PARIS — A hundred colorful illustrations inspired by Jean de La Fontaine’s “Fables” are the focus of a new exhibit at the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé Foundation here, opening to the public today.
Robert Wilson, the American stage director known for his minimalist productions, also created a hall of mirrors, frog-printed wallpaper and eight installations depicting scenes from the 17th-century French poet’s tales about animals acting like humans.
“It’s something we can bring children to see,” explained Wilson in a joint news conference with Bergé on Tuesday. The show is part of the year-old foundation’s mission to feature living artists while conserving and exhibiting YSL’s massive archive in his former couture headquarters at 5 Avenue Marceau.
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It follows the inaugural “Yves Saint Laurent: Dialogue With Art” exhibit, which will travel to Frankfurt this spring before moving to St. Petersburg, Russia, in mid-June as part of a massive YSL exhibit.
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“It was natural that Bob Wilson, with whom we have been friends for a very long time, should do the second show,” said Bergé.
Wilson, known for such productions as “Einstein on the Beach” and “Deafman Glance,” has been immersed in La Fontaine recently. Last year, he staged a critically acclaimed version of “Fables” at France’s national theater, the Comedie Francaise. It was reprised this fall and has sold out.
“This exhibit is not an illustration of the stage work,” Wilson explained. “The light on a stage is different from the light on a piece of paper; the mediums are different.”
Wilson said he was drawn to the “Fables” because they continue to shed light on the vagaries of human behavior. “The Fables are going on everywhere,” he said. “They have only taken on different disguises.”
Wilson called his interpretation of La Fontaine a “gift to France” in return for the country’s recognition of his work. “The French have seen more of my work than anywhere,” he said. “Since 1979, I’ve been fortunate to have at least one production and as many as five productions in France a year.”
Wilson praised France’s open-minded cultural environment and generous public funding while taking a swipe at America’s lack of a “sound cultural policy.”
“I wanted to do something that was a part of [French] heritage, a national treasure, and to do something for children,” he said. “What’s very nice about getting old is to think about passing on what one has been doing to a younger generation.”
Meanwhile, Bergé said the foundation’s third exhibition, in September, would explore Saint Laurent and the smoking suit, and that a survey of David Hockney’s theater decors was scheduled for late 2005.
“Robert Wilson: Les Fables de La Fontaine” runs through July 28.