Press Release
NEW COMMISSION FROM CLAUDE PARENT ‘THE
SUPERMODERNIST’ OF FRENCH ARCHITECTURE FOR
LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL 2014
Claude Parent, one of France’s most revered modernist architects, will realise a major
installation for the Wolfson Gallery at Tate Liverpool which will form a key part of the 8th
Biennial Exhibition curated by Mai Abu ElDahab and Anthony Huberman, A Needle
Walks into a Haystack. Co-commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and Tate Liverpool as
part of Liverpool Biennial 2014 it will go on display from 5 July – 26 October 2014.
Claude Parent was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1923. He studied architecture at l’Ecole
des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1952 and worked briefly at Le Corbusier’s office before
setting up as an architect with Ionel Schein in 1953. He was selected in 1970 to design
the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and in 2005 was elected to the Académie
des Beaux-Arts. In the mid 1960s Parent devised a theory, with critic Paul Virilio, the
fonction oblique, for which he is most famous. This declared that buildings should be all
about ramps, slopes and angles, wall-free where possible. Parent has built, lived,
worked and taught in his constructions devised through his fonction oblique, taking his
work as an active member of his profession to its most avant-garde limits. Among his
noted buildings are Villa Drusch in Versailles (1963), the church of Sainte Bernadette
du Banlay in Nevers (1963-1966), Maison Bordeaux le Pecq in Normandy (1963),
French Pavilion for the Venice Biennale (1970), Avicenne Foundation (1969), formerly
Iran House, the last residence to be built in the cite internationale de Paris, designed
with two Iranian architects, Moshen Foroughi and Heydar Ghiai.
For Liverpool Biennial, he has designed an architectural installation that puts to practice
his ground-breaking principles: slanted floors and ramps require that the audience
experiences the museum anew. Works from the Tate collection by Anni Albers
(Germany/US), Babette Mangolte (France), Gustav Metzger (Germany), Francis
Picabia (France), Gillian Wise (UK), amongst others, will be presented, complementing
Parent’s on-going passion for challenging conformity. Parent has designed a special
viewing machine for the museum as well as a ‘collective living room’ for the public to
use.
Alongside the exhibition, Tate Liverpool and Liverpool Biennial will unveil a special Tate
collection display, on the second floor that explores the concept of domesticity and its
influence on art curated by Mai Abu ElDahab and Stephanie Straine. Including some
never before shown works and new acquisitions from the collection, the display will
encompass painting, sculpture, installation, ceramics, textiles and printmaking. Key
works include Susan Hiller’s Belshazzar’s Feat, the Writing on Your Wall (1983-4),
Richard Artschwager’s Table and Chair (1963-4), three Rugs made by Francis Bacon
around 1929 when the artist was only 20 years old, Viilhelm Hammershoi’s Interior,
Sunlight on the Floor (1906) and Lucy McKenzie’s Side Entrance (2011).
Claude Parent forms part of Tate Liverpool’s summer season of which Mondrian and
his Studios and Nasreen Mohamedi will be part. The season, entitled Abstraction into
the World, will explore the different ways in which audiences might engage with
museums, emphasising themes such as modernity, abstractions and architecture.
Tate Liverpool, Albert Dock, Liverpool Waterfront, Liverpool L3 4BB
Open daily. Admission free www.tate.org.uk/liverpool
For more information on Liverpool Biennial visit www.biennial.com
Media Enquiries:
Liverpool Biennial Press Office contact details (regional):
Carousel PR: Jen, Fran, Rebecca & Emma
Tel:
0161 686 5520
Mob: 07837 817499
Email: jen@carouselpr.com / fran@carouselpr.com / rebecca@carouselpr.com /
emma@carouselpr.com
For Tate Liverpool:
Alison Cornmell 0151 702 7444 alison.cornmell@tate.org.uk
Laura Deveney 0151 702 7445 laura.deveney@tate.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
About Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial, an ongoing platform for research, commissioning and presenting
international art, education and debate, is the UK Biennial of Contemporary Art. In
2012, it attracted over half a million visitors over its ten weeks run and since its founding
in 1999, has shown the work of over 350 artists from 72 countries. Since 2004,
Liverpool Biennial has contributed over £98.9 million to Liverpool’s economy.
Liverpool today offers the richest visual arts environment anywhere in the UK outside
London. It has more galleries and museums, and commissions more new art than any
other city except the capital and was European Capital of Culture in 2008. Liverpool
Biennial festival takes place in a wide range of locations across the city, from
established museums and galleries to unusual and unexpected places.
Liverpool Biennial is funded and supported by:
Founding Supporter
James Moores