Temporary wardrobe of the Garnier Palace – Style

Instead of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s naked round dance of girls who once offended purists, a stone block sticks out, another falls out of the loggia and through the protruding scaffolding looks menacingly at the Avenue de l’Opéra. Haydn, Bach, Pergolesi, along with the arcades and stairs, were swallowed up by a huge hole – not black, but filled with light.

This is what the main southern façade of the Paris Opera and the Garnier Palace looks like now, covered with a new trompe l’oeil (fake painting) by the artist JR. Hidden behind his initials and black glasses is 40-year-old Jean Rene, a star of French street art (don’t compare him to Banksy, he’s offended!), whose works have long since moved from factory chimneys to the walls of mansions and prestigious galleries. He places his large-scale black and white photographic projects with social and political messages in the most unexpected urban spaces. There were already industrial zones, Brazilian favelas, African villages, the Israeli-Palestinian border, Lviv, the Paris metro. He also “wounded” the Florentine Palazzo Strozzi and “failed” the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Pyramid into the abyss.

Now JR has received an offer to “sign” the shrine. The work is called “Return to the Cave.” “At first glance, the Palais Garnier appears to be in ruins, reflecting the fragility and timelessness of Parisian monuments, but upon closer inspection, this work can be interpreted as a work of art in the process of constant creation,” the artist wrote. “This is a reference to Plato’s allegory about the cave – a place from which the exit leads to knowledge and understanding of the world.” An addition to the project will be broadcasts of hits from the opera repertoire, from Bejart to Preljocaj in JR’s sets.

The main task of the “cave” is to close the scaffolding. A major cleaning of the Opera Garnier façade began in October last year and is not due to be completed until the end of 2024. The cost of the work according to the original estimate is €7.2 million. According to French law, such expensive special operations can be financed, among other things, from advertising revenues.

It all started with them. Until this September, the house of Chanel, one of the sponsors and patrons of the Paris Opera, replaced the posters on the prestigious façade like gloves. Timothée Chalamet in the role of the new face of Bleu de Chanel, of course, is unusually good, but the Parisians grumbled: they say, this is a waste of national property, shrines are not for sale. Contemporary art is a completely different matter.

“The restoration work has provided space for a stunning work of art that lives up to the caliber of this culturally iconic site,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. For some time, the Parisians supported the mayor. One of the most popular reviews: “It’s great that there isn’t an advertising banner on the façade.”

“Return to the Cave” is a two-act project. The first part will end on September 27. The premiere of the second is scheduled for November. In the meantime, everyone is invited to take part in embroidering the “Curtain” for the facade – in fact, this is the second act. The collective creativity will take place at the M19 Center in Paris. All the custodians of unique know-how – from feather craftsmen and pleaters to Maison Michel hatters and Lesage and Atelier Montex embroiderers – were brought under one roof by none other than Chanel. The trompe l’oeil turned out to be a success in every sense – both the façade is beautiful and the patron is pleased.

Maria Sidelnikova