The house of champagne Domaine Vranken-Pommery has been holding annual contemporary art exhibitions in its magnificent cellars deep in the earth for over 20 years now. This year, it has added something extra to this stellar event – sound – for the exhibition “Mélodies en Sous-sol: Expérience Pommery #18.”
The descent into the cellars, originally chalk pits dug out by Gallo-Romans some two millennia ago, is a long trip, but the straight, seemingly endless stairway (116 steps) is illuminated with a rainbow of colors lighting up the barrel-vaulted ceiling.
Down below, in over 11 miles of tunnels 98 feet belowground, visitors follow the trail of the show’s artworks through the dimly lit corridors that connect the wondrous spaces of the chalk pits.
Small “chapels” off to the side of the corridors house racks of champagne bottles patiently awaiting eventual celebratory or everyday (think Winston Churchill) consumption. The Pommery cellars hold 20 million bottles, some of them bearing graffiti – occasionally obscene – traced in the dust by visitors with their fingers.
Among the big-name works is a video by Patti Smith and the Soundwalk Collective, depicting the melting of Greenland’s glaciers – a timely theme, considering the current American president’s designs on the autonomous Danish territory – accompanied by watery sound effects and Smith’s shamanic incantations.
More spectacular is Korean artist Nam Tchun Mo’s “Spring” (2024), a suspended piece that fills one of the monumental chalk pits all the way from its wide floor space to the narrow opening at the top. Each element of the piece forms a hashtag or, appropriately enough, what could be a musical sharp symbol. Even more wonderful are the shadows this sculpture casts on the stone walls, interacting with nature’s artwork: a complicated pattern of intersecting lines formed by moisture seeping through the soft chalk walls.
The street artist known as @Encoreunestp has created a poetic immersive piece, “#papillonsdansleventre” (butterflies in the stomach) by filling a long corridor with suspended butterflies, colorful on one side and reflective on the other, so that the piece sparkles with pinpoints of light as they turn lazily in the moving air. Visitors wend their way through this enchanting butterfly garden to the sound of a calming musical composition called “Paπllons,” based on the number pi, written by @Encoreunestp.
At the end of the butterfly walk is a spellbinding (for any animal lover) video of an outsized owl sitting on a branch on the lookout, occasionally spinning its head or stretching its entire body to new heights. “Le Hibou” (2005) by Bertrand Gadenne draws us into the life of this gorgeous creature and makes us want to stay.
In another of the cavernous spaces, a gigantic golden lotus blossom breathes loudly as it inflates and deflates. “Golden Flower” (2014; pictured at the top of this page), the work of another Korean artist, Choi Jeong Hwa, necessarily calls to mind the Buddha. Chairs are available to allow visitors to sit and breathe along with it in a meditative state, accompanied by soothing piano music.
Overall, the effect of wandering through this shadowy underground world, interspersed with so many surprising and varied artworks, is mysterious and magical. It’s a highly recommended excursion outside of Paris, even more so because you can follow your visit, if you wish, with a meal at the house’s restaurant, Le Réfectoire; a stroll through the gardens, adorned with numerous other pieces of monumental art; and, of course, a champagne tasting.
See our list of Current & Upcoming Exhibitions to find out what else is happening in the Paris art world.
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