MADE IN PARIS – Groupshow

From the 19th century until the 1950s, Paris was regarded worldwide as the capital of art. When New York, propelled by the success of Abstract Expressionism, ushered in a new era and dethroned Paris, attention quickly shifted away from the city on the Seine. Yet in recent years Paris has reemerged in the spotlight of international attention. Not only have leading galleries established themselves there, but Art Basel—the world’s largest art fair—has also taken over the former FIAC. While Paris is once again on everyone’s lips, surprisingly little is heard about the artists living and working there.

With the current special issue of KUNSTFORUM International, Made in Paris, guest editor Heinz-Norbert Jocks provides a broad survey of the diversity and unique characteristics of the Paris art scene. Wishing to present works by artists living in Paris—most of whom have rarely, if ever, exhibited in Germany—he developed the idea of curating a parallel exhibition in our gallery to coincide with the magazine’s release. This exhibition offers insight into the artistic and thematic breadth of the scene and includes drawings, paintings, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and video by twelve artists.

The focal point of Stéphane Couturier’s photographic investigations is architecture and the city as an ever-changing global reality. Swiss artist Thomas Buswell, whose practice moves between drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and sound, explores tensions between nature and modern comfort, attraction and repulsion, imagining an individual ecosystem.

Edi Dubien, a self-taught artist inspired by Art Brut, approaches the animal as a symbol of our lost instinct and a mirror of humankind. He argues for an equality between the two. Émile Degorce-Dumas, both ceramist and painter, fuses ancient myths with his everyday life, creating dialogues between the intimate and the universal, the trivial and the sacred, reminding us of the persistence of age-old stories within our most banal gestures. Some of his works are dedicated to the Antimachus—a poisonous, giant butterfly whose caterpillar and cocoon remain unknown—symbolizing metamorphosis and mystery.

For Guadeloupe-born Kenny Duncan, art is a spiritual act. He creates talismanic sculptures from collected fetish objects, which once served to protect him from danger. Liang Fu, whose paintings are based on photographs, conceals human figures behind layers of translucent fabric, exploring the fluid states between presence and absence.

Photographer Marina Gadonneix examines the relationship between observed reality and simulation, as well as the artificial reproduction of scientific and enigmatic phenomena. Augustin Lignier, both photographer and performer, focuses on subtle gestures—such as responses to a wink—or invisible acts like breathing.

Ukrainian painter Viktoriia Oreshko investigates the representation of the human body, which she describes as an “absent presence,” while also engaging with themes of identity, memory, and resilience. Iranian painter and activist Alireza Shojaian left Tehran because any artistic engagement with queer existence was impossible there.

Vincent Voillat, a multidisciplinary artist with a strong affinity for craftsmanship, addresses themes such as extractivism, collective non-hierarchical interactions between the human and non-human, and narratives of coexistence with the mineral world, particularly stone.

Born in Foshan, China’s traditional center for ceramics, Jiechang Yang was introduced as a child to both ceramic craft and calligraphy, practices between which he still moves today. As a painter, he engages with current events as well as Western art, portraying himself with self-irony as a ceramic skeleton.

This wide-ranging spectrum of artistic perspectives and the wealth of subjects addressed by these twelve artists not only reflects the spirit of our time but also embodies the ongoing artistic discourse shaping today’s cultural landscape.