France "Convergence" at the Paris Olympics

"Converge" 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 presenting new looks due to the Olympic Games.

The work "Convergence: 54.5° Arc × 14" by the French national treasure - level master of art, Bernar Venet, was unveiled 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 being commissioned, and it will also be the only large - scale art creation in this sports event.

The creator of the sculpture - the French national treasure - level artist Bernar Venet is now 83 years old. Bernar Venet was born in a small village in Haute - Provence, France, in 1941 and now lives and works in New York, the United States, 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 turns into a three - dimensional concrete outline; when a line with volume twists, folds, and flips, it is no longer an isolated outline - it converses, connects, collides, and integrates with the surrounding space and becomes a sculpture."