The New National Museum of Monaco has been hosting a photo exhibition by Kasper Akhøj entitled Welcome (To The Teknival), dedicated to villa E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. The exhibition opened on the 2nd of June at Villa Sauber, but has been updated later with new images, made by the artist in July 2017. The new additions complete the body of work started by the artist in 2008.
The public can now admire, in a dynamic presentation, 63 snapshots that echo the portfolio by architect Eileen Gray during the construction of Villa E-1027 in 1929. Kasper Akhøj is also presenting a new film entitled C2RMF75602, produced by the New National Museum of Monaco in Villa Sauber’s video room. The film retraces the restoration of a 16th century painting entitled Portrait de Femme, attributed to Titian.This 16 mm film creates beautiful visual links with Welcome (To The Teknival), as both works pose many questions inherent in the conservation and restoration of heritage.
In 1929, aged 51, the artist and designer Eileen Gray completed her first architectural work, responding to a commission made by her friend, the architect Jean Badovici, who wanted a “small refuge” in the south of France. In the footsteps of Robert Mallet-Stevens, who built the Villa Noailles at Hyères between 1923 and 1925, it was at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin—a city adjacent to Monaco—that Eileen Gray designed, built and decorated E-1027, Maisonenbord de Mer.
The year the villa was completed, it was published in a special issue of the magazine “L’Architecture Vivante”, edited by Badovici. The portfolio contained some 60 photographs by Gray herself, through which she presented her vision of a construction closely mixing architecture and design.
