The entrance to the Louvre and the banks of the Seine may be a bit overcrowded for peak tourist season, but this is not necessarily the case across other faubourgs of the capital. Let’s explore some of Eastern Paris’ artsy neighborhoods, from Bastille to La Villette through the hills of Ménilmontant!
Sure, many galleries have closed their doors and are enjoying some well-deserved rest this month, yet there are still many exhibits to choose from to get your fill of culture before the end the summer:
Jim Avignon – “Business As Unusual”
Until August 24th
The Arts Factory gallery is presenting a solo exhibition of multisciplinary artist Jim Avignon, a celebrated figure of Berlin’s street art scene. This summer, all four floors of the venue will be featuring the acid artworks of the prolific artist, who has been active for more than 30 years.
Favoring a quirky and sarcatic tone despite the apparent bonhomie of his murals and installations, Avignon has kept a critical vision of « capitalism’s excesses », also targeting the hypocrisy of the art world. Large corporations have commissioned pieces from him, yet the artist explains that « when an amateur pays €500 for one of my paintings, a company would have to spend 15,000 for the same artwork. From each according to his ability! »
Monday to Saturday: 12:30pm-7:30pm
Arts Factory
27 Rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris
+33 (0)6 22 85 35 86
www.artsfactory.net
Collective Exhibition – “Life On Mars”
Until August 31st
A fertile laboratory for visual and graphic experimentations, the Slow Galerie is introducing us to a set of its talented illustrators with the collective exhibition « Life On Mars », a fantasy journey across the surface of the Red Planet.
Inspired by the imaginations of Ray Bradbury and David Bowie, ten artists represented by La Slow agency share their Martian explorations until August 31st, with around thirty pieces by Sabrina Chess, Camille de Cussac, Groduk & Boucar, Marie Guillard, Laura Junger, Jean Mallard, Virginie Morgand, Kristelle Rodeia, Clémence Thienpont, and Lili Wood.
Monday to Saturday: 12:30pm7:30pm
Slow Galerie
5 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris
+33 (0)1 43 55 44 68
www.slowgalerie.com
“L’Expo à Colorier” at Floréal Belleville
Until September 8th
A good share of the Belleville galleries have closed their doors this month, but thankfully many cafés and bars are keeping the show running and featuring local artists. A colorfoul place located at the foot of the Parc de Belleville, the Floréal is presenting a truly cooperative experience with an art exhibit you can paint yourself – “L’Expo à colorier”. Between a café and a beer on the pleasant terrace, visitors can let their imagination run wild using the pens and paintbrushes provided.
As seasonal tradition requires, the holiday theme brought together the illustrations of two dozen artists: Roca Balboa, Ida Bimbola, Amina Bouajila, Calyfornie, Sophie Della Corte, Camille Devallois, Groduk & Boucar, Peter Heinrisch, Hellohellotheo, Marie Mohanna, Blandine Pannequin, Alexandra-Isis Petracchi, Salucafarte, Eckert Samuel, Small english, Toto_le_voyou, Anna Wanda Gogusey, and Alice Wietzel.
Every Day: 11am-11pm
Floréal Belleville
43 Rue des Couronnes, 75020 Paris
+33 (0)1 43 61 94 66
Cao Fei – “HX”
Until August 26th
This summer, the Centre Pompidou is hosting a personal exhibit by Chinese artist Cao Fei, who has gained international recognition thanks to her colorful fantasy world inspired by pop culture: hip-hop, video games, cosplay, manga…
With « HX », the artist introduces us to the Beijing neighborhood of her workshop, itself set in a former movie theater of this changing industrial hub. For the international première of Cao Fei’s exhibit, the art museum’s Galerie 4 has gathered feature film, videos, photographies, archives and installations.
Full: €14 – Reduced: €11€/Free
Every Day (except Tuesday) : 11am-9pm
Centre Pompidou
Place Georges-Pompidou, 75004 Paris
+33 (0)1 44 78 12 33
www.centrepompidou.fr
Adèle Gratacos – “Est-ce si épuisant de scruter l’invisible ? (cartographie plurielle d’un visage)”
Until August 25th
The Maison Européenne de la Photographieos is presenting an “immersive exhibition” by the young French artist Adèle Gratacos, based in Brussels after studying video and sculpture at the École nationale supérieure des arts visuels de La Cambre.
Behind the mysterious title “Est-ce si épuisant de scruter l’invisible ? (cartographie plurielle d’un visage)”, the artist combines techniques to create her own universe, in through which she shares her thoughts and questionings.
Another must-see MEP exhibit is the collective “Fil Noir”, in which film noir is the inspiration for a strange dialogue between some of the biggest names in photography, including Diane Arbus, Brassaï, Larry Clark, Raymond Depardon, Robert Doisneau, André Kertész, Helmut Newton, Willy Ronis, Klavdij Sluban, and Weegee.
Full: €10 – Tarif Réduit : €6
Wednesday & Friday: 11am-8pm – Thursday: 11am-10pm – Saturday & Sunday: 10am-8pm
Maison Européenne de la Photographie
5/7 Rue de Fourcy, 75004 Paris
+33 (0)1 44 78 75 00
www.mep-fr.org
Sylvain Gripoix – “Tout ce qui parade”
Until August 31st
After Willy Ronis and William Daniels, the Pavillon Carré de Baudouin concludes its season dedicated to humanist photography with the heartwarming “Tout ce qui parade” by photographer Sylvain Gripoix. Great news for art enthusiasts with a limited budget: the visit is still free!
The half dozen series compiled are a mosaic of portraits, the artist’s specialty. Faces of the Parisian people and tourists on Rue de Rivoli, fanciful jazz musicians and wild rock music fans: from one room to the next, visitors can feel the city’s energy through Gripoix’s sensitive and colorful vision.
Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-6pm
Pavillon Carré de Baudouin
121 Rue de Ménilmontant, 75020 Paris
+33 (0)1 58 53 55 40
https://www.pavilloncarredebaudouin.fr
Retrospective – “Electro – From Kraftwerk to Daft Punk”
Until August 11th
On the edge of the Parc de la Villette, the Paris Philharmonic is presenting a retrospective dedicated to the history of electronic music. Designed by 1024 architecture with musical arrangements by Laurent Garnier, it follows the development and diversity of the electro culture around the world, alternatively exploring « its imagery, innovations, mythologies, and connexions to visual arts ».
The exhibit benefited from many loans to create an unprecedented body of work on the subject: innovative instruments from the 1910s to today, contemporary art, photographies, graphic art and comics, musical and visual artworks – including a series of videos by Kraftwerk and an installation by legendary duo Daft Punk.
Full: 11€ – Reduced: 9€/6€/Free
Tuesday to Thursday: 2pm-8pm | Friday: 2pm-10pm | Saturday & Sunday: 12pm-8pm
Espace d’Exposition – Philharmonie de Paris
221 Avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris
+33 (0)1 44 84 44 84
philharmoniedeparis.fr
“Tutankhamun – Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh”
Until September 22nd
Let’s wander a bit more around Paris’ Parc de la Villette with another must-see exhibit of the summer, “Tutankhamun – Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh”, presentend under the vaults of the Grande Halle. With more than a million visitors and the announcement of a one-week extension until September 22nd, the exhibit could very well break the record of the pharaoh’s successful visit to the Petit Palais in 1967.
Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities has gathered more than 150 pieces linked to the famous pharaoh, fifty of which have never left the banks of the Nile before. Despite a painful pricing for visitors on a limited budget, the touring exhibit will definitely draw crowds before its departure for London and Sydney: don’t expect to find the same silence as the archeologists who rediscovered the tomb and the multimillenial artifacts it contained did.
Full: €24/22 – Reduced: 22€ to Free
Every Day: 9am-9pm
Grande Halle de la Villette
211 Avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris
+33 (0)1 40 03 75 75
lavillette.com
Cover Illustration: The million year picnic – Artwork from the exhibit ‘Life On Mars’ at Slow Galerie © Virginie Morgand