works. He is a jazz artist. Don't know Christelle's stuff. Will check it out.

Anders
23/7/2013 03:42:14

What I get from those of your blogs which touch on Peter Mayle territory is the fact that every village seems to provide a hectic cultural and social agenda of its own. I'm a city boy so I'm used to always having something to go to. But in small villages of a thousand or so people, I wouldn't expect it. Which makes it all the more impressive. And why I like the comparison with Marseille. You can do more of this stuff from my point of view!

Reply
Max
24/7/2013 00:41:23

This is true. The previous Sunday we saw a gig by a Qebecois band. They were touring Europe - gigs in Paris, Brussels etc - but turned up for a free concert in the Place de la Liberté in our village. Amazing. Really good, too.

Reply
MattS
23/7/2013 14:07:30

Thought a daub in France was a kind of stew!

Reply
Max
24/7/2013 00:45:08

I think the stew has an e on the end. But if you had seen this landscape you would think it was the same thing!

Reply



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    Max Smith

    European writer, radical, restaurateur and Red Sox fan. 70-something husband, father, step-father, grandfather and son. Resident in Warwick, England.

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