A storefront opened in 1961, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which like any corner shop sold all kinds of everyday articles, but were really made of wire and papier mâché. Starting with that fleeting experience, Claes Oldenburg devoted himself to making aesthetic experiences out of the everyday. The Swedish-born American sculptor who passed away on 18 July injected the humor and irony of pop art into his intelligent critique of American capitalism. He will be remembered for the colorful sculptures of objects multiplied in scale that have appeared on streets and squares all over the world: ice cream cones, saws, or clothespegs that he produced in collaboration with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, and which make us reflect on our relationship with the ordinary objects that clutter our day-to-day existence.[+]