Claude Lévêque - Hymne à la joie

Born in 1953, Claude Lévêque is a major artist on the Franch and international scene. His work refers to popular culture, the day to day environment, and to mental images.

He builds atmospheres, environments and objects, dramatically reinforcing the imagery of his installations using light and sound to provoke visual and conceptual emotion. The aim is to let the viewer see things in other ways, to arrive at new perceptions. The essential, in Claude Lévêque's installations, is that we should live with them and let them enter into us...  

His installations or scenographies are exhibited in numerous museums or institutions in France and abroad, for example: "The Diamond Sea" in the CRAC of Sète ( 2010 ), " Le Grand Soir”  for the French Pavilion at the 53rd Biennale d'art contemporain de Venise ( 2009 ), " Le Grand Sommeil " in the MAC / VAL ( 2003 ), "Albatros" at the MAMCO of Geneva ( 2002 ), "My Way" for the ARC/ Museum of modern Art of the city of Paris ( 1996 ).....

"Hymne à la Joie", refers to Beethoven’s ninth symphony, and is an in-situ installation for the Galeries Lafayette, Paris, in July 2011. Using  sound and light it draws spectators into its world, tempting them to step beyond the confines of reality.
The photograph Hymne à la Joie,  specially published on this occasion, plunges the spectator into a universe of the abyss.