Art and Food Pairing™: Wifredo Lam and Une Histoire at the Centre Pompidou; Le JIP'S - Afro-Cuban Canteen

An impressive, ~300-work retrospective of the art of Wifredo Lam (1902-1982) is currently on view in Galerie 2, Level 6 at the Centre Pompidou in central Paris.

Galerie 2 - Entrance to Wifredo Lam exhibition
© Discover Paris!

Wifredo Lam
1952-1961 Paris, Caracas, Havana, Albissola, and Zurich
© Discover Paris!
Organized chronologically, the exhibition traces Lam's career from his classical training in Cuba and Spain to his love affair with ceramics in the mid-1970s and beyond.

Self-portrait, II
Wifredo Lam
ca. 1938 Gouache on paper mounted on canvas
The Rudman Trust
© Discover Paris!

View of exhibition space -
Umbral (left) and La Rumeur de la Terre (right)
© Discover Paris!

View of exhibition space
© Discover Paris!
Paramount in the exhibition is the magnificent oil painting The Jungle, which was loaned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

La Jungle
Wifredo Lam
1943 Oil on paper mounted on canvas
Museum of Modern Art, New York
© Discover Paris!
Also on display are dozens of documents and photos, including invitation cards for exhibitions, personal letters, and illustrations that Lam created for books and magazines.

Outside the gallery, visitors can watch a video of home movies of Lam and his family. Several minutes of the video reveal the artist at work.

Video - Wifredo Lam drawing
© Discover Paris!

Video - Wifredo Lam painting
© Discover Paris!
Downstairs, on Level 4, the exhibition entitled Une histoire. Art, architecture et design des années 1980 à nos jours (A History. Art, architecture and design from the 1980s to today) presents paintings, sculptures, installations, videos, films, drawings, photos, and architectural models that evoke the phenomenon of globalization as seen and portrayed through the eyes of various artists around the world. Many of the works shown have been newly acquired by the Pompidou Center and many others have been brought up from the reserves to be shown for the first time.

Grace Jones in 1982 video "A One Man Show"
Directed by Jean-Paul Goude
© Discover Paris!

Slave Auction
Jean-Michel Basquiat
1982 Acrylic, oil pastel, and collages
© Discover Paris!

MetroMobilitan
Hans Haacke
1985 Fiberglass, hardboard, photograph, polyester, aluminum, acrylic dye
© Discover Paris!
Wifredo Lam runs through February 15, 2016.

Une Histoire runs through January 11, 2016.

For information on hours and pricing, click HERE.

Roughly a five-minute walk from the Centre Pompidou, Le JIP'S - an Afro-Cuban canteen - serves a menu of tapas throughout the day. While best known as a nightspot for enjoying African and Cuban rhythms, the plates that emerge from the kitchen merit attention as well.

I arrived here at around 4 PM on a Saturday and was seated on the terrace that faces rue de la Ferronerie.

Le JIP'S façade - rue de la Ferronerie
© Discover Paris!
I ordered a mojito and studied the menu.

Mojito
© Discover Paris!
It was refreshing, but contained less rum than I had anticipated.

From the sixteen items listed on the tapas menu, I selected three that I thought would provide a good indication of the talent in the kitchen: Samossas et nems légumes (vegetable-filled pastries), fritas de patates douces (fried sweet potatoes), and ailes de poulet (chicken wings). For good measure, I decided to try their ti punch as well.

Hot pepper sauce was served as a condiment.

Samoussas et Nems légumes, Fritas de Patates Douce, and Ailes de Poulet
© Discover Paris!
I received far more food than I had anticipated and wished I had a partner with whom to share my bounty!

The samoussas and nems exuded not a drop of excess oil. They were light, crispy, and delicious. The fried sweet potatoes were tender and flavorful. And the chicken wings were juicy and had just the right "kick" with regard to seasoning.

Before leaving, I took a couple of photos of the interior decor.

Le JIP'S bar
© Discover Paris!

Le JIP'S lounge
© Discover Paris!
The ambiance is perfect for music and dancing!


Centre Georges Pompidou
Place Georges Pompidou
75004 Paris
Metro: Rambuteau (Line 11), Hôtel de Ville (Lines 1 and 11), Châtelet–Les Halles (Lines 1, 4, 7, 11, and 14)
RER: Châtelet-les-Halles (Lines A, B, and D)

Le JIP'S
41 Rue Saint-Denis
75001 Paris
Telephone: 01 42 21 88 74
Métro: Châtelet-les-Halles (Lines 1, 4, 7, 11, and 14)
RER: Châtelet-les-Halles (Lines A, B, and D)

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

A Christmas Visit to the Pompidou Center

I hope that you had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to ringing in the New Year!

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Yesterday, Tom and I went to the Centre Pompidou to see the Multiple Modernities 1905-1970 exposition. We thought that early on Christmas Day would be a good time to go to avoid crowds and we were right! There was only a short wait to enter the museum and check coats, and we were the only people who thought to use the automatic dispenser to purchase our tickets. We were happily strolling through the exhibit within 15 minutes of entering the building.

I was especially interested in seeing this exposition because it includes a painting by Beauford Delaney. It is the only Delaney painting that the museum holds. Because it is usually kept in reserve, I wanted to be sure to see it hanging in a major exposition. I got my wish!

Untitled
Beauford Delaney
(1957) Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This work hangs in Traverse G, the corridor between Rooms 31 and 34.

I was also pleased to discover that there are many other works displayed in this exposition that are by black artists or inspired by the black experience.

Room 36 is devoted to "Modern Africa" and contains works by African artists that have been borrowed from the Musée du quai Branly and the Centre National des Arts Plastiques. Here are images of a few of them:

View of works in "Modern Africa" room from entrance
© Discover Paris!

Untitled painting by Iba N'Diaye and quotation by Leandro M'Bomio
© Discover Paris!

Village Market Scene, Nigeria
Cotton batik
© Discover Paris!
Several covers from the African literary magazine Black Orpheus are displayed in a corridor, along with three journals containing compilations of African prose and poetry.

Black Orpheus covers
© Discover Paris!

Anthology of New Black and Malagasy Poetry, New African Works, and Modern African Poetry
© Discover Paris!
Room 29 is devoted to photographs of North African and black African subjects. There is also a corridor that displays numerous photos by the celebrated African photographer Malick Sidibé.

Room 32 is devoted entirely to the work of Afro-Cuban artist Wifredo Lam.

Umbral
Wifredo Lam
1950 Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!
Then there are black images in European art, such as A L'Afrique by Paul Joostens. This painting is exhibited in the "Art Deco" section (Rooms 20 and 21).

A L'Afrique
Paul Joostens
1920 Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!
From an old French film, an excerpt called "Plantation" that features Josephine Baker is being shown in the same room alongside one of Alexander Calder's famous wire sculptures of Baker.

Alexander Calder sculpture Josephine Baker IV and video screen
© Discover Paris!

Opening credit for film excerpt "Plantation"
© Discover Paris!

Josephine Baker in film excerpt "Plantation"
© Discover Paris!
Most interesting for me, next to the Delaney abstract, was the "modern odalisaque" work by American artist Larry Rivers. It is clearly inspired by Manet's Olympia.

I Like Olympia in Black Face
Larry Rivers
1970 Oil on wood, plasticized canvas, plastic, and plexiglass
© Discover Paris!
There are undoubtedly other such works that I did not see during this visit - the exposition is huge and we only saw a fraction of it. It will be shown through January 2015, so there is ample time to return.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

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