Built at the beginning of the last century, the Villa Kérylos, commissioned by the archaeologist and patron Théodore Reinach, is a striking tribute to Greek civilization. Located on one of the shores of the Mediterranean in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, the building was constructed in the style of the noble houses of the 2nd century.e century BC in Greece. A hundred years after its construction, the house is hosting an exhibition by the artist Gabriel Léger. Living between Paris and Athens, and passionate about Greece, the visual artist offers here a journey through time, but also through invisible worlds.
Just steps from the shore, the Villa Kérylos seems to have been lost in space and time. A synthesis of the ruins of several Greek houses on the island of Delos, this marvel, built between 1902 and 1908 and in exceptional condition, provides a stunning setting for the exhibition "The Gold of Time." The exhibition features around ten works. The first of these is a brass sandal, hanging at the villa's entrance.« It's a symbol that belongs to a legend from ancient Greece.explains Gabriel Léger. "Its origin lies in the story of the philosopher, physician, thaumaturge, and magician, Empedocles of Agrigentum. He is said to have thrown himself into Mount Etna and left behind a bronze sandal. Thus, this single sandal embodies the possibility of a passage between two worlds, of going to the Underworld and to return. In the context of the exhibition, this hanging sandal evokes the possibility of finding something inside the villa, but also and above all of leaving it enriched, as the journey is punctuated with erudite references to the ancient world.. » Thus, the next step in this stroll takes us to discover IthacaA poem by the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy, the first stanzas of which are inscribed on brass ribbons, is displayed in the entrance hall of the house. Then comes Orphism, a religious movement from ancient Greece, with a poetic installation in the baths.
We then continue into the peristyle, defined by its colonnade. In its center stands a laurel tree, which, for the duration of the exhibition, becomes a prayer tree. Embossed brass ribbons hang from its branches, bearing the inscriptions: "How can I regain my health?" and "Will I be entitled to happiness?" These questions were posed to the oracles of Dodona, one of the oldest oracular sanctuaries of antiquity.
Off to the library. Gabriel Léger remembers his first visit. “I was truly struck by this library, where the books are invisible, because they are all hidden. In a way, I wanted to bring words back, to bring text back, to open the books. Indeed, I am presenting two works there, which are linked to poetry, or rather to poems. I was inspired by the Orphic gold tablets, which were small tablets on which this sect inscribed the phrase that the soul must pronounce after death. And I made a kind of enlargement of these famous gold tablets to write a long poem that I myself composed from ancient, modern, and contemporary Greek poetry.” »Higher up, at the level of the walkways, other ribbons unfold. Along their length is inscribed a lost essay by Philodemus of Gadara, carbonized during the eruption of Vesuvius at Herculaneum. « For this work, I used a license plate press. I really like this report across An ancient text that is written down and an industrial method. For me, it's also an evocation of the film Orpheus Cocteau's film, where we see Jean Marais listening to the radio, trying to capture poetry that seems to come from the underworld. Today, we no longer use telegrams, but I see these ribbons as the first telegrams that might have come down to us from Antiquity.. »
Throughout the exhibition, the artist creates numerous connections and correspondences between the historical roots of Greece and our world. These take the form of loaves of bread, made using Athenian leaven, or plants gathered from the Acropolis and then immortalized in metal. An Attic rain is also imprinted on a bronze plaque. A delightful, poetic Hellenic journey.
"The Gold of Time. Gabriel Léger at the Villa Kérylos"
Rue Gustave Eiffel, Beaulieu-sur-Mer
Until September 21, 2025
