Littorale #7, the Anglet-Côte Basque International Contemporary Art Biennial, is an outdoor exhibition oering large open spaces to artistic expression. La Littorale invites artists to face the Atlantic Ocean in an exceptional natural site. The artistic itinerary, centred on the Chambre d’Amour, was entrusted to the art critic Richard Leydier. It consists of ephemeral works, created in situ by artists of dierent nationalities who reflected on the vast theme of love.
An international selection of artists for La Littorale #7
Madeleine Berkhemer (Netherlands) ǀ Jérémy Demester (France) ǀ Tadashi Kawamata (Japan) ǀ Grout/Mazéas (France) ǀ Bernhard Martin ( Germany) ǀ Laure Mary‐Couégnias (France) ǀ Jay Nelson & Rachel Kaye (USA) ǀ Stéphane Pencréac’h (France) ǀ Remed (France) ǀ Lionel Scoccimaro (France) ǀ Anne Wenzel (Netherlands)
2018 Edition by Richard Leydier, curator of the exhibition
La Chambre d’Amour… Could there be a more beautiful name for a place? The legend of Saubade and Laorens was born in the romantic period of the 19th century. Saubade, a young girl from a good family, and Laorens, a young shepherd, used to meet secretly in a cave near the ocean. But one day, they were swept away by a strong tide, “a great green wave became their shroud”. Their story has often been written and sung. The artists of this seventh Anglet Biennial give their own interpretation of romantic narratives in works set at the heart of a landscape that is the stuff of legend.
The word “love” encompasses an infinite number of very different realities, from a teenage idyll on a summer beach to the most vibrant, tragic passion. No other theme has inspired so many works, whether literary, musical, cinematographic or artistic, from Greek tragedy to the contemporary novel, from Renaissance motets to pop music.
I therefore asked each artist to choose a short text(1) – in prose or poetry, or the lyrics to a song – that could resonate with the artwork created for this biennial. There was just one requirement: this quotation had to express to them a certain quintessence of love, and have a particular sentimental significance.
Together, the artworks and texts seek to span the spectrum of love, which can be serious or merry, or even cosmic when the ocean weds the coastline.
