Anne and Patrick Poirier on holiday this summer, photo Pierre-Antoine Champenois

The first time I was confronted to Anne and Patrick Poirier’s Mediterranean ruins, was at the French consulate in New York in 1978. André Gadaud, the then French Consul General, had commissioned from Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, a fabulous  porcelain centerpiece  “Ruines d’Egypte”, which represented Greek  columns heightened with gold. I have since seen it again and felt the same emotion at MUCEM, the Marseille museum, which focuses on the Méditerrannée. The new show at Galerie Mitterrand in Paris is called « Mesopotamia » and tracks back to the 1960’s, the couple’s passion for archeology and Greek temples. Fifty years later and just after the destruction of the temple of Palmyre, they appear as dark prophets.

“Selinunte, Agosto 1973”, photograph enhanced with paint

“Alep”, 2015, a carpet with changing greys and ” Cendres du Monde Mesopotamia” 2012, on the wall

The most striking room of Jean Gabriel Mitterrand’s recently enlarged gallery, is the one showing a very large silk, wool and bamboo fiber carpet, woven in Tibet, and representing the city of Alep as seen on Google earth. Its changing colour of greys and black is very exceptional and it is matched by a round piece made of ashes on paper, the produce of burning one year of le Monde newspapers and ironically called « La cendre du Monde 2014». Another piece which reminded me of a tomb for its black shiny texture, represents the fallen throne of Mesopotamia. It is shown in the pretty courtyard and its darkness contrasts sharply with the 18 th century elegant Hôtel particulier.

Mesopotamia, a funeral stone or a broken throne?

Mesopotamia, 2015

A superb “Aviron d’Ulysse”, a wooden oar covered in gold leaf, many painted photographs of Palmyre in 1992 (one of which President Hollande gave to the King of Morocco on his official visit in September) or of tourists in Selinunte in 1973, bring a more jolly note to this dramatic exhibition which was planned months ago and just happened to open after the Syrian events. It is part of a long series of shows that the Poirier will put up in museums and galleries around Europe in 2016 and 2017. The result of a strong collaboration between Sébastien Carvalho who works with them at Galerie Mitterrand and Laure Martin, a long time friend of the artists, who oversees their exhibitions “hors les murs”. (until October 31, 79 rue du Temple, 75003)