Empires and Decadence at the Grand Palais

occupying center-stage of the 13,500 m² aisle is a colossal, dinosaur-like 250-meter-long metal structure towering over mountains of colorful containers, at the center of which sits a huge, priestly throne and a cocked hat, reminiscent of that worn by Napoleon Bonaparte (who else?) at the Battle of Eylau. The enthralling installation by the Chinese artist, Huang Yong Ping, represents the “symbolic landscape of the economic world today”.

This 2016 exhibition follows in the footsteps of those by Anselm Kiefer, Richard Serra, Christian Boltanski, Anish Kapoor, Daniel Buren & Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, all of whom have also taken the glass-roofed aisle of the Grand Palais by storm in the past. No stranger to spectacular projects (having already created such works as a 130-meter-long snake-like structure in the Saint-Nazaire estuary; a gigantic octopus in the Hospice-Comtesse museum in Lille and a life-size elephant at the Bernard Magrez institute in Bordeaux), Huang Yong Ping didn’t shy away from creating this behemoth for the aptly-named Monumenta exhibition. The immense, new installation by the artist urges us to reflect on the forces at work in the world today. The immersive experience threatens our perception of the world and reminds us how small we are in the economic Empires that rule us.

For the exhibition, the Grand Palais has created two activity booklets (for grown-ups and children) to help visitors get more out of the work on display and to further enrich their experience at the exhibition. The booklets are available (in French and English) from the reception area at the entrance to the exhibition. You can also download an app for the exhibition for a guided tour. 

Monumenta 2016. Huang Yong Ping (8 May-18 June 2016)