6-5-1-4 (1950) by Alexander Calder

Norman Foster, curator?

The great British architect returns to the exhibition space he built 20 years earlier to show off his taste in art

Foster and Partners, the firm founded by the Stirling and Pritzker Prize winning architect Norman Foster, has certainly designed quite a few great exhibition spaces, from The Great Court at the British Museum in London, through to The Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

However, filling these spaces with works is something Lord Foster usually leaves to the professionals. Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of Foster's Carré d'Art exhibition space in Nîmes, the architect is curating a special show in the space.

 

 

Silent Hall Homage to The Square (1954) by Josef Albers
Silent Hall Homage to The Square (1954) by Josef Albers

Entitled Moving: Norman Foster on Art, it runs from 3 May until 15 September, and, though it will only feature two items from Foster's own collection, the gallery promises that there will be many better-known pieces by artists Foster and his wife collect, as well specially selected pieces from the Carré d’Art's own collection. Additionally, the exhibition will feature commissioned pieces by Bill Fontana, Nuno Ramos, and Olafur Eliasson.

Looking through the selected works, there's seems to be a slight bias towards bold, mid-twentieth century pieces by the likes of Josef Albers, Alberto Giacometti and Alexander Calder.

   

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space  (1913) by Umberto Boccioni
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913) by Umberto Boccioni

 

Nevertheless, Ai Weiwei's  Untitled (Wooden Ball) from 2010 is in there, alongside Umberto Boccioni's 1913 sculpture, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. Proof, perhaps that Foster, like all great architects, can both engage with contemporary culture and make sense of its antecedents.

For more on the exhibition, go here.  To learn more about some of the artists on show, consider our wonderful Ai Weiwei and Josef Albers books, and for more on the work of Foster and the like, look at our Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture, which in a single volume, examines over 1,000 of the most outstanding works of architecture built since 2000.

Norman Foster
Norman Foster