5 exhibitions in art galleries that will make you take off

THE galleries of Paris are never short of ideas to seduce us. This month of January, start by going to discover a new address in the 8^e district: the gallery Oana Ivanwhich opens its doors with an exhibition dedicated to iconic fashion photographer Peter Knapp.

Street art fans will flock to the 13^e district where the Itinerrance gallery highlights Seth and its host of dreaming children. The darker is the work of Beninese Makefat the Vallois gallery, but just as captivating! We tell you everything in our selection of favorites to see in galleries.

1. Peter Knapp inaugurates the Oana Ivan gallery in style

New arrival in the 8^e arrondissementthe Oana Ivan gallery is already making us fall in love! For its inauguration, the space run by Oana Ivan, an art enthusiast of Romanian origin, invited guests to its walls Peter Knapp (born in 1931), big name in photography contemporary and monster of the glossy paper world. From his work for the magazine Elle to his collaborations with the greatest couturiers – such as Yves Saint Laurent, Courrèges, Thierry Mugler, Issey Miyake –, a thirty iconic works and previously unpublished works have been brought together in a journey illuminating 60 years of creativity and daring, from 1960 to 2024. Absolutely cult images!

2. Seth’s children squat at the Itinerrance gallery

Is it gray? Add some color to reality! Let yourself be captivated by l’exposition « Escape Games »at the Itinerrance gallery, in 13^e borough. We admire a series of works by the urban artist Seth (born in 1972), aka the « globe-painter »known for its huge frescoes of mischievous children or pensive, who have made the walls of the world their playground. In two sculptures and one twenty paintingsmost of them made with acrylic and aerosol spray, the hanging transports us, like the wonderful Alice, to the other side of the looking glass: “In a world marked by uncertainty and conflict,” explains the artist, ‘Escape Games’ presents itself as a poetic escapea space where imagination and resilience allow us to escape the upheavals of our times. »

3. Beninese Makef captivates the Vallois gallery

Do you sleep at night? Beninese artist Makef (born 1967), not so much. So much the better for our eyes, because when everyone is resting, he takes the opportunity to draw with black ballpoint pen on sheets of school notebooks. The Vallois gallery unveils, for the first time in a personal exhibition, its creations sometimes mixing children’s writings and drawingsmixing tradition and modernity, and drawing as much from mysticism and beliefs as from voodoo rites. A bewitching worldoscillating between criticism and candor, between figuration and abstraction, which will surely haunt you during your sleep.

4. Sylvie Fleury to pick from Thaddaeus Ropac

She wowed the art world, from her first exhibitions in the 1990s, with her « Shopping Bags ». Constantly inviting the world of luxury, fashion and beauty into the field of art, Switzerland Sylvie Fleury (born in 1961), a leading figure in contemporary art, likes to twist our consumerist souls. The Thaddaeus Ropac gallery returns to 30 years of career of the feminist artist and her contribution to sculpture, by revealing a selection of historical works supplemented with new creations. Stacks of magazines, makeup packaging and shoes outline his vocabulary. An immersive space, illuminated by the neon works of Sylvie Fleury, is also a real eye-catcher. “Buy me”, calls for a work from 2005: we buy!

5. Tribute to Daniel Cordier at the Gallimard gallery

Secretary of Jean Moulin, Daniel Cordier (1920–2020) was, after the Second World War, a gallery owner one of the most active in Paris, also known for his work as a historian and as a patron. More than 500 works by the art dealer were donated to the Center Pompidou. The Gallimard gallery benefits from the publication of Retro-Chaoslast volume of the resistance’s memoirs, to pay homage to him in a retrospective journeyfrom his birth in Bordeaux to his official funeral five years ago. This complex and committed personality is outlined in the light of a hundred pieces, works of art, books and archiveswhere we notably meet André Gide, Paul Valéry, Henri Michaux, Jean Dubuffet and the surrealists.