designboom's guide to paris: what to see in and out of the art basel and design miami fairs

Pinault Collection explores Arte Povera at Bourse de Commerce

The Pinault Collection hosts a major exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce, dedicated to Arte Povera. This exhibition showcases over 250 historical and contemporary works from this influential Italian art movement of the 1960s, delving into both its Italian roots and international impact. Featuring works by key figures such as Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz, and Marisa Merz, the show is set against the backdrop of the Bourse de Commerce, which has been reimagined by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Designed as a landscape that highlights the infinite poetics of Arte Povera, the display is curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, a leading expert on the movement. It brings together about 50 iconic works from the Pinault Collection alongside pieces from other prestigious public and private collections.

what: Arte Povera
when: 9 October 2024 – 20 January 2025
where: Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, 2 Rue de Viarmes, 75001

Giuseppe Penone, Alpi marittime – Ho intrecciato tre alberi, Alpi marittime – L’albero ricorderà il contatto, Alpi marittime – I miei anni collegati da un filo di rame, 1968-1985. Pinault Collection. installation view at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Turin, 1991 | image by Gérard Rondeau © ADAGP, Paris, 2024.

Musée Picasso Paris Delves Into Jackson Pollock’s Early Years

The national Musée Picasso Paris hosts the temporary exhibition, Jackson Pollock: The Early Years (1934-1947). This is the first Pollock exhibition in France since 2008 and focuses on his early works, highlighting the influence of regionalism, Mexican muralists, Native American art, and the European avant-garde, including Pablo Picasso. The exhibition explores key moments in Pollock’s development, showcasing his experimentation with painting, materials, printmaking, and sculpture. It features around 100 works from prestigious institutions like New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Tate, and the Centre Pompidou.

what: Jackson Pollock: The Early Years (1934-1947)
when: 15 October 2024 – 19 January 2025
where: Musée Picasso, 5 Rue de Thorigny, 75003 Paris

Jackson Pollock, Untitled (1938-1941), oil on canvas, The Art Institute of Chicago © Pollock-Krasner Foundation / ADAGP, Paris 2024

Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris – The Flowers of Yves Saint Laurent

The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris presents The Flowers of Yves Saint Laurent, a joint exhibition with the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech. Curated by Olivier Saillard and Gaël Mamine, the exhibition explores the designer’s deep fascination with flowers, a key source of inspiration in his work. Over 30 garments and drawings highlight the symbiosis between nature, literature, and fashion, with floral motifs featured throughout. The exhibition also includes works by American artist Sam Falls, whose floral prints on canvas complement Saint Laurent’s haute couture creations, celebrating the timeless beauty of flowers in art and fashion.

what: The Flowers of Yves Saint Laurent
when: 20 September 2024 – 4 May 2025
where: Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris, 5 Av. Marceau, 75116 Paris

image courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris

KADIST x Centre Pompidou

The exhibition Apophenia, Interruptions: Artists and Artificial Intelligence at work marks the second chapter of a three-year collaboration between KADIST and the Centre Pompidou, focusing on the intersections of artificial intelligence and contemporary artistic production. As the inaugural project of the KADIST Nomadic Collection—a program establishing long-term partnerships between the foundation and international museums—the exhibition features new commissions and recent works by international artists integrating AI into their creative processes while critically examining its impact. Featured artists include Éric Baudelaire, Mat Dryhurst and Holly Herndon, Auriea Harvey, Interspecifics, Agnieszka Kurant, and Ho Rui An. The exhibition is curated by Joseph del Pesco (International Director, KADIST) and Marcella Lista (Chief Curator, New Media Collections Department, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne).

what: Apophenia, Interruptions: Artists and Artificial Intelligence at work
when: 25 September 2024 – 6 January 2025
where: Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Place Georges-Pompidou, 75004 Paris

Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst, I’m Here, 17.12.2022, 5:44 (video still), 2023

KADIST x Palais de Tokyo

KADIST Paris and Palais de Tokyo present a joint exhibition as part of the Lithuanian Season in France, showcasing the works of a dozen artists spanning several generations. While most of the featured artists are Lithuanian, others are based in the region or in France. This project arises in response to the geopolitical upheaval caused by the war in Ukraine, reflecting on the ruptures and dislocations it has generated in time and space. Two years into the invasion, the exhibition probes what form of normality remains possible within the conflict zone as history seems to repeat itself. Running concurrently at KADIST Paris and Palais de Tokyo in autumn 2024, the exhibition concludes with a final edition at the Vilnius Contemporary Art Center in 2025. The show is curated by Neringa Bumblienė (CAC Vilnius) and Emilie Villez (KADIST Paris).

what: Borders are nocturnal animals / Sienos yra naktiniai gyvūnai
when: 12 October 2024 – 5 January 2025
where: KADIST Paris and Palais de Tokyo (France)

Deimantas Narkevicius (detail of installation), The Fifer, 2019 – Courtesy of Maureen Paley, London and the artist

Arts AlUla x AFALULA

On the occasion of Art Basel Paris, Arts AlUla and AFALULA present Orbis Tertius, the first exhibition in France featuring artists from AlUla’s residency program. Showcasing the works of 20 contemporary artists who have participated in the oasis city’s residency, the exhibition includes 43 pieces, 13 of which are brand-new productions. Taking its name from the writings of Jorge Luis Borges, the exhibition is inspired by the author’s idealist philosophy. Building on their research in a region with a millennia-old history—marked by archaeological remains of pre-Islamic civilizations and innovative urban planning—the featured artists delve into various realms of possibility. They weave ancestral stories with futuristic narratives, merging myths and legends with scientific knowledge. The exhibition is curated by Arnaud Morand, Head of Art and Creative Industries at AFALULA.

what: Orbis Tertius
when: 15 – 20 October 2024
where: 5 rue Saint-Merri, 75004 Paris

image courtesy of Arts AlUla and AFALULA

Fondation Galeries Lafayette presents total by Martine Syms

In her first French retrospective, American artist Martine Syms transforms the Lafayette Anticipations – Fondation Galeries Lafayette into a unique, hybrid space resembling a store, merging elements from her Los Angeles studio with a public setting. This immersive environment blurs the boundaries between public and private, intimate and collective, offering a reflection on culture and the spaces that shape it. Through reproductions of her studio and art pieces available for sale, Syms explores existential questions, turning the space into a ‘theater of the everyday,’ where everyday roles and societal controls are put on display. The exhibition, dubbed Total, delves into themes of surveillance and identity construction, questioning the constant capture of our image and how it shapes our reality. By blending personal references, historical archives, and cultural representations of blackness and feminism, Syms critiques consumerism as both performance and identity, challenging us to reflect on how our desires are shaped by culture and media.

what: Total
when: from 16 October 2024
where: Lafayette Anticipations – Fondation Galeries Lafayette, 9 Rue du Plâtre, 75004 Paris

Martine Syms, Loser Back Home © Martine Syms. Courtesy of the artist and Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles | image by Robert Wedemeyer

Sturtevant ZIP ZAP! at Thaddaeus Ropac

To mark 100 years of American artist Sturtevant’s birth, Sturtevant: ZIP ZAP! celebrates her pioneering five-decade career at Thaddaeus Ropac Paris Marais. The exhibition focuses on her bold 1995 repetition of the visual artist Félix González-Torres’s Untitled (Go-Go Dancing Platform). Visitors can trace Sturtevant’s evolution, from her early 1966 painting exhibited in Paris to her later video works that critique the speed and saturation of postmodern imagery. This retrospective offers a unique opportunity to engage with Sturtevant’s body of work and her fearless approach to rethinking and challenging the nature of art itself.

what: Sturtevant: ZIP ZAP!
when: 12 October – 21 December 2024
where: Thaddaeus Ropac Paris Marais, 7 Rue Debelleyme, 75003 Paris

image courtesy of Thaddaeus Ropac

Mystic Sugar by Paulina Olowska at pace gallery

Pace Gallery showcases Mystic Sugar, an exhibition curated by artist Paulina Olowska. Running from October 18 to 20 at the Grand Palais, the booth (A30) will feature works by Louise Nevelson, Kiki Smith, Lucas Samaras, and Olowska. The exhibition explores themes of mysticism, femininity, and transformation, reinterpreting the witch as a symbol of liberation and connection to nature. Olowska, known for highlighting forgotten cultures, brings together various media, including paintings, sculptures, and textiles, to examine the work of the featured artists. Mystic Sugar emphasizes the witch as an embodiment of feminine freedom, moving away from patriarchal norms toward the mystical and unseen. The works, using natural materials, evoke emotional and sensory responses, celebrating a deep connection with nature and self-liberation.

what: Mystic Sugar
when: 16 – 20 October, 2024
where: Pace Paris, 10 Av. de Messine, 75008 Paris

image courtesy of Pace Gallery

Galerie Kreo presents iconic contemporary works

On the occasion of Design Miami.Paris, Galerie Kreo presents contemporary works by Virgil Abloh, Guillaume Bardet, Ronan Bouroullec, Pierre Charpin, Jean-Baptiste Fastrez, Front, Olivier Gagnère, Jaime Hayon, Alessandro Mendini and Marc Newson, as well as exceptional vintage pieces by Pierre Paulin, Gino Sarfatti and Studio B.B.P.R.

what: Galerie Kreo at Design Miami.Paris
when: 16 – 20 October, 2024
where: Room 1, L’hôtel de Maisons 51, rue de l’Université 75007 Paris

image courtesy of Galerie Kreo

Prométhée by RoWin’Atelier at Galerie SCENE OUVERTE’s new space

Galerie SCENE OUVERTE inaugurates a new exhibition space in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, with the solo show Prométhée by the renowned architecture and design studio RoWin’Atelier, running from October 11 to November 23, 2024. The exhibition features a new limited series of tables, lamps, and vases, marking a significant shift in RoWin’Atelier’s practice. For the first time, the studio moves beyond design to delve into craftsmanship, showcasing their fascination with the transformative power of fire and heat on materials like ceramic, lava stone, bronze, and glass. 

what: Prométhée
when: 11 October – 23 November 2024
where: Galerie SCENE OUVERTE, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris

PILE Haute & Basse Series by RoWin’ Atelier | image by Paul Hennebelle, courtesy of Galerie Scene Ouverte

Justin Morin unveils FLEURS DU MAL installation

French artist Justin Morin presents FLEURS DU MAL, a new project featuring ‘tattooed flowers,’ where flower petals become canvases for figurative drawings inspired by 1970s shoujo mangas (mangas for young girls), known for their romantic and dramatic themes. These delicate, ephemeral creations highlight the flower’s symbolic association with vanity in art history. FLEURS DU MAL is a hybrid installation and ephemeral boutique, where visitors can purchase tattooed flowers in a recreated flower shop setting. The exhibition also includes vases showcasing Mariya, a character Morin introduced in his 2021 solo show Ballerina at Last Resort Gallery in Copenhagen.

what: FLEURS DU MAL
when: 14 – 19 October 2024
where: 45 rue Saint-Roch 75001 Paris

FLEURS DU MAL by Justin Morin

project info: 

name: Art Basel Paris | @artbasel
location: Grand Palais, 75008 Paris
dates: 18 – 20 October 2024

name: Design Miami.Paris | @designmiami
location: L’hôtel de Maison, Paris
dates: 16 – 20 October 2024