Giant inflatable ladders pop up at Paris’s newly refurbished Grand Palais

Perspective is everything, and these towering, XXXL inflatable ladders by Italian artist Paola Pivi frame the facade of Paris’ freshly reopened Grand Palais in a playful new way.

The landmark museum fully reopened at the end of last month, after a four-year renovation that improved accessibility and restored its historic features. To celebrate the occasion, the Grand Palais launched Euphoria, a whopping 4,000 sq m exhibition showcasing the ‘art of inflatables’ and balloons.

The 20-metre-tall blowup sculptures see the exhibition tumble into the public realm.
Pivi’s playful but thought-provoking practice takes familiar objects, animals, and people and alters their scale, context or placement to give them a fantasy dimension that belies perception. The balloon ladders are erected in the public square fronting the museum’s facade, and are daubed in bright colours that contrast the classical all-white exterior of the building.

It’s a new context for the untitled inflatable artwork, which was originally created in 2015 for the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial. It will be in situ until 7 September 2025 and is proving to be a hit on social media.