We have to admit it: you don't expect to see a nativity scene like this when you enter the Saint-Eustache church in Paris.
And even though we know that the young versatile artist Prosper Legault exhibits his installation there: "
Bienvenue dans la vi (ll) e
".
As if we had forgotten the sensation of a contemporary installation, as bright and touching as it is.
The work echoes the Romanesque and Gothic architecture of Saint-Eustache.
Sarah Jacques
The artist with boundless energy was born in 1994. Freshly graduated from the Beaux-Arts in Paris, he won the call for tenders that the church launches each year with the students of the school to imagine his nursery. of Christmas.
Since the 1990s, many artists have intervened in the church, notably “
to question human destiny and the understanding of a contemporary world
”.
"
Reinterpreting the Nativity of Christ forces me to think of the poorest who sleep in makeshift shelters, who try to earn enough to eat by selling chestnuts or souvenirs
", explains Prosper Legault.
Salvage, neon lights and graffiti
The result, mixing recycled materials, neon lights and the strength of graffiti, seduces and offers a timeless moment.
The cross of a pharmacy becomes that of Christ, the shepherd's star is an old shoemaker's sign.
“
I wanted to compare my work that comes from outside, and from salvage, with the inside and the old stones of the church.
Asked for example the marriage between neon lights and stained glass
, explains the young man.
I wanted to imagine the birth of Christ as a surge of hope, which is a little at half mast at the moment.
"
The priest of the Yves Trocheris church will install a representation of Christ during the midnight mass.
Sarah Jacques
Fans will also appreciate the discreet tribute to Paul Bourgineau who died in 2017. Known under the artist name Saeio (or Saeyo), the young man, friend of Prosper Legault, revolutionized Parisian graffiti - street painting - while stimulating other disciplines.
For Prosper Legault, the pharmacy cross becomes that of Christ.
Sarah Jacques
Legault's installation, even if it certainly still lacks maturity - time will do its work, the future is his and his comrades - warms the heart and illuminates the mind.
Like the Christmas message.
The priest of the Yves Trocheris church is to install a representation of Christ there during the midnight mass.
»Welcome to the city -
Until February 2, 2021, Saint-Eustache Church, 146, rue Rambuteau, Paris 1er.
From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends.
