Parvis of Saint-Etienne Cathedral in Toulouse: hide this statue that we could not see …
The “Salt Giant” statue designed by the Spanish sculptors Coderch and Malavia was installed last week on Saint-Etienne square, opposite the cathedral. But with the approach of Christmas, this imposing work is not to the taste of the residents. It was moved immediately.
Is it her large, muscular thighs, wide apart, or her almost full nude? Opposite the Saint-Etienne Cathedral in Toulouse, the Mecca of the Catholic bishopric, the sculpture “the Salt Giant” is in any case controversial. Barely installed on the forecourt, last week, this work by Spanish sculptors Joan Coderch and Javier Malavia, weighing its 650 kg of steel and polyester powder for impressive measurements (2 meters high and 3 meters wide), has a big emotion among some residents of this upscale neighborhood. The giant had not been installed for more than two hours when the town hall phone rang to be indignant at such an installation in the vicinity of a religious building. Much to the chagrin of Edouard Guiounet, the gallery owner behind the initiative, who also exhibits other works by the two Spanish artists in the Alain Daudet gallery, rue de la Trinité next door. “Saint Etienne is a beautiful space, touristy and suitable for photos”, he explains. Obviously surprised at the reaction of some people, while statuaries, sometimes more explicit, populate churches all over the world and that “The Salt Giant” is not a saucy work.
The statue moved to Wilson
“This statue is inspired by a Japanese butoh show, says the gallery owner. It is a reproduction of a bronze exhibited in Valencia, Spain, around which was held on August 6 a commemoration to the victims of the launch of the Hiroshima bomb “. Nothing but art, therefore, that the contemptors of the Place Saint-Etienne managed to excommunicate by driving the statue out of their immediate environment. The giant was moved this Thursday afternoon to be installed on the allées François-Mitterrand, in the continuity of Place Wilson. “I do not want to argue, but this is what was planned from the start, assures Jonnhy Dunal, the delegated municipal councilor in charge of the operation. The gallery owner was more in favor of an installation of the giant in Saint-Etienne, but I had told him that it was only temporary while waiting for the esplanade François-Mitterrand to be released. With the Christmas festivities looming, there were not many places available “. No competition with the little Jesus, for the chosen one of the Pink City, the work will not lose in the change, on the contrary. “It’s a much busier place where many people can admire it,” he says. While evoking a “place of passage, neutral”.
Juan Rodrigo, the agent of the two sculptors, reacted from a distance, calming the emerging controversy. “The two artists are very happy with the opportunity offered by the Toulouse town hall to share a message of peace, although some people do not were not understood, “he said. After Sweden, Germany and Italy, the “Salt Giant” is exhibited on Toulouse pavements until the end of the year. You will have time to get an idea …