3 Stunning Parisian Gallery Exhibitions

NEWS | March 1, 2021

Anselm Kiefer, Field of the Cloth of Gold, 2021. Exhibition view. © Anselm Kiefer. Photograph by Thomas Lannes, courtesy of the Gagosian.

With museums closed for the time being, Printemps.com takes the opportunity to update you on three not-to-be-missed Parisian exhibitions. It's a perfect chance to step back onto the cultural scene and appreciate the wonders of art.

"Horizons" at Lévy Gorvy

This group show was curated by the poet and artist Etel Adnan in collaboration with Victoire de Pourtalès. The exhibition is curated around a text by the writer, taking a nostalgic look back on her geographical transitions, from her natal Lebanon to France, with a long stint in California. Interrogating horizons in flux as they become clear to the poet, the exhibition reassembles numerous works that echo this central theme. Visitors will see work by Paulo Monteiro, Nancy Haynes, Eugénie Paultre, Simone Fattal, Agnes Martin, Ugo Rondinone, Joan Mitchell, Ettore Spalletti and Christine Safa.

" Horizons ", until March 20th. Lévy Gorvy, 4 passage Sainte-Avoie, Paris.

Anselm Kiefer at Gagosian

In the Bourget showroom, just outside the periphery of Paris proper and part of the Grand Paris project, Field of the Cloth of Gold is centered around four monumental new paintings by Anselm Kiefer, whose title is an homage to a luxurious diplomatic meeting between Henry the 8th and François the First in 1520. References multiply as materials — straw, gold leaf, wood, metal — rest in layers on the canvases, the German painter's work evoking a collective European memory. Indeed, for Anselm Kiefer, history — be it real or mythical — is, like color, a material in and of itself.

" Field of the Cloth of Gold ", until March 28, Gagosian Gallery, 26 Avenue de l'Europe, Le Bourget (93).

Kenny Scharf at Almine Rech

In an entirely different register, Almine Rech's current show is dedicated to American artist Kenny Scharf, who recently collaborated with Dior and is now leading the bill at Rech's new space on Avenue Matignon. On view is new work by the artist: a dozen paintings produced last December, depicting psychedelic figures that seem entirely appropriate for this iconic member of the 80s East Village scene, which also included Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. With a tip of the hat to street art and graffiti, the work of this "pop surrealist" painter is also influenced by cartoons, going so far as to include smiley faces that morph from friendly to unnerving. High-saturation and dynamic as ever, Kenny Scharf's work remains profoundly optimistic and entirely refreshing.

" Vaxi Nation ", until March 6, Almine Rech, 18 Avenue Matignon, Paris.