To sublimate and support this atypical new project, the owners of Gitana Team were keen to entrust an artist with the ‘visual perso- nality’ of this craft and her unconventional dimensions. Thanks to the commitment and dynamics of its President Jean de Loisy, the Palais de Tokyo is embarking on the adventure and so it is that the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild joins one of the Palais ́ artistic programmes, the “Lasco Project”.
It is the American artist Cleon Peterson who has been selected, specially designing an original work that Jean-Baptiste Epron, Gitana Team ́s loyal designer, has adapted to the silhouette of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. It is a committed creation, embodying the character and sleek lines of this new generation ‘giant’ and confronting the ‘other-urban’ territory that is the sea and reminding us that art and sailing pursue the same mirage: the crossing of boundaries like horizons.
From the design to the build - the principle behind a maritime adaptation
Jean-Baptiste Epron is a graphic designer come sailor, a twin passion which this Parisian has managed to turn into a profession and a sought-after speciality. Present alongside Gitana Team from the genesis of the racing stable in 2000, Jean-Baptiste has not only created the team ́s visual identity but he has also penned all the liveries of the Gitana fleet. For the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild project, he has once again had to reinterpret the Rothschild universe by collaborating with the urban artist Cleon Peterson.
“My work consists of interpreting and optimising the legibility of identities, taking care to respect and preserve the original spirit, aesthetics and messages. The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild project really is an extraordinary project in the Gitana saga. She represents a year and a half of work. Once the artist Cleon Peterson was selected by Ariane de Rothschild, my primary focus was that his design worked in the maximum number of sail configurations as the boat is a form in perpetual movement. Boat and artist have something powerful to say, so it was a gamble, but I think we nailed it.”
