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Thursday, September 19th, 2024

Barbara Chase-Riboud Exhibition Unfolds in Eight Paris Museums

Cover image: Portrait of Barbara Chase-Riboud (detail)
© Virginia Harold
Image courtesy of Pulitzer Arts Foundation

Quand un nœud est dénoué, un dieu est libéré (Everytime A Knot is Undone, A God is Released) is the latest solo exhibition of Barbara Chase-Riboud's work.

Chase-Riboud is being simultaneously showcased at eight - that's right, EIGHT - major museums in Paris over the next several months.

This is the first time that a living artist has been celebrated on such a grandiose scale here.

The exhibition is named after Chase-Riboud's 2014 collection of poetry. It presents a series of monumental sculptures that flaunt Chase-Riboud's signature combination of metal and silk/wool.

Everytime A Knot is Undone, A God is Released (2014) - book cover

The Musée d'Orsay has kicked things off with a showing of five aluminum and silk works in its Salon de l'Horloge, opposite one of the majestic clocks that grace the museum's façade. The sculptures are intended to "interrogate our concept of time, sacred geometry and femininity" in Chase-Riboud's work.

This segment of Quand un nœud est dénoué opened on Tuesday, September 17 and will close on Sunday, December 15, 2024.

Barbara Chase-Riboud
Portrait © Virginia Harold
Courtesy of Pulitzer Art Foundation

In chronological order, the other elements of the show will be revealed as follows:

Palais de la Porte Dorée
October 1, 2024 - January 12, 2025

Two of Chase-Riboud’s early sculptures - Zanzibar Gold et Zanzibar (Brown Element) - will be displayed in juxtaposition with the lacquer panels of Jean Dunand in the Salon des Lacques.

Musée du Louvre
October 9, 2024 - January 6, 2025

Gold Column, a work of monumentality and fragility, will be displayed under the glass pyramid. In the galleries, two works from the Cleopatra's Bed will be shown in the Salle des Caryatides in the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities section, while Cleopatra's Cape will be shown in Egyptian Antiquities section of the museum.

Cleopatra's Bed (1997) at the Serpentine Gallery, London
© Entrée to Black Paris

Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris
October 12, 2024 - January 13, 2025

One of three sculptures dedicated to Josephine Baker from Chase-Riboud's La Musica series will be presented at the entrance to the Philharmonie de Paris.

Centre Pompidou - Musée National d’Art Moderne
October 15, 2024 – January 6, 2025

An installation of a selection of monumental works from several different series such as Malcolm X will offer an overview of the diversity of Chase-Riboud's œuvre.

Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac
October 15, 2024 - January 13, 2025

At the entrance to the Collections, a monumental sculpture that reflects Chase-Riboud's material and formal knowledge of African artistic practices will reveal the affinities between the artist's work, the permanent collections, and the architecture of the museum.

Musée National des arts asiatiques - Guimet
October 16, 2024 - January 6, 2025

Mao’s Organ will be presented alongside Chinese seals from Chase-Riboud's personal collection and photographs taken by Marc Riboud during this trip. This piece reflects the profound impact that her 1965 trip to Communist China had on her artistic practice.

Palais de Tokyo
October 17, 2024 - January 5, 2025

Chase-Riboud's Standing Black Women of Venice series pays homage to female poets that she admires. These sculptures will be presented alongside a series of works embroidered on paper with white thread. The museum describes them as "near-illegible texts [that] offer a delicate evocation of her literary œuvre, which will also be present in the exhibition through a listening room where her writing will be read by multiple voices.

Listen to the September 11, 2024 Radio France interview (in French and English) with exhibition co-curators Erin Jenoa Gilbert and Donatien Grau by clicking HERE.