Myriam Mihindou
‘Ilimb, the essence of tears’
Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
Until November 10

A temple to non-Western art, the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac also offers a lesser-known program of cutting-edge contemporary art. A case in point is the exhibition by Myriam Mihindou, who has taken over part of the museum’s collection of musical instruments – notably Central African Punu harps. The Paris-based Franco-Gabonese artist, who will have a major solo show at the Palais de Tokyo next year, has reproduced and reactivated the instruments through a sculptural sound device inspired by the songs of mourners and funeral rites. ‘Ilimb: the essence of tears’ offers an embodied reflection on the passage to the afterlife – and art’s ability to breathe new life into objects frozen by anthropological taxonomies. C.M.

Martine Syms
‘Total’
Lafayette Anticipations
October 16 – November 17, 2024

American artist Martine Syms has become known for a conceptual practice spanning publishing, video, installation, and performance that is consistently infused with grit, humor, and social commentary. ‘Total’, her first institutional survey show in France, blurs the already murky boundaries between the private and public, the seen and the unseen, through a presentation of existing and new works, as well as editions. The works express existential questions surrounding notions of identity. Personal points of reference meld with historical archives, feminism, cultural representations of Blackness, and spirituality in a space where identity is questioned, performed, reinvented, and surveilled. E.M.

‘Jackson Pollock: Les premières années (1934–1947)’
Musée Picasso – Paris
October 15, 2024 – January 19, 2025

The first exhibition dedicated to Jackson Pollock in France since 2008, offers a rare exploration of the artist’s formative period. It highlights his influences including regionalism, Mexican muralists, Native American art, European avant-garde movements, and artists like Pablo Picasso, as well as Lee Krasner, André Masson, and Janet Sobel. This body of work, rarely exhibited on its own, provides a nuanced understanding of Pollock’s evolution, culminating in his breakthrough ‘drip’ technique. By focusing on these early years, the show unveils a complex network of intellectual and artistic influences often overshadowed by Pollock’s later fame. P.S.

‘Heinz Berggruen, a dealer and his collection’
Musée de l’Orangerie
Until January 27, 2025

‘Heinz Berggruen, a dealer and his collection’ showcases artworks from the Museum Berggruen/Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin at the Musée de l’Orangerie. The exhibition highlights the exceptional 20th-century art collection of the German dealer-collector, featuring works by Picasso, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, and Alberto Giacometti. It explores Berggruen’s journey from refugee to influential art dealer in Postwar Paris, his relationships with artists, and his impact on the art market. The exhibition emphasizes his personal tastes and affinities, and offers an intimate view of the private collection of an art dealer. J.F.

‘目 Chine: A new generation of artists’
Centre Pompidou
Until February 3, 2025

The Centre Pompidou and the West Bund Museum’s Sino-French curatorial partnership will present, for the first time in France, a subjective portrait of 21 young contemporary Chinese artists, most of whom are from the Balinghou generation born between the late 1970s and the early 1990s. The selected works encompass a wide range of practices, including painting, sculpture, installation, video, photography, and new media. There is a focus on works created in the last few years, tapping into themes such as China’s relationship with the world, environmental issues, and the transformation of lifestyles in modern Chinese society. Chen Wei’s How About Dancing (2021), DOKU The Self (2022) by Lu Yang, aaajiao’s Windows Gravestone (2016), and Cui Jie’s Porcelain giraffes and China Insurance Tower #2 (2023) are only some of the works spotlighted under the theme of ‘eye’. P.L.

‘Pop Forever: Tom Wesselmann &…’
Fondation Louis Vuitton
October 17, 2024 – February 24, 2025

The Fondation Louis Vuitton’s upcoming show will focus on Pop art, at its most popular in the 1960s. ‘Pop Forever, Tom Wesselmann &…’ features work from the 1920s to the present, with a focus on Wesselmann, a figurehead of the movement. Other key players, such as Tadanori Yokoo, Andy Warhol, and Marcel Duchamp are also included, and collectively their work reveals the narratives built by the generations and cultures influenced and inspired by Pop art. Centered around Wesselman and adopting a chronological approach the show presents a comprehensive understanding of the artist’s themes. O. D. F.

‘In⸱visible Bodies: An Investigation into Balzac’s Dressing Gown’
Musée Rodin
October 15, 2024 – March 2, 2025

Featuring Auguste Rodin’s Study for Balzac’s Dressing Gown (1897) and 19th-century garments from the Palais Galliera, this new show explores Rodin’s quest to capture French writer Honoré de Balzac’s body. The exhibition at Musée Rodin examines how perceptions of bodies influence their idealized bronze forms, and sparks a dialogue between fashion and sculpture. It highlights how Rodin used the myth that Balzac wrote in his dressing gown to obscure his corpulent figure. ‘In·visible Bodies’ encourages reflection on body representation in public spaces and the need for broader perspectives today. S.L.

Olga de Amaral
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
Until March 16, 2025

The utter complexity of textile artist Olga de Amaral’s practice is celebrated at Fondation Cartier in a retrospective of the Colombia-born, US-educated artist’s vast body of work. Since the 1960s, de Amaral, born in 1932, has braided, woven, knotted, and otherwise manipulated fibers and threads into outsize three-dimensional abstract artworks. Often rendered in goldleaf, they pull influences from both avant-garde Modernism and pre-Columbian techniques and archaeologies. Featuring 80 works, many of them never before seen in Europe, this show promises an experience that is both transcendent and earthbound. K. B.

‘Private Lives: from the Bedroom to Social Media’
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
October 15, 2024 – March 30, 2025

‘Private Lives: from the Bedroom to Social Media’ argues that privacy, once distinct and guarded, has become increasingly porous, with the boundaries between personal and public life blurring rapidly in the digital age. Technology and social media have accelerated this shift, reshaping how we define and experience intimacy. Featuring 470 works, from the 18th century to today, the exhibition spans 12 themes including women and privacy, intimacy within the bedroom, promiscuity, isolation, and the role of surveillance and technology. Highlights include works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Judy Chicago, and Zanele Muholi, alongside objects from brands such as Saint Laurent and Fenty Beauty, which trace the shift from aristocratic beauty rituals to modern mass consumption and gender fluidity. Contributions from today’s top influencers, such as Léna Mahfouf, underscore how social media amplifies these evolving notions of privacy. A.R.