The Centre des monuments nationaux has invited artist Stephen Dean to take over the Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis for one year, from September 6, 2023 to September 29, 2024.
Franco-American artist Stephen Dean is known for his watercolors, installations and videos that invoke color. His polychromatic works are a play between the immediacy of color and the unexpected.
The Crescendo installation is a monumental suspended work, 15 metres high, in the form of a ladder decorated with coloured stained glass. The color of the glass changes according to the angle of vision and the light source. The installation is conceived as a celebration of the radiance of light in the necropolis of the kings and queens of France.
An invitation to contemplate both the light and the link between the terrestrial and celestial worlds through the symbol of the ladder, this work is also an ode to the stained glass windows created almost 900 years ago and present in the Basilica of Saint-Denis ever since.
The exhibition can be viewed at the same time as a visit to the basilica. Please book in advance.