The CAPC museum of contemporary art is a museum of international reputation, at the heart of the Chartrons district of Bordeaux, in an old colonial warehouse. As it celebrates its 35th birthday, I thought it necessary to give people the rundown of this brilliant and inspirational museum.
All art: the CAPC is intent on showing all different forms of art, whether it be dance, music, visual art or architecture. While concentrating on visual arts, the idea is to present a panorama of all contemporary art to the public.
Building: the warehouse in which the CAPC is housed is as much a part of the history of the museum as the events that bring it to life: for an artist in the 80’s or 90’s, the CAPC was an incontrovertible stage in his career.
Charlotte Laubard: the new director of the CAPC since October 2006. Since her arrival, the pace has quickened and the museum has started to live once again, after several years of lost identity and questioning.
Daniel Buren: one of the most dazzling and well-remembered interventions in the great nave; by placing mirrors on the floor of the building, and adding his well-known black and white stripes around some of the archways, you completely lost your bearings when entering the museum.
Entrepôt Lainé: the name of this colonial warehouse in which the CAPC has its home since 1974. After its role of stocking vanilla, coffee and chocolate in the 19th century, the building was gradually abandoned and only barely saved from destruction in the 1960’s, to house the Festival Sigma.
Festival Sigma: Roger Lafosse’s beacon for contemporary art in Bordeaux in the 60’s and 70’s. An internationally renowned event that laid the way for the creation of the CAPC in 1973.
Galleries: around the central nave, the building is made up of several galleries and smaller areas which enable the museum to show more than one exhibition at the same time and to multiply the events.
Henri-Claude Cousseau: now director of the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. He directed the CAPC from 1996 to 2001, trying to follow in Jean-Louis Froment’s huge footsteps
Intelligence: one of the main qualities that comes from the CAPC’s exhibitions is the intelligence with which they are thought up and proposed to the public.
Jean-Louis Froment: the genial and visionary creator of the CAPC. After 23 years at the head of the museum, the growing tension with the municipal authority became too much and he left his “baby” to explore other lands.
Kounellis, Klein, Kiefer, Koons, Kawara, Kelley, Kosuth, Kapoor, Kienholz, Kingelez: some of the major artists from all over the world that have been shown in the CAPC.
Local: at the same time as displaying major international artists, the CAPC encourages local creation by providing space, time and support for young artists of the region.
Maurice Fréchuret: another name to know for this building. The director from 2001 to 2006, organising many landmark exhibitions, like Les Années 70 : l’art en cause, or Hors D’œuvre : ordres et désordres de la nourriture.
Nave: the most striking thing about the CAPC is the huge nave of 1000m2 in which many artists have worked and experimented: Gilbert & George, Richard Serra, Jim Dine, Mario Merz, Keith Haring amongst many others.
Originality is another of the CAPC’s qualities. Not only does the art have to adapt to its magnificent premises, but the choice of artists, as well as the curating of the shows, are anything but banal.
Présence Panchounette: the Bordeaux collective (1969-1990) around which the summer exhibitions of 2008 are based. Humour and irony mixed with experimentation, kitsch and ready-mades: not to miss.
Quote in 1996 by Jean-Louis Froment: “the museum is putting itself forward as a rare place for experimentation – a sort of inter-human laboratory, a platform for proposals that actually risk undermining its status.”1
Returning, since the arrival of the Charlotte Laubard in 2006, to the roots of what made the success of the institution: informing and heightening the awareness of the public to contemporary art, while remaining in a position of the utmost quality and relevance.
Sensitisation: one of the main challenges of the CAPC is to bring art to the public, by helping them understand and appropriate the different artworks, thus contributing to the life and culture of Bordeaux and its surroundings.
Transverse: by mixing and combining, by dabbling and experimenting, the CAPC asserts itself as a major institution presenting transverse art and creation.
Unpredictable: for the choice of artists, for the risk-taking with young creators, for the presentation of eclectic and interesting events.
Vie, as the French for “life”. Indeed, the museum is starting to breathe again after a couple of difficult years, and the place is steadily being brought back to life, thanks to the dedication of the staff and the loyalty of the public.
Wood, brick and stone: the three main materials used to build this magnificent building. Wood of Oregon pine, clay brick and white stone from Bourg-sur-Gironde: a combination of simple materials that add to the magnificence of the place.
Xylophone: because you always put the word “xylophone” for one starting with the letter X…
Youth: the CAPC wishes to show young and interesting artists, helping them gain visibility, while placing a bet on the new generation.
Zany: not only are the exhibitions intelligent, original and unpredictable, there is also a slightly zany and colourful side to the events, that attracts more and more people into the Entrepôt Lainé.
Hoping I made you want to go and visit the CAPC…!
CAPC musée d’art contemporain, Entrepôt Lainé, 7 rue Ferrère, 33000 Bordeaux
Created by Alice Cavender On 08/25/08 At 09:20 AM
