Peinture murale,
1993, Miami Beach. environ 6m x 3m
La
cité de Miami
Beach défie les lois de la pesanteur
texte en anglais par Jim Tommaney,
écrivain :
Pierre
Marcel's whimsical cascade of hotel castles in the
air, joined by Miami Beach's old City Hall, suggests
the end of the law of gravity in more ways than
one.
The
architectural beauty of the hotels is no less distinctive
when viewed horizontally, soaring in mid-air to
bewilder the astonished seagulls. The gorgeous Carlyle
manages to maintain it's horizontal aplomb, but
even here the umbrella tables are seen to be flying
off, apparently in search of fresh costumers.
With
Marcel's mysteries are revealed, but never explained.
Does the inclusion of the yellow and beige Old City
Hall indicate that government is less than earthbound?
Does upending of architectural gems suggest that
these may not be any safer than destroyed hotels
such as The Senator, torn down for a parking lot?
Does the Eastward flight to Europe suggest that
Miami Beach's appeal to Europe works both ways?
One
is left to speculate, but it seems most likely that
the city commissioners, in an attempt to rule out
gloom and doom, inadvertently repealed the law of
"gravity". And it must be so, for surely
the painting dispels depression and makes us wish
to join the joyful mid-air dance.
The
city commissioners may have passed a law wiser than
they knew. For the paintings makes us wish to visit
Miami Beach again, to savor the unlikely marvel
here created, to be soothed by the cool blue of
the seductive sea, to be dazzled by the imaginative
architecture, and to be grateful to reside even
temporarily in a world captured so well in the rich,
extraordinary art of Pierre Marcel.
Text:
Jim Tommaney
