Living in Clips

I have a confession to make, one that I almost never admit because it feels almost scandalous for someone who has lived in Paris for so many years. I have visited the Atelier Brancusi, tucked away in the shadow of the Centre Pompidou, at least a dozen times … yet I had never actually stepped inside the Pompidou itself.

Ridiculous, I know.

Something about its exposed coloured pipes and bold, industrial bones never quite won me over. While everyone else praised its views, its library, its collection, its architecture, I always found myself drawn instead to the modest glass structure below: The Atelier Brancusi’s reconstructed studio. So I kept returning to the studio. And the big blue-red-yellow monstrosity? It remained unvisited. Until the Summer of 2024.

When the Pompidou announced its major Brancusi retrospective, I knew it was finally time to step inside. So, for the first time ever, I climbed the escalators snaking along the building’s exterior, each level revealing a widening panorama over Paris. Inside, it wasn’t quite the architectural assault I’d braced myself for, but still, it’s unmistakably not my kind of building.

Architecture is inhabited sculpture

Things are not difficult to make; what is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them.

The exhibition felt familiar from the atelier, yet seeing the works gathered in this modern, pulsing space of epic proportions gave them a new kind of stature. I was genuinely blown away. Seeing Brancusi’s pieces set within such vast light and space, with Paris as the backdrop, was really, really impressive, I have to admit.

The Pompidou is now closed for a long period of renovation and reopening in 2030 I believe. Which somehow makes my first visit feel even more serendipitous. A glimpse before the doors shut. Who knows if I will ever visit again, watch this space !