Stairway to Heavens
From 5 July to 21 August 2022, on the occasion of the FRENCH TOUCH event, Galeries Lafayette has invited the French artist duo Gaëlle Gabillet and Stéphane Villard from Studio GGSV to create a work of art under the Coupole and to take over the windows of the Boulevard Haussmann.
Suspended under the historic Cupola, an inflatable and ephemeral structure transforms the heart of Galeries Lafayette: this monumental installation, which seems to defy the laws of gravity, appears in the department stores' like a chimera, a fantastic element with moving contours. The textured aspect of the inflatable, taking up the motif of the marble that is very present in the department stores', is also a link with the design work of Studio GGSV, which has created a series of new lighting fixtures for the historic staircase. Inspired by the formal vocabulary of the place, these objects, like the installation under the Coupole, offer a contemporary reinterpretation of the architectural and decorative heritage of Galeries Lafayette through their form and materiality.
