Friday 3 October 2014

Review of Céleste Boursier-Mougenot: persistances at Aubette 1928, Strasbourg

03/10/14
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot: persistances
Aubette 1928, Strasbourg, France
6 September – 22 November 2014

The original Aubette was built on Strasbourg’s Place Kléber by architect Jacques-François Blondel  between 1765–72. At the end of the 18th century the changing of the guard used to take place in front of the building at dawn each day. Between 1926 and 1928, Aubette was redecorated by Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Jean Arp and the De Stijl artist Theo van Doesburg – the latter of whom envisaged the complex as a Gesamtkunstwerk – earning it the epithet of  “the Sistine Chapel of abstract art”. Covered over and partly destroyed after just 10 years, the avant-garde decor was only restored – and, at that, only in part on the first floor – in the 1990s and 2000s, following classification as a historic monument in the 80s. This first floor trio of foyer bar, function room and cine-dancing space now form an impressive contemporary art gallery.







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