oeuvre-monumentale

Simon Berger signs Tosca, a stunning sculpture installed facing the Opéra Comique

undefined undefined 3 octobre 2023 undefined 10h00

undefined undefined 31 décembre 2023 undefined 11h35

The Editor

© Tosca, Simon Berger - Salomé Bellin

Simon Berger, a contemporary Swiss artist, has just unveiled his new open-air exhibition. Set up in the prestigious Boieldieu Square until October 28th, you will be able to make out the monumental face of Tosca, an iconic opera singer from Giacomo Puccini's opera, on this artwork.

Pioneering in the art of glass percussion, Simon Berger and the works he creates never fail to leave a lasting impression. Having exhibited at the Glass Museum in Murano and created the portrait of Kamala Harris for the Lincoln Museum in Washington, he is now turning his attention to the passing gazes of the people at Place Boieldieu, adjacent to the Opéra Comique in Paris. This is an opportunity to enhance the space surrounding one of France's oldest theatrical and musical institutions with a feminist sculpture.


Glass and Hammer Strikes

His technique, as simple as it may be, pleases in its brutality and inspires in what it illustrates about the human species. It consists of giving multiple hammer strikes, directed and controlled, on glass surfaces to sculpt shapes and bring forth striking figures. Reflecting our buried vulnerability, it is common to want to unleash our emotions and forcefully destroy a too smooth surface, an imperfect piece of life.


Paying Tribute to Heroines of Opera

Do you know Tosca, one of the most famous and demanding female characters in the Italian opera repertoire? To bring back to the forefront the heroines of lyrical art, true guardians of the Opera Comique, Simon Berger has chosen to represent her face with cracks.

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Let's remember that 120 years ago, on these same cobblestones, in this same place, the first French performance of Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca took place, which tells the tragic fate of a famous soprano, Tosca, the mistress of a painter and victim of her own passion.


Women, "the"

Illumination in and of itself

When asked about his glass-breaking portraits of women, the artist declares that they are not only luminous, but the very essence of light. He wishes to etch their features deep into the glass, so that the audience can capture all the nuances of their emotions [...] for eternity.

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The open-air exhibition, a collaboration between Berger and the City of Paris, is accessible to everyone and free. The artist brilliantly reinvents urban art, with the stroke of a hammer that we would sometimes like to grasp as well.


Tosca by Simon Berger 
Place Boieldieu – 2nd 
Until October 28