Perhaps it is the winter winds that bring to mind my years studying art history at the Petit Palais Museum in Avignon. How many Mondays did I leave the small palace to come out to the view of the looming medieval Popes’ Palace, with its crenulated defensive walls and arrow slits? Many Mondays, but none of which I ever regretted. Seeing the old palace in the grays of winter with the winds whipping up from the Rhone River and whirling about the plaza in front of that wonderful old historic building made impressions that will never leave my soul.
Avignon, medieval demeure of the Popes, walled city of Mistral winds, cobbled stone streets, and Côte du Rhone wine also presents numerous ways to engage the arts. From museums with programs to teach the art history of the middle ages to a university for those who have free time (Université de Temps Libre) to take art history courses and art history trips, there are many ways to be involved with the arts. And not everything relates to the city’s glorious past in the 14th century.
Among my favorite associations is the Maison d’Art Contemporain de Avignon or MACA for short. Its sincere dedication to contemporary art manifests every March in a substantial show of art from known artists in the region. Presented at the Cloitre Saint Louis, a beautiful cloistered building with an elegant hotel on one side of a large courtyard with a fountain and gigantic plane trees, the exhibition takes up the other side of what had been a convent. In this huge, elegant exhibition space of three floors, the MACA exposition is a cultural highlight of the many such events in Avignon. With MACA I traveled to the Biennale in Venice, to the Côte d’Azur, and to artists’ studios all throughout the Provençal countryside.
However, it was not necessary to leave the city itself for one of the most memorable studio visits I experienced – the studio of Xavier Spatafora. At the time his studio was just east of the Place de l’Horloge in the center of town. We entered a rather lovely older apartment with fireplaces, high ceilings, and carved wooden door frames. Its state at the time, however, was not that of a classically French apartment. No, this was a live-in art studio, filled with the materials that were the making of the surfaces Spatafora used for his drawings.
He collects old posters, shreds them, then molds them together to make sturdy heavily layered supports in organic shapes like torn pages. Upon these surfaces of thick compressed poster paper, where lines of print and bits of color from the old posters remain, he draws in fine ink lines fabulous animals, portraits, and objects (a pair of dice, for instance). At the time of my visit, he was doing this precise drawing with ballpoint pen. Yes, ballpoint pen, and this artist goes through a lot of them (buy stock in BIC). The pieces are huge, some from floor to almost the ceiling, which makes walking through the studio a series of surprises, as you never know what animal you may be confronted with next.
Once you become accustomed to the size of these creatures and the detail of their rendering, other aspects emerge. Here is where the effect of the shredded posters comes into play, for these wild creatures stand out against the remnants of newsprint, ad copy, names, and other tidbits of modern society. The effect is that of a startling juxtaposition of nature against what we call civilization. That gigantic elephant which walks so slowly forward seems symbolic of the patience of Nature that tolerates us, knowing full well it can destroy us in an instant.
The making of the supports for the huge drawings is quite an act of creation itself. Spatafora has been called an archeologist, because of his collecting of posters that in themselves show the history of all kinds of events in Avignon. In some ways, though, his creations of layers and strata of papers and posters create objects more akin to sedimentary rock, making him perhaps a geologist as well.
In case you wondered if this artist does anything small and delicate, you have only to look at this little fragment showing a twig and small bird to understand that he appreciates the tiny creatures as well as the large ones that roam the earth and the sea.
Spatafora’s work has continued to grow over the years since I first saw his beautiful creations in his studio in Avignon. The magnificence of his drawing skills continues to astound. This portrait of his own hand makes a comment on both the artist and art history. It is positioned very much like the hand that Michelangelo’s Adam reaches toward the figure of God in the Sistine Chapel. Yet this is not an elegant hand, but rather one of a skilled workman. Spatafora etches for us all of the muscles, lines, wrinkles, cracks, and crevices developed through the working of materials to make the art. This drawing of the hand in monumental size, more than a drawing is a badge of courage.
You can find more of Xavier Spatafora’s work on the following websites:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xavierspatafora/?hl=en
His website: https://spatafora.fr/home
Images used for this post are used in accordance with Fair Use Policy for purposes of critique, review and discussion.
Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.
Châteauneuf du Pape – Divine Wine.
Having the grand palace in Avignon (see first photo in this post) was not quite enough for the old popes of the 14th century. They decided that they liked spending the hot summer months high on a hill overlooking a lush valley which they filled with vineyards. So, off they went along the Rhone River to a new location which became known as Châteauneuf (new chateau) du Pape (of the Pope). Little wonder then that the vineyards started by Pope John XXII would bear the same name as the chateau.
Châteauneuf du Pape is the premier wine of the Côte du Rhone region. It was the first wine in France to be granted its AOC (appellation d’origine controlée) in 1936 when that process of verification of quality began. The vineyards in the area have perfect grape growing conditions since the area is near the Mediterranean, which has hot sunny days that cool a bit at night.
The soil varies from sand to gravel to red clay. However, one important feature are the “pudding stones” or galets roulés, which refer to the round quartzite stones that cover much of the ground which was once a river bed. From the photo here one can see what these stones look like. They absorb the summer heat but then keep the earth warm at night so that the vines have a more even distribution of heat day and night. (Photo from tasteoffrancemag.com
The wines from this area are normally blends of red wines, though some are made from just a single grape, the grenache. Chateau Rayas, for example, grows only grenache grapes on its 32 acre vineyard and uses only those grapes for its wine. Other versions with the Châteauneuf appellation can be made from up to 13 different wines, though most will still be 80% grenache. The normal mixture is granache, syrah, and mourvedre or GSM combination.
The iron-rich soil gives the wine a certain punch but not so much tannin. The winemakers here do blend white grenache into the mix with the regular red grenache. Most of them also make a white wine from the white grenache grapes, though the wine wines only account for 7% of the wine production of Châteauneuf du Pape wines. Many of the winemakers are now also making organic wines. This can be especially true for the smaller vineyards where they may specialize in just one type of grape. The least expensive Châteauneuf du Pape wines can run from $15 to $26. The most expensive can run from $150 to $2,000.
My personal experience of the wine was at the chateau for a harvest celebration put on by the local vintners. They had called upon members of the regional opera ochestra, OLRAP, which was located in Avignon but which served the cultural musical needs of the surrounding area. One of the musicians is a close friend of mine so I was lucky enough to attend the event. The music was good and so was the wine.
You will notice that the delicious concoction above comes from a website mentioning meat in its URL. That is because this wine is definitely for meats. Anything from beef to lamb to venison and roasted duck or wild game is great with these wines. Top of that list of meaty fair would be the noble hamburger smothered in mushrooms. To take a look at some of those recipes go to drinkandpair.com (You’ll see that hamburger gets a 4.5 star rating!)
So thank you for indulging my walk down memory lane in my old “hometown” of Avignon and its surroundings. May you someday go there, visit the Pope’s summer palace and enjoy the wine.
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©marjorie vernelle 2022
Coming in December: Quebec City, the Art of Christmas and Wine.
Yes, I found where Christmas hangs out – Quebec City, Canada. And Of Art and Wine will take you there. Happy Holidays!