Grand Café Saint-Nazaire marks 20 years with Tropa and De Koning shows

Le Grand Café in Saint-Nazaire celebrates its 20th anniversary with two exhibitions running from June 2 to September 23, 2018. Francisco Tropa presents 'La Moustache cachée dans la barbe' at the Grand Café building, while Krijn De Koning installs 'Des volumes et des vides' in the nearby submarine base. Tropa, who represented Portugal at the 2011 Venice Biennale, creates a fragmented narrative with films, serigraphs, sculptures, and installations that reference Duchamp, Raymond Roussel, Brancusi, and Rodin. His exhibition also explores the invention of the coffee filter by Robert Napier and Melitta Bentz. De Koning's monumental installation spans 1,600 square meters within the submarine base's alveolus, using bright colors to structure a non-linear path through spaces evoking rooms, corridors, stairs, and terraces. The Dutch artist deliberately contrasts his formalist approach with the grim WWII-era architecture, leaving original structural elements visible to create an unsettling effect. Both exhibitions are produced by Le Grand Café, with Tropa's works courtesy of Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris. All photographs by Marc Domage.