PARIS, June 9 — As French art collectors have pledged over €300 million (RM1.41 billion) to restore the cathedral, Gagosian Gallery is joining in the efforts with a major exhibition in Paris.
The display, entitled “An Exhibition for Notre-Dame,” will include donations by 28 international artists, including Balthus, Georg Baselitz, John Currin, Edmund de Waal, Patti Smith and Blair Thurman.
Takashi Murakami, Theaster Gates, Rachel Whiteread will also present new artworks created exclusively for the exhibition.
All proceeds from the show will support the restoration and renovation of the 850-year-old medieval Notre Dame cathedral, where, on April 15, a major fire broke out and destroyed the structure's roof and spire. The funds from the exhibit will be donated to the initiative Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris and its affiliated French entity La Fondation Notre Dame.
“Notre-Dame is one of the most widely recognised symbols of the city of Paris and the French nation. I wish to contribute to the reconstruction of this iconic monument after watching, with devastation, as it was engulfed in flames,” Larry Gagosian, the gallery's founder, said in a statement.
Although French president Emmanuel Macron vowed to restore it in less than five years, experts are still divided on whether the monument should be rebuilt in its original form or if a modern architectural approach is preferable.
“An Exhibition for Notre-Dame” will be on view at the Parisian location of Gagosian Gallery from June 11 through July 27. Additional information is available here. — AFP-Relaxnews
