Three major Paris exhibitions are currently offering visitors a diverse journey through contemporary visual arts, spanning from the underground world of neocolonial extraction to haute couture, and exploring the queer trajectories of 1970s America. The exhibitions feature colors, tones, and black-and-white compositions through stones, textiles, and photographs, presenting a multifaceted artistic experience that combines fashion and visual narratives.
The Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Paris has opened a comprehensive retrospective of Nigerian artist Otobong Nkanga, titled "I dreamt of you in colours." Born half a century ago in Nigeria and now based in Belgium, Nkanga's exhibition will remain open until February next year. The retrospective presents a cross-sectional view of her protean work, showcasing diverse motifs and materials through an extensive selection of drawings, installations, paintings, textiles, photographs, sculptures, poems, videos, and performances.
The exhibition's curators, Odile Burluraux in Paris and Nicole Schweizer in Lausanne, have chosen a non-chronological presentation approach. This artistic decision highlights Nkanga's concern with revealing the various layers that compose our world, from violent exploitations and extractions that fracture soils and landscapes to the circulations, constellations, and networks that originate from these disruptions. After its Paris run, the retrospective will travel to Lausanne, Switzerland.
Across from the Museum of Modern Art, the prestigious Palais Galliera, Paris's Fashion Museum, is hosting a retrospective of designer Rick Owens' work titled "Rick Owens: Temple of Love." Born in the United States in the early 1960s and now residing in Paris, Owens has established himself as a distinctive voice in contemporary fashion. His meteoric career began in the early 2000s when a black leather jacket worn by supermodel Kate Moss caught the attention of a Vogue magazine photographer.
Owens has since built a reputation for sublime sculptural creations, conceiving his runway shows as theatrical spectacles while occasionally sparking mini-scandals. Notable controversies include his 2015 show where he exposed male models' genitalia, and an incident during the Greek debt crisis when one of his favorite models wore an anti-Merkel message against his wishes. "The clothes I create," Owens explains, "are my autobiography. They represent the calm elegance I aspire to and the damage I've caused along the way. They express both tenderness and unleashed ego. They are adolescent idealization and its inevitable defeat."
The exhibition's artistic direction is overseen by Rick Owens himself, with Alexandre Samson serving as curator. "Rick Owens: Temple of Love" opened at the end of June and will remain accessible until early next year.
Completing this survey of notable fall exhibitions is "Nous autres" (We Others) at Le BAL, an exhibition space dedicated to documentary images located in Paris's 17th arrondissement near Place de Clichy. This exhibition features the work of American photographer Donna Gottschalk and art theorist Hélène Giannecchini, with contributions from Carla Williams. The show centers on Giannecchini's account of her encounter with Gottschalk, whose photographs form the heart of the visitor experience.
Born in 1949 in New York's Alphabet City – a formerly working-class neighborhood now undergoing gentrification – Donna Gottschalk has spent decades welcoming into her home and photographing the people with whom she lived, advocated, and worked. Her lens particularly captured the lives of LGBT individuals living on society's margins, including fellow activists, friends, and lovers. The exhibition also features a series of self-portraits by American photographer and art historian Carla Williams, who acknowledges a direct lineage with Gottschalk's work.
The exhibition is curated by Julie Héraut and Hélène Giannecchini and will be viewable until November 16. The accompanying podcast "L'esprit critique" features discussions with Guslagie Malanda, an actress and independent exhibition curator; Margot Nguyen, an independent art worker; and Rose Vidal, an author and critic who writes for the daily ideas publication AOC. The podcast is recorded and produced by Karen Beun.
