Looking for a cultural break? From the Marais to Montreuil through République and La Villette, we’ll be your guide for this month’s selection of art exhibits!
Clara Abi Nader – AU RETOUR, the unpublished photographs
March 3rd-30th
The independent “micro gallery” 4M2 welcomes photographer Clara Abi Nader, who will be exhibiting “unpublished photographs from Au Retour, a long term work documenting spaces every time [she] returned home to Lebanon”, where she was born and raised. Her works primely evolve around the question of identity, memory, social norms, and territorial problematics. Mainly working with film photography, she also experiments with video, text and installations: a way of moving from analog to digital.
Monday to Friday: 9:30am-7pm – Free admission
4M2 Galerie
36 rue de la Folie Méricourt, 75011 Paris
4m2galerie.splann.fr
Isabelle Abiven – Portraits de Communardes
March 7th-31st
“Isabelle Abiven is self-taught. She received her training in evening classes, and in those of Frédéric Bouhon, a brilliant teacher of live models and the former president of the Ateliers de Ménilmontant, or by experimenting with media, until she discovered dry pastel, which lets matters and colors express themselves. For these portraits, more than 100 photographs, most of them judicial, were the source of her drawings. The tones are simple: red, light blue, gray, and brown make up her palette. The framing tightens on the faces, to capture their expressions, trying to imagine what they are thinking. Obviously, she wanted to know more about these women who were actors of history, of the Paris Commune… Her meetings with editor Gérald Dittmar, and the conception of the book Portraits de communardes, allowed her to know them even better: women who opened the way to the following struggles, also thanks to librarian Lila Vautel, who wrote their biographies, further revealing their history.”
Tuesday to Friday & Sunday: 2:30pm-7:30pm – Saturday: 10am-7:30pm – Free admission
Librairie Publico
145 rue Amelot, 75011 Paris
www.librairie-publico.com
Yulia Appen, Igor Chechakov, Yana Hryhorenko, Sergey Melnitchenko, Xenia Petrovska, et Yana Sidash – Alarming Beauty
Until March 4th
“The group exhibition Alarming Beauty, presented at Fisheye Gallery until March 4th, features works by Yulia Appen, Igor Chekachkov, Yana Hryhorenko, Sergey Melnitchenko, Xenia Petrovska, and Yana Sidash. Beyond the imagery of war, the six emerging Ukrainian photographers brought together by researcher Camille Leprince echo the upheaval that their country suffered a year ago, gracefully combining omens and memories. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the works will be donated to the Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund, which supports artists and promotes culture through the current crisis.”
Wednesday to Friday: 2pm-7pm – Saturday: 11:30am-6:30pm – Free admission
Fisheye Gallery
2 rue de l’hôpital Saint-Louis, 75010 Paris
www.fisheyegallery.fr
Nadia Belerique, Camille Brée, Éléonore Cheneau, Joanna Piotrowska, Leslie Thornton, and Céline Vaché-Olivieri – L’Irrésolue
Until April 23rd
A stone’s throw from Buttes-Chaumont (19th arrondissement), the Fonds régional d’art contemporain presents the exhibition L’Irrésolue (The Irresolute), bringing together works by Nadia Belerique, Camille Brée, Éléonore Cheneau, Joanna Piotrowska, Leslie Thornton, and Céline Vaché-Olivieri. The works of the six artists are spread out over the 600 square meters and the half-dozen rooms of the Plateau, a space created in 2002 to highlight contemporary creation. Through “a title deliberately irresolute itself”, says the curator of the exhibition Anne-Lou Vicente, this creative mosaic combining photography, film, painting, sculpture, installation, and intervention in situ, becomes “an intermediate space, in suspense, floating”, where “the visible and the invisible, what appears on the surface and what can be hidden inside” coexist. — Our article (French)
Wednesday to Sunday: 2pm-7pm – Free admission
FRAC Île-de-France – Le Plateau
22 rue des Alouettes, 75019 Paris
www.fraciledefrance.com
Lara Bloy – Les Égarées
Until March 18th
“Lara Bloy observes the actions of the body: its moments of tension, of relaxation, its analgesic positions, in all their intensity, from extreme tension to the deepest oblivion. Passionate about outdoor sports, the artist extracts her models from scenes of weightlessness, falls, lived experiences (climbing, rafting, but also road accidents…). In order to explore moments of floating, both literally and figuratively, she finds inspiration in the worlds of theater and dance, particularly buto – a Japanese dance whose name can be translated as “dancing while hitting the ground” – as well as in the great figures of the liberation of the female body of the early 20th century, such as Loïe Fuller or Isadora Duncan. The latter’s performances, barefoot and hair down, aimed to convey the states of the soul through the natural expression of the liberated body.”
Tuesday to Saturday: 1pm-6pm – Free admission
H Gallery
90 rue de la Folie Méricourt, 75011 Paris
www.h-gallery.fr
Louis Boulanger – Peintre rêveur
Until March 5th
Bringing together nearly 180 works, the exhibition Louis Boulanger, peintre rêveur (Louis Boulanger, painter and dreamer) can be seen until March 5th on the second floor of the institution on the Place des Vosges. A figure of the Cénacle romantique formed by Hugo, Louis Boulanger illustrated many of the novelist’s works, starting with his collection of poems Les Orientales. However, the artist’s most striking works remain his paintings and watercolors imbued with a dark romanticism, where ghosts, demons, and other apparitions unfold their ethereal silhouettes under moonlit skies. The large canvas Le feu du ciel and La Ronde du Sabbat, an exalted composition evoking the “black masses” that fascinated many representatives of the romantic movement, are indeed memorable sights. In his prolific imagination as in the treatment of his subjects, one cannot but be struck by the timeless strength of Boulanger’s phantasmagorical creations. — Our article (French)
Tuesday to Sunday: 10am-6pm – €9/€7/€0
Maison de Victor Hugo
6 place des Vosges, 75004 Paris
www.maisonsvictorhugo.paris.fr
Adèle Chabot – Les Royaumes bleus
Until March 7th
“In the Blue Kingdoms we find glimmers, ghostly chairs, mirrors, flowers, hands of flesh or porcelain. We can perceive colorful mountains, screaming cities, a warrior at rest, giants, octopuses and volcanic confetti. Les Royaumes bleus (The Blue Kingdoms) is an exhibition presenting artwork by Adèle Chabot, bringing together photographs and illustrations.”
Tuesday to Sunday: 10am-7pm – Free admission
Péniche librairie L’eau et les rêves
9 quai de l’Oise, 75019 Paris
www.penichelibrairie.com
Alma De Beire – Humanoïdes
March 2nd-7th
“Alma De Beir’s watercolors echo science fiction and dystopia. She takes interest in color, as well as in the pattern that dresses the universe in which her characters evolve. They are most often humanoids: they are not anchored in a genre, an age, or a nationality. This approach allows her to address topics related to the human condition in a more universal way. The artist’s chromatic choices function as subtitles, illustrating emotional states. They guide us into a world that seems far from our own, without being foreign to it either.”
Monday to Thursday: 12pm-2am – Friday: 12pm-3am – Saturday: 6pm-3am – Free admission
La Galerie du Popup
14, rue Abel, 75012 Paris
www.popup.paris
Zsuzsanna Korodi, Sébastien Preschoux, and Tomislav Topic – Abstract Experience
March 18 to May 6th
“More than sixty years after the landmark exhibition The Responsive Eye at MoMA, questioning how the eye responds to experiments with foundational elements of art such as color, pattern, and light in time and space, Danysz Gallery brings together three artists. This reunion intends to show how the new generation of geometric abstraction is increasingly present in the artistic landscape. From the colorful installations of Tomislav Topic (Germany, 1985) to the perfect lines of Sébastien Preschoux (France, 1974) and the subtle play of movement generated by Zsuzsanna Korodi (Hungary, 1984), these artists share a will to create a strong experience by bringing the viewer to observe, to analyze, even to move around their works.”
Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-7pm – Free admission
Danysz
78 rue Amelot, 75011 Paris
danyszgallery.com
Zanele Muholi – Rétrospective
Until May 21st
“Zanele Muholi, who defines themself as a “visual activist”, uses the camera as a tool to confront and repair injustice. During the 1990s, South Africa underwent significant social and political change. Democracy was established in 1994 with the abolition of apartheid; this was followed by a new constitution in 1996, the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. Despite this progress, the Black LGBTQIA+ community remains the target of violence and prejudice to this day. Bringing to light the uniqueness and diversity of the individuals they picture, Muholi emphasizes their courage and dignity in the face of intolerance and discrimination. These photographs encourage viewers to address their own misconceptions. Together they create a new lexicon of positive imagery for under- and misrepresented communities, promoting mutual understanding and respect.”
Wednesday to Friday: 11am-8pm (until 10pm on Thursdays) – Saturday & Sunday: 10am-8pm – €11/€7
Maison européenne de la photographie
5/7 Rue de Fourcy, 75004 Paris
mep-fr.org
Séverine Rastoul – Instants d’ailleurs
From March 15th to April 16th
More information to come.
Monday to Friday: 8am-2am – Saturday & Sunday : 4pm-2am – Free admission
Quartier Rouge
52 Rue de Bagnolet, 75020 Paris
facebook.com/quartierouge
Insurgé.e.s ! Regards sur celles et ceux de la Commune de 1871
Until March 6th
The Musée d’art et d’histoire Paul Éluard presents the exhibition Insurgé·es, which “intends to show new historical approaches to the Commune of 1871” based on the testimonies of those “who lived through the events, and passed on their memories”. With more than 15,000 artworks, archives, and other documents relating to the revolutionary experience of the spring of 1871, the Saint-Denis institution holds one of the most important collections dedicated to this event that still inspires political and artistic memories alike. Nearly 90 years after the great exhibition organized by the city in 1935 following the constitution of these collections, the Paul Éluard museum presents a new temporary exhibition retracing this history “at the level of men, women, and children – whether famous or lesser known, identified or anonymous, individuals or collectives. — Our article (French)
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: 10am-5h30pm – Thursday: 10am-8pm – Saturday & Sunday: 2pm-6:30pm – €5/€3
Musée d’art et d’histoire Paul Éluard
22 bis rue Gabriel Péri, 93200 Saint-Denis
musee-saint-denis.com
Drawing Now Art Fair 2023 – Le salon du dessin contemporain
March 23rd-26th
For its 16th edition, the first European fair dedicated to contemporary drawing brings together 73 Parisian and international galleries under the glass ceiling of Carreau du Temple. For four day, the Marais’ cultural institution will be home to nearly 300 artists and 2 000 works. Drawing Now Art Fair is also part of the Printemps du Dessin, an event scheduled to run until June 21st in some forty venues across France.
Thursday to Saturday: 11am-8pm – Sunday: 11am-7pm – €16/€9/€0
Carreau du Temple
4 rue Eugène Spuller, 75003 Paris
www.drawingnowartfair.com
Afirika Artfest : We are enough
March 11th-26th
“Afirika Artfest is an exhibition circuit dedicated to contemporary African art that brings together several visual and digital artists. This year it arrives to Paris at 193 Gallery and Galerie Carole Kvasnevski to present We are enough, a call to deconstruct some of the stigmas that constitute contemporary African societies.”
Tuesday to Saturday: 10am-7pm – Free admission
193 Gallery
21/24 rue Béranger, 75003 Paris
www.193gallery.com
Circulation(s) – Festival de la jeune photographie européenne
March 25th to May 21st
“Since 2011, Circulation(s) has been questioning territories and current issues seen through the eyes of emerging European photographers. Featured twenty-seven artists of fourteen different nationalities, it offers once more an open artistic vision, rich in contrasts and trends, reflecting contemporary concerns. The festival portrays a new generation of photographers who take on the images as well as the major themes of their time, using a multitude of styles, ranging from documentary photography to archival images, as well as staging and fiction. Spread over more than 2 000 square meters of exhibition space, Circulation(s) aims to be both demanding and popular in order to showcase a focus on our time.”
Mercredi à dimanche : 2pm-7pm – €6/€4/€3
Centquatre
5 rue Curial, 75019 Paris
www.festival-circulations.com
Dé-voiler
March 17th to April 15th
“After six and a half years near République, H Gallery was looking for a new setting to keep growing and serving the artists it defends. It is now moving to the heart of the Marais, a few minutes from the Centre Pompidou. On the occasion of the inauguration of its new space on rue Chapon, H Gallery presents a singular group exhibition, curated by Amélie Adamo. With Dé-voiler, the public will discover new aspects of selected works of the gallery’s artists, such as Corine Borgnet, Paul Vergier, Lara Bloy, Reuben Negrón, Maryline Terrier or Fay Ku, reunited with those of other invited creators such as Stéphane Pencréac’h, Nazanin Pouyandeh, Simon Pasieka, Axel Pahlavi, Marco Velk, Davor Vrankic, Sarah Jérôme, Benjamin Bruneau, Aurélie De Heinzelin, Benjamin Défossez, and Katia Bourdarel.”
Tuesday to Saturday: 1pm-6pm – Free admission
H Gallery
39 rue Chapon, 75003 Paris
www.h-gallery.fr
Fiat Lux – Et la lumière fut
Until April 15th
“From this biblical opening will rise a journey, a point of view by stages on the principle of the birth of the ‘original’ light, the history of a revelation, of fortuitous, critical, or desired mutations. So many key moments of (re)birth of light, as an aesthetic ideal, faith in our sciences, philosophical muse, a symbol of life or of the divine. To each light its encounter. The exhibit is a project conceived by Julien Taïeb, guest curator of the exhibition, with Félicie D’Estienne D’Orves, Olivier Ratsi, and other visual artists.”
Wednesday to Friday: 2pm-6pm (until 9pm on Thursdays) – Saturday: 2pm-7pm – Free admission
Centre Tignous d’art contemporain
116 rue de Paris, 93100 Montreuil
centretignousdartcontemporain.fr
Illustration (cropped):
Rewal, 2022, dry pigment on paper – Artwork featured in Drawing Now Art Fair 2023
© Katarzyna Wiesiolek – Courtesy Galerie Eric Dupont, Paris
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