Jean-Michel Othoniel was invited to create an installation that spanned not a single gallery or even a single building, but the entire city of Avignon to correspond with the Avignon Festival 2025. I had the pleasure of seeing the work across Collection Lambert, the Palais des Papes, and the Pont, along with around the city.
Each piece held its own significance and imagery, however despite similar repeating patterns, each reflected something new depending on where it was exhibited. The depth of the resin bricks for example, held one image in a bare gallery, but took on entirely new meaning in the main area of the Palais.
Similarly, his almost impressionist flowers looked stark and flower-like individually in a gallery, wheareas seeing them in a large assortment on the walls of a large, high-ceilinged room in the Palais they took on an almost celebratory feel, like fireworks.
The ability to weave religious imagery in contemporary objects imbued with contemporary meaning was quite notable, along with the careful curation. Each piece almost felt as if it was created for this space alone, yet was part of a wider dialogue with the walls of the city itself.
