Looking for a cultural break? From the Marais to La Villette through République, we’ll be your guide for this month’s selection of art exhibits!

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.– Version française –

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Lara Bloy, Clara Bryon, Magdalena Lamri, and Kaichun Wang – Nos Lumières

Until February 26th

In the heart of the Marais, Galerie Sabine Bayasli gallery brings together four young artists around the theme of light. Visitors will successively discover the “states of introspection and in-between” that inhabit the portraits of Lara Bloy, the luminous reflections composed by Clara Bryon, and the waking dreams of Magdalena Lamri, transcribed in charcoal, wrapped in mysteries and monochrome mists. The collective project Nos Lumières (“Our Lights”) will also be the first gallery exhibition featuring painter Kaichun Wang: an opportunity to see a dozen of his portraits, clever cameos in the style of realism. Add to this the Méditation hivernale (“Winter Meditation”) created by curator Joanna Cohen alongside artists Maloles Antignac and Diane Chery (until February 19th), and we can only recommend an artistic stopover on Rue du Temple!

Tuesday to Saturday: 12pm-7pm – Free admission

Galerie Sabine Bayasli
99 rue du Temple, 75003 Paris
galeriesabinebayasli.com

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Louis-Léopold Boilly – Chroniques parisiennes

February 16th to June 26th

“A gifted, prolific, and unique artist, Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845) has been an enthusiastic chronicler of Paris for sixty years, from one revolution to the dawn of another, 1789 and 1848. He was at once a portraitist of Parisians, a painter of urban scenes, an inventor of striking trompe-l’oeil, and the author of biting caricatures. This monographic exhibition explores Boilly’s abundant career through 130 works, demonstrating the artist’s singularity, his brilliance, his humor, and his inventiveness. It features several masterpieces, some previously unseen or exhibited for the first time in France.”

Tuesday to Sunday: 10am-6pm – €8/€6/€0

Musée Cognacq-Jay
8 rue Elzévir, 75003 Paris
www.museecognacqjay.paris.fr

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Fabrice Cazenave, Benjamin Nachtwey, et Alexandra Sá – Parc

Until March 12th

On the corner of Rue Oberkampf, Galerie La Ferronnerie welcomes artists Fabrice Cazenave, Benjamin Nachtwey, and Alexandra Sá until March 15th. Through drawing, Fabrice Cazenave “explores the close links that operate between a place, the people who pass through it, and the resulting energy flows”. Originally from Hamburg, Benjamin Nachtwey found inspiration in the landscapes of southern France for his recent series, proceeding “with flat areas of color, abolishing perspective, as a nod to many European painters of the early 20th century”. Finally, the multidisciplinary artist Alexandra Sá creates “singular situations adressing the appropriation of space, whether public, artistic, familiar, or in everyday life”, here through a sculpture made from a bench drawn by designer Enzo Mari.

Tuesday to Friday: 2pm-7pm – Saturday: 1pm-7pm – Free admission

Galerie La Ferronnerie
40 rue de la Folie-Méricourt, 75011 Paris
www.galerielaferronnerie.fr

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Nathalie Choux – Terra Chimera
&
Rebecka Tollens – Eye of a Womb

Until March 5th

“With Terra Chimera, the Arts Factory gallery invites Nathalie Choux to open the doors to her workshop and present a fascinating series of ceramic sculptures, the result of many months of work. As if escaped from a mysterious forest populated by lost children, this strange chimerical bestiary is part of the darker side of her production, initiated during previous exhibitions. An open territory, freed from the codes of publishing and children’s illustration, a field in which Nathalie Choux has been successfully working for many years.”

“Two years after The Last Wedding, her last exhibition at the Arts Factory gallery, Rebecka Tollens presents a new series of stunning charcoal artworks with Eye of a Womb. Behind this very Bergmanian title, visitors will find a set of drawings evoking her maternal grandmother, who disappeared three years ago. In this post-mortem conversation, Rebecka Tollens’ dreamlike inspirations celebrate, as often in her work, the union between our world and the hereafter. She gives the reminiscences of her childhood a spiritual, and largely universal, dimension.”

Monday to Saturay: 12:30pm-7:30pm – Free admission

Galerie Arts Factory
27 rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris
www.artsfactory.net

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Samuel Fosso – Rétrospective
&
Pamela Tulizo – Face to face

Until March 13th

“Born in 1962 in Cameroon, Fosso survived the civil war in Nigeria before settling to live with his uncle in Bangui in the Central African Republic, where he began his career as a studio photographer at the age of 13. Outside of his daily work making portraits to order, he started creating a series of alternate identities challenging representational conventions. Ever since Fosso has continued to reinvent himself through his self-portraits which have allowed him to reach beyond the limitations usually imposed by society, geography, and time. Comprising more than 300 prints, the exhibition brings together iconic series, lesser-known works, as well as archival material and previously unpublished, unseen images, displayed principally in large-scale ensembles.”

“In response to the theme Face to face, photographer Pamela Tulizo highlights the dual identity of Congolese women, from the demeaning image of victims conveyed through the media to a hopeful image – women who are vibrant and resistant, fighting daily against social injustice. The MEP is also presenting her recent series Enfer Paradisiaque (2021), inspired by the Covid-19 epidemic: images of models in gorgeous robes incorporating essential products such as light bulbs, food or coal.

Wednesday to Friday: 11am-8pm – Saturday & Sunday: 10am-8pm – €11/€7

Maison européenne de la photographie
5/7 Rue de Fourcy, 75004 Paris
www.mep-fr.org

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Fatimah Hossaini, Massoud Hossaini, Naseer Turkmani, Reza, Roshana, Roya Heydari, and Sayd Bahodine Majrouh – Le Rire des Amants : Une épopée afghane

Until April 2nd

On the heights of Ménilmontant, the Pavillon Carré de Baudouin welcomes the group exhibition Le Rire des Amants – Une épopée afghane, which brings together six photographers around the legacy of the poet Sayd Bahodine Majrouh. Held “in support of the Afghan people and its artists” in the “first cultural venue of the 20th arrondissement”, the event will also include several performances and workshops around literature or cinema. These testimonies will complete the panorama of photographic series presented, made from 1983 to 2021, between “a diversity reflecting the complex reality” of the country and “the quest for beauty and poetry” as a remedy to Afghanistan’s current and past tragedies. — Our article (French)

Tuesday to Saturday: 2pm-6pm (until 7pm on Thursday) – Free admission

Pavillon Carré de Baudouin
121 Rue de Ménilmontant, 75020 Paris
www.pavilloncarredebaudouin.fr

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Icy & Sot – Familiar / Stranger

February 12th to April 9th

“Iranian artists Icy and Sot (Saman Oskouei, born in 1985 and Sasan Oskouei born in 1991) recently took off on another self-initiated mission, inspired by climate activist Greta Thunberg’s work and the worldwide environmental movement she has started. Using the vast Californian desert landscape as a dramatic backdrop for their work and activist’s impactful speech as an alarming wake-up call, Saman and Sasan Oskouei created a riveting video titled Our House is on Fire that opens their new exhibition in Danysz Paris. Familiar / Stranger includes a set of video with an installation, as well as their more recent works ranging from sculpture to paintings, all centered around the artists’ engagement for a more conscious world.”

Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-7pm – Free admission

Danysz – Paris
78 rue Amelot, 75011 Paris
danyszgallery.com

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Adolfo Kaminsky – Faussaire et photographe

Until Feburary 25th

The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme and the Paris Centre district city hall are partnering to tell the passionate and turbulent story of Adolfo Kaminsky. After joining the French Resistance at 17 following his internment in the camp of Drancy, the brilliant forger decided to dedicate his talent to serve humanist causes and defend oppressed people around the world. Despite the many sacrifices required by a carreer synonymous with secrecy, Adolfo Kaminsky also proved an inspired photographer, the author of thousands of pictures after the Liberation. “From the Saint-Ouen flea market to the neon lights of Pigalle”, the French capital holds a special place in the collections of this inspiring artist and human being. Originally presented at the MAHJ in the winter 2020, the exhibit Faussaire et photographe is now featured outdoors until February 25th, on the walls of the local city hall.

Everyday – Free admission (outdoors)

Mairie de Paris Centre
2 rue Eugène Spuller, 75003 Paris
mairiepariscentre.paris.fr

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Vivian Maier – Saisir l’inattendu

Until February 12th

The story of Vivian Maier is sad and fascinating at once. She worked for 40 years as a nanny, and her immense talent for photography was left ignored during her whole life. She took advantage of her trips in the streets of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles to produce more than 120,000 negatives. She could not afford to develop most of her pictures, and the recognition of their artistic value coincided with her passing in 2009 in her 83rd year. Les Douches feature a series of photographs of the now celebrated anonymous (a street was named after her last November in the 13th arrondissement), most of them previously unseen. Taken from the 50s to the 70s, these works show the unique talent of Vivian Maier, an artist especially know for her portraits in black and white. The exhibit Saisir l’inattendu also demonstrates that the mysterious photographer’s poetic realism translates just as well in colors.

Wednesday to Saturday: 2pm-7pm

Les Douches La Galerie
5 rue Legouvé, 75010 Paris
lesdoucheslagalerie.com

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Otobong Nkanga – Togethering

Until February 12th

“Otobong Nkanga’s drawings, installations, photographs, performances and sculptures question the notion of territory and the value given to natural resources in different ways. Her work presents the viewer with images that reveal a strong evocative power. A wide variety of material and media give shape to works inspired by the Earth, its over-exploited resources and the narratives that flow out from it. Her art is located at the intersection of temporal and civilizational constructions and thus expands beyond our horizons towards both different climates and different economies. In parallel to her solo presention, Otobong Nkanga also wished to invite four African artists to participate in Togethering, thereby aiming to incite exchange, emotions, organic relationships and connections.”

Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-7pm – Free admission

Galerie In Situ – Fabienne Leclerc
43 rue de la Commune de Paris, 93230 Romainville
www.insituparis.fr

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Julian Simon – Softspots

Until February 26th

“Born in 1994 in Cologne, Julian Simon lives in Berlin, where he has been studying at the Academy of Fine Arts Weißensee’s painting department since 2016. He developed a realistic touch oil painting, working with a technique close to fa presto – a practice originating in 17th century Italy and consisting of painting quickly on a previously coloured background, in order to achieve a spontaneous and expressive result. For his compositions, Julian takes spontaneous analogue photographs of his loved ones. Sensitive to hyperconnectivity, overexposure, and the overconsumption of images, Julian is interested in photographs that would normally be rejected because they are badly framed, overexposed, blurred, or have chromatic aberrations, before transposing them freely onto canvas. […] Oscillating between dream and reality, Julian offers with Softspots an intimate and offbeat look at the ambiguity of youth – at once ecstatic and forlorn.”

Wednesday to Saturday: 2pm-7pm – Free admission

Galerie Chloé Salgado
61 rue de Saintonge, 75003 Paris
galeriechloesalgado.com

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Fu Site – Jeux de créatures

Until February 19th

“Fu Site’s extraordinary paintings resemble an escape from reality into a dream realm of the imagination, a fantastically surreal hemisphere, and yet, nevertheless, they unconsciously touch on reality. Seeing them, one has the intense impression that the painter, who was born in Liaoning in 1984 and lives in Paris today, relinquishes the guidance of his hand to hallucinations that, out of paint, “lie into truth” (Louis Aragon) ambivalent transitional visions. Inasmuch as he often begins by first intuitively composing a shape or drawing fragments that set off a chain reaction, indeed, a true flood, of associations – of emotions too – his method can still be best described as the “Écriture automatique” of the surrealists. Only with the subtle difference that he balances the endless possibilities with, among other things, the aid of a computer software program, and, through it, produces a contemporary, incomparable visual impression.” — Heinz-Norbert Jocks

Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-8pm – Free admission

Galerie Paris-B
62 rue de Turbigo, 75003 Paris
www.galerieparisbeijing.com

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Canal de l’Ourcq celebrates its 200th anniversary

Until February 28th

“Created to supply the capital with drinking water, Canal de l’Ourcq was inaugurated in 1822 after 19 years of work. Loved by neighbors and visitors alike, it is also a testimony to the history of Paris. On this occasion, the barge will exhibit photos showing the evolution of the canal and its surroundings to celebrate its 200 years of existence.”

Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-8pm – Free admission

Péniche librairie L’Eau et les Rêves
9 quai de l’Oise, 75019 Paris
Page FB

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Les diplomates face à la Shoah

February 8th to May 8th

“Diplomats in the Shoah are still largely perceived through a handful of them, those who saved Jews. But the reality is much murkier. Caught up in very rigid state administrations and complex and changing foreign policies, some were nevertheless the first informants on the persecution and then on the extermination. Others, more rare, did save Jews. But most obeyed orders, trying to navigate the turmoil of World War II. Through their duties, diplomats played a key role in migration issues in general, particularly regarding the issue of German refugees in the late 1930s and during the conflict, before Germany banned Jews from emigrating in October 1941. After the war, diplomats participated in the negotiation of reparations to survivors, as well as in the international dimensions of the memory of the Shoah.”

Everyday except Saturday: 10am-18pm (until 10pm on Thursday) – Free admission and visits in English

Mémorial de la Shoah
17 rue Geoffroy L’Asnier, 75004 Paris
www.memorialdelashoah.org

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Lointain proche

Until March 26th

“Lointain Proche is a project inspired by the thoughts of writer Édouard Glissant, who cast a visionary light on the cultural futures of people, identities, and the global world. Discussing Glissant in their workshops, artist and curator Emmanuel Rivière and his friend, artist Alex Burke, have brought together other creators around them in order to create a nomadic, flexible exhibition, meant to renew itself across different venues. For this specific version of Lointain Proche at Montreuil’s Centre Tignous d’art contemporain, the artists featured in the initial project – Alex Burke, Mamadou Cissé, frédéric dumond, Dimitri Fagbohoun, Emmanuel Rivière – will present new multi-media works (sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos), and Yuhsin U Chang will create a large sculpture in situ. New visual artists will join the project: Anahita Bathaïe, Olivier Peyronnet, and his accomplice Hervé Télémaque, whose pictorial work adresses the creolization described by Glissant.”

Wednesday to Friday: 2pm-6pm (until 9pm on Thursday) – Saturday: 2pm-7pm – Free admission

Centre Tignous d’art contemporain
116 rue de Paris, 93100 Montreuil
centretignousdartcontemporain.fr

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L’Illu a la Frite – An Illustrated Week-End

February, Friday 26th & Saturday 27th

“L’Illu A La Frite is back! For a weekend, Point Éphémère is celebrating illustration and visual arts. Drawing, painting, serigraphy, collage, risography, live performances and workshops are all included in the event’s rich program. Flash tattoo sessions will also be organized by some of the guests!”

Friday & Saturday: 2pm-7pm – Free admission

Point Éphémère
200 quai de Valmy, 75010 Paris
pointephemere.org

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Les Singulier·e·s – Festival des créations plurielles

Until Feburary 26th

“The festival continues to reveal multiple artistic singularities, dedicated this year to portraits and self-portraits. If this form is well identified in painting or photography, the same cannot be said in the field of performing arts. Mixing theater, dance, circus, music, video, photography, literature and comics, a creative contemporary scene is emerging, carried by plural artists, going beyond the sole subject of the portrait to seek singular forms.”

Tuesday: 4pm-8pm – Wednesday to Sunday: 2pm-7pm – Free admission to the photography exhibits

Le Centquatre
5 rue Curial, 75019 Paris
www.104.fr

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Street Art Group Show

Until February 26th

“Customized urban furniture and graffitied public transport items invade the basement space of the Wallworks gallery, reached down a staircase covered with tags and graffiti. Using pieces recently acquired during the RATP sale for the benefit of the Recueil Social, the artists take over the emblematic yellow plastic M and about fifty other elements: telephone booths, mailboxes, traffic lights, street lamps, street signs, iron curtains, plates from the Paris, Moscow, and New York subways, RATP seats, car parts… About thirty American, European, Indonesian street artists – and for the first time since the opening of the gallery, four of the greatest artists of the Russian urban scene: Andrey Berger, Misha Most, Petro, Slava PTRK – are having a blast giving new life to all these everyday objects in a big, colorful graffiti bazaar.”

Monday to Saturday: 2pm-7pm – Free admission

Galerie Wallworks
4 rue Martel, 75010 Paris
www.galerie-wallworks.com

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Illustration (cropped) :
Artwork featured in the exhibit L’Illu a la Frite at Point Éphémère
© Loïc Lusnia

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