François Pinault - The loss of Paris is the gain of Venice

When French billionaire François Pinault gave up his attempts to build a museum on L'île Seguin, an island on the river Seine in the suburbs of the French capital which was once the site of a Renault factory, he chose the Palazzo Grassi in the Italian city of Venice as the best place to share with the rest of the world his vast collection of modern art.

The decision in 2004 not to go ahead with Paris option was down to Pinault's frustration at the administrative red tape involved in getting the necessary planning permission, and even though Palazzo Grassi isn't big enough to hold all his works in one go, a visit has to be a "must" on any visitor's list of "things to do and places to see" no matter how short a stay might be planned in "the Queen of the Adriatic".

That has been especially true since June 2009 when after months of renovation work at the Punta della Dogana, a new art centre for Pinault's foundation (yes the French capital really did lose out BIG time) the exhibition "Mapping the studio", opened at both venues.

It is in the words of the official website an exhibition aimed at "conveying the sense of vitality and discovery that has been an integral part of the François Pinault Collection over the years."



It might be difficult to appreciate fully the intent behind many of the artists' work and they can surely appear obscure and often nonsensical.

But that's where the audio guide kicks in, offering explanations which visitors can accept or ignore as they wish.

Such as why Piotr Uklański's "Dancing Nazis", which combines his work of 166 film stills and poster images of US and European actors who've played the parts of Nazis in films, with a dance floor intermittently illuminated in fluorescent colours, has a meaning which "lies not within itself but within the mind of the spectator."

When you wander into a darkened room to see Bruce Nauman's film "Test Tape Fat Chance John Cage", a film he made by leaving the camera running in his studio overnight recording...well not a lot really...the audio guide once again helpfully sheds some light.

It spells out how the film is the inspiration for the whole theme of the exhibition "Mapping the studio" and has been described in reviews as "pushing the limits" and "showing everything and nothing."

It's perhaps statements like that which might alienate many from sitting down and pondering the whole thing in the first place.

But it's also worth bearing in mind that works which might often puzzle and leave the visitor floundering don't always appear to be what they initially seem.

Thank goodness for that thought as the guide assures you that Cady Noland's installation piece "Bloody Mess" is far from quite literally being, as the name suggests, a work of junk thrown together in no apparent form on the exhibition floor.

Or Cy Twombly's "Ilium" is in no way just lot of indiscriminate scribbling (is there any other sort) but is brought into context when you're told just how important an influence his overall work has been on other artists.



There is of course more, much more to Pinault's collection than the briefest of resumés allows. There are works from established artists such as Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger, to name just a few.

And then there are pieces from emerging talents such as Adel Abdessemed, Nate Lowman and of course Rob Pruitt, whose "101 art ideas you can do yourself" starting off with "Putting googly eyes on things" through (should you feel the need to pop along to the men's room) "Sit on the toilet backwards", and the other 99 suggestions that accompany you during your visit, are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

Even if at times it's hard to fathom out what some of the artists' intentions actually were or are, there's not denying that what's on display is thought-provoking and it's never dull.

And maybe the best advice is to bear in mind as you wander through the exhibition is not necessarily to try looking for meaning and simply enjoy.

Venice - a photoreportage

It's easy - oh so easy perhaps - to take glorious photos of Venice, even for the most talentless among us.

Simply point the camera in any direction, press, whirr and voilà.

And with digital technology you've got not just one but several (hundred?) snapshots of those canals, water, bridges, piazzas, more water, palaces, boats, gondoliers, even more water and so on and so forth.

Souvenirs of a city that is without question one of the most romantic in the world.

Well just for a change, here, mixed in with those typical tourist photos (well what did you expect?) is a selection of a few other images and clips taken by one galoshes-wearing happy snapper traipsing - or should that be sploshing - around the "Queen of the Adriatic" as the sun put in a brief appearance during acqua alta or "high water".

Braving the raised walkways at the Rialto bridge

equipped with wellies that have clearly never seen the countryside

After the rain, the sun

It might be chilly but some are determined to make the most out of the sun

Just to state the obvious, Venice of course means boats

...and canals, starting with the Grand Canal

...and continuing with the side canals

...gondoliers at work, waiting and taking a break

and gondolas - take one or make one

It's a city with the narrowest of streets

and where.daily exercise Venetian style entails lugging pushchairs over bridges

As it's Italy it's time to shop. Tat for sale - masks, tee shirts and "original" Murano

And then there are some extravagant loo brushes

Signs (galore) - where exactly are we? - posters, instructions and graffiti











Hung out to dry

Bells and doors

All right then, a couple of typical tourist shots to finish with.

St Mark's - in the rain and at dusk

"A propos de Sara" - the return of Sara Baras and flamenco to Paris

If your idea of what flamenco dancing is all about is a woman in a frilly polka-dot dress stomping her way across the floor to the clatter of castanets, the accompaniment of twanging guitars and the loudest of gypsy songs - think again.

Sure it's some of that, especially for tourists perhaps making their way to one of the Spanish costas and eager for an "authentic taste" of the local culture.

But as Sara Baras and her company have been proving to audiences in Paris, the dance form offers much more, and if you're passing through the French capital any time until January 11, then it is probably the show for which you should try to get tickets.

A quick read through the programme before the performance tells you that Baras - still only 37 - has in just the matter of a few years become one of the "emblematic figures of new flamenco".

"She is," we are told "a model for others, a veritable star of flamenco who is always looking to reinvent new forms of choreography."

Yes well it would say that wouldn't it? And when the curtain goes up, the highly stylised first scene, for the uninitiated at least doesn't necessarily bode well.

Admittedly there are no castanets, but there's certainly a lots of scarf waving.

"Oh, oh. Was this really such a good idea as an end-of-year treat?" some in the audience might well have been asking themselves unaware perhaps that this is just a quick look back at past numbers and there is more - much more - to come.

Because very quickly the whole thing rachets up a notch - or two - or three.

The music really kicks in. The guitars and the voices "up" the rhythm and the show is ready for lift off into a new dimension.

Actually the fact that virtually every seat at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has been taken - and that for a Sunday matinée performance - and there are a fair number of native Spanish speakers present, should be something of a giveaway that the audience is in for something special.

"A propos de Sara" is perhaps most easily described as a "best of" the performances Baras has made and choreographed over the past 12 years, and while it might start off deceptively slowly it soon explodes into something intensely hypnotic to watch.

Solo performances from Baras herself are often frenetic, shin shuddering ones as she keeps up with the pace and rapidly increasing rhythm of the music.

Hers is a powerful, energetic and at the same time graceful display of the real nuances of flamenco, building to a roaring crescendo and then suddenly punctuating it with the softness and lightest of touches as the pace drops in a second to one in which there's almost complete silence in the auditorium.



It's just like one of those great opera voices that are able to turn on a note from full volume power to delicacy - and all seemingly without effort.

The pas de deux with guest star Jose Serrano are just as thrilling, as is the finely tuned ensemble choreography from company.

And then there's the stage setting and lighting - elements that don't usually leap out during a performance. Or if they do, it's usually because they get it so obviously wrong.



In the case of "A propos de Sara" quite the opposite is true. It's so obviously right, giving each scene a texture and finish that is a pure visual delight.

Maybe that's because it's the seventh time over the years that Baras has performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and so it's perhaps not surprising that she knows what she wants and how to get it.

Poetry on legs for one hour and 40 minutes.