THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

New York ExtravaganzaPresented in Paris from 30 March to 21 August 2016

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THE EXHIBITION

To mark the 50th anniversary of their iconic ‘ba-nana album’, the Velvet Underground exhibition pro-vides an immersive experience that presents the story and heritage of the legendary band.It examines the group’s fascinating career, explor-ing the USA from the Sixties to the present day and from the meeting of Lou Reed and John Cale to the temples of New York counterculture, including Andy Warhol’s The Factory.

An orchestrated dialogue created by artist and de-signer Matali Crasset, the Velvet Underground, New York Extravaganza exhibition guides the visitor through a whirl of underground art, archives of the time and contemporary works. It is a sensory, poetic, dissident experience that spans the fields of music and film, together with painting and literature.Over the six-section itinerary rich in audiovisual and musical content, visitors discover the ‘New York Spirit’, the world of The Velvet Underground and its impact on artistic creativity over the five following decades.

6 FILMS MADE ESPECIALLY FOR THE EXHIBITION

An itinerary rich in exclusive content, with 6 films studying the Velvet Underground experience and which break with standard documentary codes.

• A film by Jonathan Caouette takes a dual look at Sixties America: culture vs counterculture.• An interview with Jonas Mekas, welcoming visi-tors to the Film-Makers’ Cooperative.• A film directed by Allan Rothschild, examin-ing the youth and meeting of John Cale and Lou Reed.• Allan Rothschild’s focus on the ‘banana album’, combing a graphic account, archives and inter-views with observers.• A film by Véronique Jacquinet introduces us to the enchanting Nico.• A tour of the Lower East Side filmed at eye height illustrates the New York Spirit with its gi-ant-screen display.

Exhibition layout view © W. Beaucardet

Exhibition layout view © W. Beaucardet

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INTENTIONS

• An immersive exhibition narrated in the present tense by eyewitnesses, including legendary figures such as Allen Ginsberg and Andy Warhol.

• An audiovisual exhibition: private recordings, art films, television archives and a new audiovisual John Mekas installation paying tribute to Barbara Rubin.

• Contemporary art incorporated in the project: installations, films and photographs inspired by The Velvet Underground from Léo Dorfner, Nan Goldin, John Giorno, Jean-Luc Verna, Antoine d’Agata, etc.

• Hundreds of pictures taken by photographers who captured the group’s lightning career: Fred W. McDarrah, Gerard, Malanga, Adam Ritchie, Steve Schapiro, Stephen Shore, etc.

• Totem stands showing portraits of the group’s members, together with the people who created the New York Underground movement, including Allen Ginsberg, Piero Heliczer, Gerard Malanga, Jonas Mekas, Barbara Rubin, Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol and Danny Williams.

LAYOUT DESIGN

Matali Crasset, artist, designer and scenographer, created the itinerary for the Velvet Underground ex-hibition, combining the verticality of New York (17 totem stands presenting the key figures of the Velvets’ world) with concepts she holds dear: modularity, adoption, flexibility and constant challenges to our perceptions.

KEY EXHIBITION FIGURES

• More than 600 works and articles displayed, 200 musical extracts and 8 hours of video documents.

• 750 m² of modular space.

The Velvet Underground in Los Angeles, May 1966

Exhibition layout view © W. Beaucardet

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CONTACTS

ALICE CHAMBLAS

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OFFICER achamblas@philharmoniedeparis.fr +33(0)1 44 84 47 19

ISABELLE LAINÉ

HEAD OF THE EXHIBITIONS DEPARTMENT

ilaine@philharmoniedeparis.fr +33(0)1 44 84 45 57

C I T É D E L A M U S I Q U EP H I L H A R M O N I E D E PA R I S

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