Paris noir — Centre Pompidou, Paris — Critique

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Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Purple Rain, vers 1990 — Technique mixte et peinture acrylique sur toile — 620 × 350,5 cm Courtesy of the artist and Karen Jenkins-Johnson © Slash-Paris, 2025

Paris noir — Centre Pompidou, Paris

1 - Pas mal Critique Review March 19, 2025 — By Guillaume Benoit

Extremely rich and infinitely uneven, the Paris Noir exhibition at the Centre Pompidou counters any attempt at reduction with an overabundance of works and a wide array of directions, ultimately leaving visitors both stunned by the shortcuts taken and in awe of the sheer amount of work accomplished.

A rather effective shock tactic allows it to escape the dead ends inherent in the exhibition’s very premise and rationale, as well as a relationship to creation that is, at the very least, debatable -perhaps diluted in the somewhat outdated ambiguity of its title, much like its imagery.

Between a categorizing exotic fascination (at its worst) and the genuine unease of a crossroads of discriminations (at its best), the exhibition —once past a considerable number of rather mediocre works- occasionally succeeds in historically articulating the influence of Parisian life on the artistic form of major movements in art history, an overdue demonstration. The humility of the curatorial approach, favoring an open-ended map for exploration rather than a definitive cartography, lends a welcome experimental tone to this endeavor, one that fortunately unfolds over the long term and reflects an ongoing perspective still under construction. Indeed, too many underdeveloped or even anecdotal pieces cannot claim consecration.

A final exhibition (before renovations) that mirrors its institution, playing with excess and frustration yet brimming with discoveries and hidden treasures whose value will depend on the audience’s ability to engage with them and carry forward the initial intent. In the future, a more precise problematization and a sharper, or at the very least, more structured and less scattered radicality will be necessary to better reflect what is truly dazzling.

Paris noir — Circulations artistiques, luttes anticoloniales 1950 — 2000 — Centre Pompidou, Paris — 19 Mar 2025 — 30 Jun 2025