Paris, France —The nose and Alberto Giacometti’s fascination with it are being played out in an original exhibition at the Insitut Giacometti bringing together the artist’s sculptured renderings of the nose as well as a piece presented as a hologram to replace one of the plaster sculptures that is too fragile to transport, marking the first time the Insitut Giacometti is incorporating technology developed for holograms to help enhance the visitor experience. Entitled The Nose, the show is also underscoring the unexplored link between Giacometti’s work and anatomy.  He would find it essential to look at the human face from the front and the profile, stating in 1962, “If I look at your face from the front, I forget your profile. If I look at your profile, I forget the front of your face, it all becomes fragmented”. 

The show brings together Giacometti’s sculptures of the nose in five different versions, three in plaster and two in bronze, often re-worked throughout his career as well as the drawings and archives surrounding them. Additional works of the artist are also on show presenting Giacometti’s reflection on death. There is also an exceptional loan from the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac reflecting the cultural foundations of the nose which include African and Oceanian traditional objects, like the masks of New Guinea. The foundation teamed up with the Los Angeles-based PROTO platform using the PROTO device to present the animated hologram version of The Nose created by Giacometti in 1947. It is a device that is frequently used to present objects that are too delicate or valuable to be shipped and to beam to people around the world live interactive experiences. 

Four major international contemporary artists working across different mediums have created artworks dialoguing with Giacometti’s sculpture. Annette Messager reinterprets the sculptor’s emblematic work with her sharp eye and characteristic humour. Rui Chafes surrounds one of the fragile plaster versions of The Nose with a gigantic iron mask whose sharp protrusion recalls the inherent eroticism and violence in Giacometti’s model. Hiroshi Sugimoto, in a subtle theatre of shadows, highlights the spectral aspect of the sculpture by projecting its image into an empty space. Ange Leccia, on the other hand, obliterates the anamorphic composition with his light installation. Four brilliant creations that each confront Giacometti’s work in an extremely personal way. 

The Fondation Giacometti Institut is in the heart of the Montparnasse district of Paris where the 20th century artist also had his home and studio albeit in a different location. The Fondation Giacometti is located in a beautiful building where the exhibition spaces enable the visitor to dialogue with the art works. The Fondation is also a center for the study of art history dedicated to modern art techniques. Guided tours of the temporary exhibition and of Giacometti’s reconstructed studio are available in English on Sundays. Workshops are all on the agenda as well. Reservations are recommended. The Nose exhibition is running until January 7th. The next exhibition at the Foundation, devoted to the works of the contemporary artist Ali Cherri, opens on January 22nd. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.fondation-giacometti.fr/en 5 rue Victor-Schoelcher, 75014 Paris, France, +33 (0)1 44 54 52 44