From 6 June to 30 August, experience "Variations, les Décors lumineux d’Eugène Frey" ("Variations, Eugène Frey's Light Set Projections"), an exhibition by João Maria Gusmão at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco. From Tuesday 2 June to Sunday 30 August 2020, Nouveau Musée National de Monaco - Villa Paloma
Variations is devoted to the little-known art of "Light Set Projections", a stage design technique created in 1900 by the artist Eugène Frey, in the tradition of shadown theatres and magic lantern shows.
The exhibition reveals the interactions between the projections designed by Eugène Frey for the stage at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the experimental creations of numerous artists, with an original staging by João Maria Gusmão.
Continuing its programme of exhibitions featuring the museum's historic collections, the NMNM has invited artist João Maria Gusmão to devise a new interpretation of the technique behind light set projections, established in 1900 by painter Eugène Frey and employed on the stage of the Opéra de Monte Carlo until the 1930s. João Maria Gusmão has created a stage design with magic lanterns, offering visitors a "continuously lit micro-cinema" experience, whilst reviving the various animation techniques perfected by Frey.
Through this pre-cinematographic experience, the exhibition compares various designs by Eugène Frey with the creations of Caran d’Ache, Emmanuel Cottier, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Lourdes Castro, Lotte Reiniger, Michel Ocelot, Georges Méliès, Alexandre Alexeïeff and Claire Parker, Jean Hugo, Loïe Fuller and Gusmao + Paiva.