Programs & Events 2008
Monumenta Exhibit
May 12, 2008
Ambassador Stapleton joined French Minister of Culture Christine Albanel for the opening of the “Monumenta” exhibit by world-renowned American sculptor Richard Serra at the Grand Palais, a magnificent glass palace in the center of Paris. MONUMENTA is an annual contemporary art exhibit initiated by the Ministry of Culture, the Centre national des arts plastiques, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Grand Palais. The event continues to receive wide and positive press coverage, in part due to the impressive scale of the work. Richard Serra was commissioned to build and display a gigantic original sculpture entitled Promenade for this event, emphasizing the concept of equilibrium. Richard Serra’s installation for MONUMENTA 2008 is a radical and poetic landscape of steel, minimalist yet full of movement. PAS Paris supported the film about the making of this sculpture, screened both continually at the exhibit and for a private audience of forty at the Ambassador’s Residence on May 12.
Photo US Embassy, P. Maulavé: Ambassador Stapleton in the company of the director of the director of Réunion des Musées de France Thomas Grenon, director of the Pompidou Center Alfred Pacquement, President of the Grand Palais Yves Saint Geours and director of the Louvre Henri Loyrette at the Richard Serra opening.