France "Convergence" at the Paris Olympics

“Convergence” at the Paris Olympics, 54.5° Arc × 14

Tonight (July 27, 2024), the highly anticipated Olympic Games officially opened on the Seine River in Paris, France. Paris and its surrounding areas are also constantly taking on a new look because of the Olympic event.

The work “Convergence: 54.5° Arc × 14” by the French national - treasure - level artist Bernar Venet was inaugurated at the square of the Olympic Aquatics Center in Greater Paris.

The sculpture is made of giant weathering steel. It has a total of 14 arcs, each of which is bent at an angle of 54.5 degrees and converges at the top, hence the name. The sculpture is up to 18 meters high and weighs 43 tons. It was funded with 2 million euros by the Saint - Denis Municipal Government (MGP) and completed in cooperation with Solideo (the Olympic project delivery company). It was specially designed by the artist Bernar Venet for the Paris Olympics after receiving the commission, and it will also be the only large - scale artistic creation in this sports event.

The creator of the sculpture - the French national - treasure - level artist Bernar Venet, who is now 83 years old, was born in a small village in Haute - Provence, France in 1941 and now lives and works in New York, USA and Le Mée, France. For half a century, Bernar Venet's artistic practice has always focused on “angles”, “arcs” and “lines”. His works cover multiple fields such as painting, sculpture, and installation art, and he is especially famous around the world for his sculptures with arcs and geometric structures. Venet believes that: “When a line has enough volume, it is no longer just an abstract geometric concept but transforms into a three - dimensional concrete outline; when a line with volume twists, folds, and flips, it is no longer an isolated outline - it talks, connects, collides, and merges with the surrounding space and becomes a sculpture.”