For Monumenta 2014, now in its sixth year, the Russian-born artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have created a mysterious, maze-like installation under the glass roof of the Grand Palais. ‘The Strange City’ is composed of eight large constructions containing paintings, curious objects and models.
‘This is the biggest installation that the Kabakovs have ever made’, explained Jean-Hubert Martin, the show’s curator. ‘The greatest challenge has been raising the budget and building such a big exhibition within a very short installation period…Five pavilions, two chapels and one cupola are being built in just 18 days to house the works, and a catalogue with installation pictures will be available a few days after the opening’. We asked him what the highlights would be: ‘The huge recent paintings, and the cupola, which is on the spectacular side.’
The gallery below gives a glimpse of this ambitious project before its opening on 10 May. Click on any image to open the slideshow.
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, ‘The Strange City’ (Monumenta 2014), is at the Grand Palais, Paris, from 10 May–22 June.
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