Contemporary art in the city

Born in Barcelona in 1945, Peret is a multi-talented artist: graphic design, illustration, photography, sculpture? At the beginning of the 1980s, he founded a studio with international collaborators and carries out projects all over the world. The Spanish graphic designer was chosen by the locals after a competition to dress the tramway and design the interior harmonies. His proposal combines a warm, fiery yellow with red and black graphic motifs, specific to each of the 27 trams and divided into three families. The interior is clad in grey, with red and yellow accents, and the seats are upholstered in a fabric that echoes the graphic motifs on the outside. The Peret design was created for the buses of the Solea network.

The «Schweissdissi» (the man who sweats), a strong emblem of the city, was undoubtedly the easiest choice for the artist Yves Carrey, as it is so symbolic of the rich industrial past of the City of Bollwerk. The man’s sitting position is linked to unemployment (disappearance of the great Mulhouse factories). Most of the pieces are car mechanics from a company that recycles materials and old tools from Yves Carrey’s personal junk shop.

The owners of this house that does not go unnoticed are art lovers. They have chosen to decorate their house in the style of the artist Mondrian.

Renato Montanaro is a Mulhouse artist of Italian origin. He has represented three cows in resin in a monumental way. Of pop art inspiration, they are three times bigger than reality. Here, Renato Montanaro mixes genres, images and references.

Daniel Buren’s project is based on the regular installation, at each stop on the West-East line, of line 1 (except at Porte Jeune) of two arches that mark the stations and create a feeling of continuity along the tramway route. The arches symbolise an entrance door and an exit door whose spacing is close to the length of the tramway trains; they span the platform. The arches have a rectangular cross-section. On three of the four sides of the arches, different colours have been used. Each station has different colours, creating a new world at each stop. On the outer curve, five black and white stripes of equal width extend in a straight line from the ground on either side of the arch, giving the appearance of stripes. Daniel Buren is known to have made the columns of the courtyard of the Royal Palace or the bridge arch of the Salves in Bilbao.

The work of Anne-Marie Schoen installed here in the Cour des Chaînes was acquired by the City of Mulhouse in 1991. It is made up of two sculptures, themselves made of pieces of wood tightly tied together. Anne-Marie Schoen considers these sculptures as landmarks, hence the title, which could be used in the city to represent or draw a route.

Despite the lack of details, these characters, created by Jean-Louis Toutain, communicate a certain joie de vivre, a joyfulness between humour, satire and tenderness. The characters created by the artist oscillate between massive bodies, imposing roundness and elegance, pure and airy forms. There is a fair measure of volume and Jean-Louis Toutain has succeeded in combining lightness in the mass, as if these silhouettes were flying or floating gently.

The idea of producing sheep suddenly came to Yves Carrey simply by considering fuel oil drums, which offer one of the most attractive raw materials in terms of lightness and volume. When you look at one of these animals, you can’t help but see a kind of barrel on legs.

The work of the artist Quentin Garel revolves around sculpture in bronze, iron, wood or porcelain. The majority of his works represent a bestiary, sometimes realistic, sometimes skeletal. He created the work «Water table» for the Place de la Paix. It is composed of 120 bronze frogs, of different sizes, which sit on a steel «table». The basin is partially filled with water, which gushes from some of the frogs. Some of them are worked in an amazing detail. The sober work fits perfectly into the renovated square.

For the artist, Livia de Poli, the desire to create works of monumental size came naturally. While remaining in a universe of rounded shapes and colours, she wanted to give volume to her creations. The Unicorn of Fayé is enthroned in the middle of the garden of the Museum of Fine Arts. This colourful work has its source in the «narratives» of the past. These stories, which were told at vigils, reveal the worries, fears and hopes of the people of the sub-Vosgean country during the previous centuries. On the other hand, the «Unicorn of Fayé» is a positive and solar figure who comes to ward off bad luck. The front side is made up of colourful and joyful curves. The back side shows four animals corresponding to the four elements: Earth (horse or bovine figure), air (bird), water (fish) and fire (salamander).

Tobias Rehberger installed a very special potato field (in 2009) which, according to the legend he built around it, contains a golden potato. The potato field actually cultivated measures 185 m2. Initially, the potatoes were collected and the first harvests were given to the Restos du Coeur. This work is part of a larger ensemble that the artist has created for the entire line 1 of the tram. Other works by the same artist can be seen in front of the fire station, on the facades of the PAX, at the tram stop Musée de l’auto, etc.

The work of Louis Perrin, a Mulhouse artist, was installed in 1989 as part of the pedestrianisation of the area. It is for this door of the past that he created this 4 m long bronze key, planted in the ground «like King Arthur’s sword». Louis Perrin said: «The Bollwerk Tower I see it as a unique object. I know that it was not a gateway to Mulhouse, but as it is the only visible part of the old ramparts ... For me, it’s the key to the city, so it must be a big key, and it’s as if it had been thrown there». Over time, the work has been well received by the inhabitants and today it is a very lively object, where children climb on it and where the first tags appeared. For the artist, this proves that the work is now «part of the walls».

Renato Montanaro’s work, entitled Hector, but often referred to as the bulldog, was installed at the Nouveau Bassin in 2010. The work, weighing more than a ton, is a bronze made by the Strassacker Foundry and has been given a patina. It is a replica of an English bulldog that the artist has been using since 2004. The work commissioned by the City is Hector’s 4th monumental version. The artist is thus reworking an image he has already used but integrating it and thinking it in accordance with a new exhibition environment. Renato Montanaro’s work finds its place in this natural environment, echoing the dogs of passers-by and walkers in the alley.

This work is entitled Crystals and was commissioned from the artist Pierre Watzky in 2013. It is special because the artist died prematurely just after the City of Mulhouse had approved its purchase. Pierre Watzky had already prepared the models and drawings but it was Roland Vonarzx who finally produced the work from notes and sketches. It represents an ore exploited in mines, here it is a rock salt in its crystalline form, i.e. an imbrication of different volumes of simple geometric shapes. Many then said that cubism had integrated the works of the New Basin. Indeed, there is in this work a work of forms, geometry, volumes. It echoes the life and career of the artist who himself worked at the bottom of the potash mines in the region.

Yves Carrey’s work located in the Nouveau Bassin bears the name L’Arbre. It was installed in 2003, it is the 2nd piece installed on the promenade. Yves Carrey is a Mulhouse artist who is very well known in the region’s artistic community. A welder by trade, he will very quickly put his mastery and know-how at the service of his art. His creative inspiration comes from his first job and he will transpose his manual work to an artistic and plastic work. The Tree was made with concrete irons, long rods of scrap metal that were recovered from the wasteland of old buildings in the potash mines. At the top of his work, there are flowers which are in fact old parts of agricultural vehicles. This work integrates very well, on the one hand because it refers to the environment (a tree among trees) but also because of its colour that blends in with the decor.

The work of Georges Hanskens was installed in 2009 at the Nouveau Bassin. The sculpture is made of bronze covered with a brown patina and stands on an imposing white monolithic granite base. From a distance, this work appears smaller than the others, less imposing, but it is certainly also its theme that invites the viewer to come closer and contemplate it more closely. At first glance, one discovers a set of interlocking geometrical shapes, playing with each other. Without knowing the title of this work, it is then difficult to detect the artist’s intention. Once the name is known, the shapes come to life directly. We can see a mother embracing her child. We can also see a single figure, the silhouette of a pregnant woman. The artist himself said that he created this sculpture as a hymn to women, to gestation, to birth. We find this idea of birth through the environment in which the work is placed: nature where flowers and trees are born, live, wither, etc....

In 2004, the City of Mulhouse placed an order with Anne-Marie Schoen for the New Basin. The work Réserve presents a bright red metal cage, half planted in the ground in the middle of the grass. It is as if we wanted to build up a reserve of our various baggage here, whether literally (real object) or figuratively (memory, remembrance, etc.). In the end, another reading seems possible. This red cube is a strong sign, of danger perhaps, which seeks to delimit, protect, a zone. Indeed, if we approach the work, we see that the part of the earth underneath this cage is no longer accessible and that vegetation, ivy, grows there without human control. Here we find a link with the title of the work. This small piece of land would be reserved. However, one quickly understands the irony and paradox of this idea since, in the end, although man can no longer access or have an impact on this piece of land, the delimited cage is like a prison for this vegetation that is free without being free. The idea of the title «Reserve» can therefore also refer to ecological concerns.

Vincente Blanchard is originally from Rouen and currently lives in Mulhouse. The work installed here at the Nouveau Bassin is not his first monumental work, nor his first public commission. Several of his works can be found in Alsace, such as at the Zoological and Botanical Park or in Altkirch. La Jonque is an association of patinated bronze to which the artist adds a particular mixture of sand and cement to arrive at a material close to mortar that will flow between the metal. The material overflows little by little, almost forgetting the metal. Little by little the stone comes out of the metal structure. The work is closely linked to nature and responds to the environment in which it is set. Vincente Blanchard’s work is closely linked to the idea of nature, as can be seen in the title she gives to her series, the invertebrates that are those animals found in nature (insects, crustaceans, etc.). The title of the work refers to nature and especially to water, since a junk is also the name of a traditional boat from Asia.

The work of Françoise Matt-Halm, installed in 2005, consists of an electro-galvanized sheet metal structure, measuring 2.70 m for a weight of 30 kg. The artist first designed her work on a model, which then allows the necessary pieces of sheet metal to be cut out by laser and welded together. Finally, she applies a thermolacquered paint which gives the sculpture this very lively aspect. Françoise Matt-Halm’s artistic work is based on three major criteria that dominate this project: stylization for form: the artist starts from a figurative image for which we have a clue in the title, here a giraffe. The artist stylises, purifies and clarifies as much as possible the features of this image in order to arrive at a set of simple and geometrical shapes, which, by assembling them together, will re-form the initial image in the viewer’s mind. There are no more details on the final work, it is up to the spectator to redraw in his imagination the missing lines or details; Lightness for the structure: the artist works with electro-galvanized sheet metal which is a very flexible material, easy to work with but also very light. Indeed, the giraffe of the Nouveau Bassin seems light, by its fine, pure lines and the delicacy of its material; Cheerfulness for the colour: Françoise Matt-Halm uses more generally in her artistic work bright colours, sometimes contrary to reality (here the giraffe is composed of orange and blue). This gives the sculpture a cheerfulness, an additional enchantment.

Yves Lemarque’s work was commissioned by the City of Mulhouse in 2011. The sculpture is a reduction replica of the chimneys that made Mulhouse famous, formerly known as the city of a hundred chimneys. The work is also linked to the industrial past of the Nouveau Bassin district. The artist named his creation Julia. Through this first name, so common nowadays, he wants to create a link with the passer-by walking along the Nouveau Bassin. However, it is not the artist who has an acquaintance named Julia, but the spectator who might know someone with this name and thus through the sculpture recall memories, a story with a person named Julia. Putting a first name on the sculpture also helps to humanize the work, to give it an identity. Yves Lemarque has also pierced the sculpture with small holes that go all the way around. At eye level, these holes allow the spectator to look inside to give another perspective and a new relationship to the work.

Alix Vondeweidt installed his work La Danse des Trois at the Nouveau Bassin in 2005. The sculpture is made of carved wood. The work presents three almost similar forms starting from a common base. Each form rises up and gives the impression of rolling up on top of each other. The circular movement of the three forms can make one think of a dance, a round. The movement is very present in the work and the artist has worked the sculpture in the roundness, creating waves and ripples in places. We can also see three figures with silhouettes and heads at the top. The work started from an idea to symbolize three countries: Switzerland, Germany and France. These neighbouring countries have a common base but know their own history with a personal path and a different politics. The work finally shows that each country can live and grow alone but that a historical and geographical link will continuously bind the countries together. The common base gives them power and energy to dance and rise to the sky; but while separating, they remain united.

Christian Lapie, by erecting these tree trunks, makes imposing figures appear. Presented in a group or as a couple, these figures suddenly impose themselves on the spectator in places that the artist takes into account a great deal. In Mulhouse, we find these giants on each side of the street, there are five figures in all who dialogue face to face. These sculptures are positioned there, like totemic, monumental figures. A human figure appears thanks to the small head at the top. However, when you approach it, you see that it is a sculpture without age, without face, without members, of all nations, all cultures, without race. Here we find the will to build a universal dialogue, addressing everyone. The souls that the artist creates can evoke something different to everyone, while keeping in mind the metaphorical figure of being. Some speak of manifest brutality in the face of these mute, distant, ghost-like colossuses; others see them more as guardians, protective figures who guard and watch over the place. The link with nature is very present in this work with the use of wood but also by this idea of both the rooting of the trunk in the earth and the elevation towards the sky, like the surrounding trees.

Kristian Ingold, a local artist, gave great importance to the place where his work was to take root. His wish was to create a sculpture that would be both dynamic and connected to the surrounding space, but without creating a focal point that would catch the eye of the visitor. As the artist says, he thought of his work as a sculpture «that can be discovered rather than imposed». He therefore sought to preserve the perspective opened up by the tree-lined walkway. The form of the work gives rise to an object that can have several uses in its space: bench or table, a place of conviviality, exchange, play or mediation. The work is made of strong materials such as metal for the upper part and rock for the four pedestals also representing feet. The form sculpted by the artist is in fact the mathematical symbol of infinity, also called the lemniscate. It creates as a continuous line, like the sign of infinity. We can also speak of Ouroboros to designate this form, a term that the artist used for the title of his work. It refers first of all to the symbol of infinity but also to this sculpture that will continue to live on over the years with the multitude of passers-by who will look at it, use it and infinitely update the work.

This work was installed at the Nouveau Bassin in 2011. It is the result of a plastic art competition launched among high school students from Mulhouse on the theme of «The planet is warming up, let’s not be afraid! ». Two high schools won the competition: the Lycée Général Lambert and the Lycée Professionnel Stoessel. Julie Wittich and Marie Kebs are the two designers of the work who were studying visual arts at the Lycée Lambert. The work was then created by students in CAP Métallerie at the Lycée Stoessel. The manufacture required 148 stainless steel pipes and several recycled metal drums. The work weighs approximately 700 kg. The image of the bear was chosen as a strong link with global warming. Choosing pierced and half-open pipes also gives the bear this fragile aspect, to signify that it is an endangered animal, already affected by the damage caused to nature and its environment. The link can also be made with the polar bears present at the Parc zoologique et botanique de Mulhouse. Finally, the title of the work refers to the celestial constellation which would be like a course to follow to find solutions to the damage that nature and the planet are experiencing.

This work was created in 2017 by Pascal Gangloff, a sculptor and ceramist from Mulhouse. He took part in the summer sculpture program in 2011 during which he presented four sculptures of animal-headed figures depicting themes from everyday life. This is one of the last works that Pascal Gangloff created in Mulhouse before leaving the region. Also, we find in his sculpture this dreamlike universe so particular to the artist who mixes the world of humans and animals by also mixing many materials as we can also see in another work of Pascal Gangloff which is installed in front of the school of coopers in Mulhouse.

Jean-Pierre Raynaud is a French artist of international renown born in 1939 in Courbevoie. He is well known for his works, especially his flower pots, but also for his works made with white tiles with black joints, which have become his trademark. The work Space was commissioned by the City of Mulhouse with financial assistance from the State. This is a political will to set up a real programme of public commissions of works of art. For Deputy Michel Samuel-Weis, Mulhouse was one of the last cities not to have made any public commissions and was short of works of art in public space. The sculpture presents a circular and ascending set of eight erected white columns. The work is fairly uncluttered, originating in the ground from which these eight columns or steles rise, following a mathematical progression that draws them towards the sky. The whiteness of the sculpture confronts the brutality of the noise of the nearby motorway circuit and, even at night, it is lifted up by car lights. For the artist, it is at the same time a «work of art, a piece of architecture, a signal, an enigma», but which creates a new space in the city, a public space with free thought.