I was going through this month's French Vogue when I noticed that there are a lot of really interesting exhibitions on in Paris at the moment! So before we all go away to enjoy the bells with the ones we love and to spread some Christmas joy a little weekend trip to Paris is in order. I am particularly excited about the retrospective exhibition of Diane Arbus at the Jeu de Paume Museum in the Tuilleries gardens of Paris which runs until 5 February 2012. The exhibition is comprised of over 200 photographs, including many photographs that have not been publically exposed before. So take a ride on the dark side through the lense of this incredible woman that revolutionised photography with her black and white disturbing portraits of freaks, deviants, dwarfs, transvestites and every other category of the 'marginal' and the surreal you can imagine. Her photographs are haunting to say the least and seem to focus on the most grotesque aspects of the human existance yet without ever treating her subjects like circus freaks to be exhibited and stared at. A play on identity, appearance, illusion and reality, enjoy the dark side of the moon!
"I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do -- that was one of my favorite things about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse."
"Freaks was a thing I photographed a lot. It was one of the first things I photographed and it had a terrific kind of excitement for me. I just used to adore them. I still do adore some of them. I don't quite mean they're my best friends but they made me feel a mixture of shame and awe."
"Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats."
Another exhibition I am really excited about is Robbert Mapplethorpe curated by Sofia Coppola (!) from November 25 to January 7 at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. Robert Mapplethorpe, a beautiful hustling sailor who broke Patti Smith's heart and shocked the world with his provocative, sensual and powerful self-portraits and photos of nudes, flowers, statues and celebrity friends.
"I am obsessed with beauty. I want everything to be perfect, and of course it isn't. And that's a tough place to be because you're never satisfied."
The last exhibition that I am excited about visiting is Mathematiques: A Beautiful Elsewhere at Fondation Cartier which aims at offering "a sudden change of scenery". A select group of scientists and mathematicians along with 9 artists known for their curiosity and desire to wonder, including David Lynch, Patti Smith and Takeshi Kitano transform the abstract thinking of mathematics into a stimulating experience for the mind and the senses, an experience accessible to everyone. Can't wait to get lost into the Room of the Four Mysteries by David Lynch, the exhibition is on until March 18 2012.
Can you remember a mathematical dream?
"What I remember even better was how uneasy the zero made me feel when I was a little girl. It was a symbol that seemed to be a sign of some kind of major transgression, especially for a girl: to articulate the void, give it substance, even God hadn't done that. At the same time, that circle, which was empty on the inside, that hoop, seemed to me to be the entrance to a mysterious, very alluring world, the promise of a swirling, unlimited way of thinking...Alice in Wonderland..."
And cause Paris will always be for lovers enjoy 2 photos from my last visit in gay Paris
at a mad hatter shop in the Marrais
Cause who doesn't love a sailor
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