Sarkis Intervenes at Musée Bourdelle and Louvre with Light, Sound, and Sculpture

Sarkis, a French artist of Armenian descent known for his engagement with memory and museums, staged two concurrent interventions in Paris in early 2007. At the Musée Bourdelle, his project titled 'Inclinaison' (January 26 – June 3, 2007) transformed the sculptor's studio-museum. He installed an orange velum that cast a 'cloud' of yellow light, decapitating the equestrian statue of General Alvear and repositioning the 'Dying Centaur' on a square of grass, evoking Rodin's 'Burghers of Calais' and a Lynchian otherness. From storage, he brought out a small Penelope figure, surrounded by rose-petal-patterned fabric, scents, and sounds—Ravel's 'Vallée des Cloches' mingling with Beethoven. Sarkis aimed to find a human scale within Bourdelle's monumental context and to reflect on modern sculpture's readings and re-readings. At the Louvre (February 22 – April 20, 2007), he proposed 'Rencontre avec Beuys, Munch, Grünewald et Uccello,' a dialogue with works from Darmstadt, Oslo, Colmar, and the Louvre's own 'Battle of San Romano.' The piece connects to key works that shaped his life: Beuys's 'Werkkomplex,' Munch's 'The Scream,' and Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece. Critic Geneviève Breerette noted that at Bourdelle, Sarkis was warm but reserved, producing a somewhat academic illumination of his host's problematic sculpture, while at the Louvre the encounter promised to be more passionate.