Hasta La Ideas

It seems like we’ve been referencing the debate over the late-2008/early-2009 battle to remove Jeff Koons‘ exhibit at Versailles a lot lately. While it only made tangential sense at the time, now it appears that there was something in the air and we were right all along (isn’t that always the way?). Like when Koons’ show was there at the palace of Louis XIV, a group who sees modern art exhibitions as a damaging intrusion into the history of the place is back to fighting it off as Japanese artist Takashi Murakami prepares for a show there which is set to run from mid-September to mid-December. Art Info reports that the group, the Coordination de la Defense de Versailles, has called the upcoming exhibition, “the veritable ‘murder’ of our heritage, our artistic identity, and our most sacred culture.” And once again, support against the project has also come from the same descendant who took Koons to court to try to stop his exhibition, Prince Sixte-Henri de Bourbon. He lost that case and one would imagine that he and the group likely won’t have much success on shutting Murakami down either, given the money involved and the draw these shows have proven to be, but only time will tell. If something big goes down, you’ll hear about it from us. Here’s Art Info’s description of the upcoming exhibition:

The exhibition will display 22 works by Murakami in the château and gardens, including 11 pieces created especially for the occasion. One of his psychedelic flower sculptures, “Flower Matango,” will be featured, along with other sculptures, paintings, and installations. Although the exhibition will not include any pornographic works by Murakami, the organization Versailles Mon Amour (“Versailles, My Love”) has cited such works in order to rally others to its effort to prevent the exhibition from taking place.

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