The exhibition Simple Shapes brings to the fore our fascination with simple shapes, from prehistoric to contemporary. It also reveals how these shapes were decisive in the emergence of the Modern Age. The years between the 19th and 20th centuries saw the return of quintessential shapes through major universal expositions which devised a new repertoire of shapes, the simplicity of which would captivate artists and revolutionise the modern philosophy.




They introduced, within the evolution of modern art, both an alternative to the eloquence of the human body and the possibility that shapes could be a universal concept. Nascent debates in physics, mathematics, phenomenology, biology and aesthetic had important consequences on
mechanics, industry, architecture and art in general. While visiting the 1912 Salon de la Locomotion Aérienne with Constantin Brancusi and Fernand Léger, Marcel Duchamp stopped short before an aeroplane propeller and declared, "Painting is dead. Who could better this propeller?" These pared-down, non-geometric shapes, which occupy space in a constant progression, are no less fascinating today.



Minimalist artists such as Ellsworth Kelly and
Richard Serra, spiritualist artists such as Anish Kapoor, metaphysical artists such as Tony Smith, or poetic artists such as Ernesto Neto are as attentive to simple shapes as were the inventors of modernity.


The Fondation d'entreprise Hermès is joint producer and patron of Simple Shapes.
A catalogue accompanies the exhibition. Curator: Jean de Loisy, President of Palais de Tokyo
Associate curators: Sandra Adam-Couralet, independent curator Mouna Mekouar, independent curator Exhibition design: Laurence Fontaine.

Formes Simples, from june 13 to november 5, 2014 - Galerie 2
Centre Pompidou-Metz 1, parvis des Droits-de-l’Homme Metz, France

Images:
Anonyme, Toupie © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Jean-Claude Planchet
Brassaï (Gyula Halász, dit), Oiseau 2, 1960 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Georges Meguerditchian
 © Brassaï Estate