The Artists and Architects exhibited at Château La Coste in Provence

The Italian painter, Francesco Clemente presents a new series of six paintings, entitled “Wings of Desire”, painted in 2022. While angels have appeared in earlier Clemente compositions, this new body of work cements this subject in his rich lexicon of imagery.

Oscar Niemyer Auditorium
13 March 2023 - 14 May 2023

For the Renzo Piano Pavilion, Nahas has fi lled the walls with four large-scale canvases from his new series « Constellation ». The visitor becomes immediately absorbed in the dance of these spiral compositions that unfold like musical scores, expressing joy, and drawing audiences into the cosmos.

Concurrently on show in the Old Wine Storehouse, Nahas will display a more personal series of work linked to his origins in Lebanon. Featuring olive trees, palm trees and cedars, which are critical to the history, culture and ecology of his homeland, the works rise up to form a gallery of botanical portraits.

Renzo Piano Pavilion and Old Store Winehouse
2 April 2023 - 29 May 2023

Fascinated by architecture, in particular the work of Le Corbusier, Ando is a self-taught architect who is infuenced by his extensive travels. The simplicity of the gate, which here marks the entrance to the domain, allows visitors to appreciate the special features of Tadao Ando’s concrete walls.

Constructed on a former vineyard, our Art Centre opened its doors to the public in June 2011. The columns, which begin deep inside the body of the Art Centre and continue out into the vines, were specifcally placed in this way as part of Château La Coste’s vision to unite artistic and wine-making culture.

The chapel is at the pinnacle of the Art and Architecture tour, where its position allows the visitor an unobstructed view over the surrounding countryside. The small openings in the back wall behind the altar are one of the only sources of light in this dark, rectangular space, allowing natural light to enter.

This Japanese pavilion made of spruce was constructed in 2011 to house the installation Four Cubes To Contemplate Our Environment. Once you enter and arrive at the very centre of the piece, you can explore the four cubes each of which invites a contemplation of the environment. 

Having seen the Art Centre, we can clearly see the specifc features typical of Tadao Ando in the design of his Origami Benches. The benches offer the perfect spot to contemplate the surrounding countryside. Their positioning was chosen for the view, inviting us to sit down and to take in everything around us from a chosen perspective.

This spider was created in 2003 and installed at Château La Coste in 2010. The bronze that was used to create the work is well polished and twisted, making the spider appear muscular, but the ends of the legs remain thin and delicate. The stainless-steel points support the heavy body in a way that appears both aggressive and protective.

This mobile-stabile was the frst work acquired by Château La Coste. It is one of the few works here that wasn’t specifcally made for the domain. The small, elegant mobile made of painted steel refects in the water and the ripples in the basin create a perfect dialogue with the light movement of the panels.

Sophie Calle has been the subject of numerous exhibitions throughout the world. Sophie Calle has imagined a tomb in the heart of the woods. On the tombstone is written: "Here lie the secrets of the walkers". The artist invites visitors to deposit their secrets in the tombstone and transforms it into a confessional.

Rail Car – an immersive, ironwork freight car installation set on train tracks – engages these prominent motifs in Dylan’s art, as well as relating to aspects of his past.

‘Self-portrait’ is a term that can be used to characterise much of Tracy Emin’s work, as it often represents either specifc episodes of her life, or general depictions of her personal emotions. Emin’s work at Château La Coste was based on the idea of self-portraiture, “not how I see myself, but how I feel.”

Frank Owen Gehry, the Canadian American, studied in some of the most respected universities in America. The project to create the pavilion was in partnership with the Serpentine Gallery. It was exhibited at the Serpentine in 2007 with the support of Château La Coste before being installed permanently its current position. 

The Marriage of New York and Athens is a project celebrating the dialogue between art and architecture. The original three-piece sculpture was created by American artist Tony Berlant between 1966 and 1968, and is reminiscent of both western skyscrapers and ancient Greek temples.

Liam Gillick has always held an interest in diverse artistic forms. Gillick's favours simple geometric forms and plays with space, colours and graphic design. The aluminium and stainless-steel work he created toes the line. The artist invites the spectator to observe the work and the nature from a wide range of perspectives. 

Born in England, Andy Goldsworthy is an emblematic fgure of ‘Land Art,’ a movement which uses natural materials. Oak Room is integrated into an old stone wall and is composed of oak trees grown in Burgundy. Approximately 1200 pieces were used and the work does not require any extra materials to support its shape.

Guggi created Calix Meus Inebrians for Château La Coste. It is a chalice made of bronze. The reference to the domain’s winegrowing and to its ancestral traditions is obvious. The title is reminiscent of psalm 22:3 in the Bible ‘my chalice which inebriateth me’ which refers to the symbolic importance of the chalice in Christianity.

Primarily considered a sculptor, Siobhán Hapaska uses diverse materials and unique. Hapaska is an artist whose sculptural works deal with the relationship we have with everyday objects. Intifida evokes a certain sense of resistance and defends the need to express oneself and resist oppressive powers. 

Jenny Holzer is an American artist who is particularly interested in the importance of language and writing. At Château La Coste, each of the benches was placed according to the space and the view, which provoke refection and contemplation of the environment. With a sober aesthetic, they are reminiscent of memorials

Like many works at Château La Coste Brick, Labyrinth sits between sculpture and architecture. Built from 24,000 handmade bricks, the labyrinth is the frst work by the artist to be completed after his death. Kirkeby chose the site for the work due to its magnifcent views and proximity to a small ruin hidden amongst the trees.

The title is a Japanese term which expresses how ‘rays of light flter through trees.’ Komorebi is made from ipé, a dense South American wood also known as ‘Brazilian walnut’. 1.5 tons of stainless-steel support 12 tons of wood and the complex structure is made from 239 beams, ranging from 1.5 to 11.5 metres long.

An American artist, Paul Matisse is a sculptor and engineer. The Meditation Bell is a very understated structure. Behind its avant-garde design there are mechanisms so complicated that it took several years of work in order to perfect the system. The round tube at the top is not fxed to the columns, it is simply balanced on the structure.

The 150 LEDs which make up the work Wild Time Flowers are dispersed either side of a small pathway. When alight they fick randomly between the numbers 1 and 9 at different speeds. These movements, which repeat, express a life cycle and the inexorability of time that passes.

Larry Neufeld created two bridges which offer more than just a functional structure: their aesthetic value and their distinguished lines are just as important for the artist. He used traditional methods of engineering. After much research, the artist chose to use slate from Donegal, in the north of Ireland. 

The Oscar Niemer gallery and auditorium has been built as an exhibition and event space, close to the artwork by fellow Brazilian Tunga, in the middle of a vineyard of vermentino. Like a wave which appears to unravel in the shape of a comma, the foor-to-ceiling windows and pool of water around its exterior refect and frame the surrounding landscape.

After numerous visits, Richard Long identifed the site and material to create Circle of Riverstones, a circle measuring 12.4 metres consisting of boulders extracted from the local river of the Durance measuring 12.4 metres in diameter. This is typical of Long's minimal interventions which often employ simple geometric.

Jean Nouvel created the wineries at Château La Coste in 2008. They measure 10m in height and extend 17m below ground, creating an excellent environment for preserving wine. The light is refected by the aluminium structure which controls the temperature inside. The wine received its organic certifcate in 2009.

Born in 1933 Yoko Ono is an artist, poet, performer, musician and flmmaker. At Château La Coste, Ono has chosen a tree central to the culture and history of the Mediterranean culture - the almond tree. Planted in a circle, the eight almond trees offer visitors the opportunity to propose their wish for a better future.

The vibrant red of Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Croix Rouge is reminiscent of the colour of the wine produced by the neighbouring vines. When paired with the transformable nature of glass as a material the colour of the cross makes reference to transubstantiation, the belief that the wine is transformed into the blood of Christ.

Here the Renzo Piano building appears in the heart of the vineyards of Château La Coste. This 160 sq. metre pavilion is built to both display art and preserve wine. Due to the natural topography of the soil, Piano decided to dig 6 meters deep in the earth so as to fully integrate the building into the vineyard.

For Richard Rogers, form follows function - the structural and functional features are made visible. Every element of Rogers’ signature architectural language is seen in this gallery. The impressive cantilevering structure reminds us of his interest in weightlessness and his fondness for colour is refected in the choice. 

This work is made up of more than 1000 tonnes of limestone in grey, blue and red, extracted from a quarry in Portugal. Several weeks of work were necessary at the quarry in order to assemble the individually numbered blocks into Wall of Light Cubed. The work can be observed from many different angles.

Sean Scully is an American artist born in Dublin in 1945. The monumental sculpture in corten steel, entitled Boxes Full of Air was conceived initially to feature in the exhibition ‘Different Places’. Standing three metres tall and 15 metres in length, this formidable artwork offers the onlooker different perspectives and points of view.

Three enormous metal sheets, a blend of steel, iron, copper and zinc, are placed at three different levels across the hill. Each rectangular sheet weighs approximately 15 tonnes, and is partially buried in the ground. AIX offers us a new perspective on the surroundings and acts as a dialogue between nature and modern man.

Born in 1947, Tom Shannon deals with scientifc subjects in his sculpture. When pushed, the interior mechanism allows Drop to spin, tilt, rise/fall and glide horizontally and eventually return to equilibrium. The work received its name from its levitating shape and its material, polished stainless steel. 

Schism continues the Conrad Shawcross's research into the peculiar geometric, philosophical and even political potential of the tetrahedron. Here, nineteen tetrahedra are arranged together to form a sphere. For Shawcross, this failed geometry can remind us of schisms in society and our search for order.

The aluminium and stainless-steel work he created for Château La Coste toes the line between sculpture and architecture. The artist invites the spectator to observe the work and the nature from a wide range of perspectives. The visitor is invited to slide the panels, thus changing their perspective from inside to outside.

The title of his work at Château La Coste refers to the mathematical formula of an exponential curve, which is in turn the formula for the abstract concept of infnity, connecting with Sugimoto’s interest in the concept of time. The work compliments the geometry of Tadao Ando's architecture.

Silver Room by Tia-Thuy Nguyen is inspired by a traditional Vietnamese house made of wood and bamboo. In the centre of this house, the visitor will find a room covered with silver leaves, in which the artist has placed a crystal Buddha. The tranquility of the works location encourages thought and refection.

For his Psicopompos work, Tunga chose to work with wrought iron for the scales and Rognes stone for the architecture. For the counterweights, he chose different materials: quartz from the Amazon, a glass prism from the Czech Republic, and magnets from China. 

House of Air is located at the end of an unassuming path behind the Grenache vines. It consists of a monolith, a large stone from the estate, and a paint applied directly to the gravel, drawing a shadow that does not exist. Inside the house the darkness is striking, interrupted only by a vague halo of light coming from the ceiling.

Franz West’s work is situated in an isolated part of Château La Coste. A bright yellow totem is perhaps unexpected in a clearing surrounded by pines but the wooded space in which Faux-Pas is situated was specifcally chosen by the artist, where it stands like a totem pole to be worshipped.

The paving stones were taken from the Marseille Port, a major gateway into Europe for many centuries. The path is thus linked to the current refugee crisis, a difficult subject which deeply resonates with the artist. The path’s distinctive shape and its paving stones refect the artist’s primary goal.