Free art and photography exhibitions in Paris this July

From immersive installations of Chiharu Shiota to the genius photographic experiments of Steven Pippin, here is our guide to the must-see exhibitions in Paris this July. As they say, some of the best things in life (and Paris) are free!

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Alexander Gronsky, Schema, Photography Exhibition at Polka Galerie, Paris | Urban Mishmash
Alexander Gronsky, Reflection 01, part of series "Schema". Photo courtesy Polka Galerie and the artist. © Alexander Gronsky.

 

Chiharu Shiota, Destination, 2017. Installation, Free Exhibition in Paris | Urban Mishmash
Exhibition view, Chiharu Shiota, “Destination”, 2017 at Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris and Bruxelles. © Chiharu Shiota. Photo: B.Huet-Tutti.

“Chiharu Shiota: Destination” at Galerie Daniel Templon – until July 22, 2017

Berlin-based Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is best-known for her monumental and complex site-specific installations that wrap up entire rooms in massive webs of yarn that envelop everyday objects such as boats, keys, dresses, doors and even hospital beds. Shiota is currently exhibiting her installation Destination (2017) as part of her solo show at Galerie Daniel Templon in Le Marais, Paris. A poetic allusion to life as a journey, this monumental installation comprises of a boat seemingly afloat in a sea of red yarn that envelops the entire exhibition space. This stunning work and a series of other installation pieces and canvases by Chiharu Shiota are on view at the two exhibition spaces of the gallery.

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See a selection of current exhibitions in Paris.

“Edouard Boubat: Paris” at In Camera Galerie – until July 29, 2017

Edouard Boubat, one of the most celebrated post-war photographers in France, is known for his poetic and tender images that capture the beauty and simplicity of everyday life and people. Born in Paris, Edouard Boubat studied typography and graphic design and was sent to Nazi Germany to do forced labour during the Second World War. After the war, he began working at a factory and photographing post-war Paris during his free time, and was soon exhibiting these photographs alongside those of Brassai and Robert Doisneau. He joined French photography magazine Réalités as a staff reporter in 1952 capturing delicate images of Europe, Latin America and Africa, before resigning in 1967 to work as an independent photographer. Some of his most important Paris photographs, from the beginning of his photographic career in 1946 up until his death in 1999, are on view at the In Camera Galerie at its exhibition titled Edouard Boubat: Paris, on view until July 29, 2017.

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See our guide to noteworthy events in Paris – exhibitions, festivals, concerts and other interesting things to do. 

Steven Pippin, Laundromat Locomotion, Free Photography Exhibition at Centre Pompidou, Paris | Urban Mishmash
Steven Pippin, Laundromat Locomotion (Horse & Rider), 1997. Photo documentary for the installation-performance. © Steven Pippin

“Steven Pippin: Aberration Optique” at Centre Pompidou – until September 11, 2017

Steven Pippin transformed everyday objects and spaces into cameras. Wardrobes, refrigerators, washing machines, bathtubs, train lavatories and even a photo booth were converted into improvised all-in-one versions of pinhole cameras, studios and darkrooms. For instance, in his work Laundromat Locomotion, a tribute to Eadweard Muybridge’s experiment The Horse in Locomotion (1878), he transformed a row of 12 washing machines in a laundromat into makeshift cameras triggered by trip wires and rode past them on a horse. Pippin’s laundromat experiment and much of his other work are as much science as they are a performance, creating imagery that is surreal and dramatic. A must-see retrospective of Steven Pippin’s work is presently being shown at the Galerie de photographies, Centre Pompidou.

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“Joaquin Ferrer: Paintings and Drawings” at Maison de l’Amerique Latine – until September 9, 2017

The Maison de l’Amérique latine presents a comprehensive retrospective of Cuban abstract artist Joaquin Ferrer’s work with a selection of more than 100 paintings and drawings from his younger days in Havana to his more recent work in Paris. The exhibition comes almost 50 years after the artist’s first solo show in Paris in May 1968 at Le Point Cardinal Gallery, a particularly radical period in French political history. The present exhibition at the Maison de l’Amérique latine, curated by Serge Fauchereau, proceeds chronologically, starting with Ferrer’s paintings from the 1968 exhibition, and spans the entirety of Joaquin Ferrer’s career offering a comprehensive overview of the artist’s richly diverse work and style.

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Alexander Gronsky, Schema, Photography Exhibition at Polka Galerie, Paris | Urban Mishmash
Alexander Gronsky, Reflection 01, part of series “Schema”. Photo courtesy Polka Galerie and the artist. © Alexander Gronsky.

“Alexander Gronsky: Schema” at Polka Galerie – until July 29, 2017

Riga-based landscape photographer Alexander Gronsky (b. 1980, Tallinn) is exhibiting his photographic series Schema at the Polka Galerie, Paris. Composed of diptychs, triptychs and polyptychs, the series was shot over a decade between 2005 and 2015 in different countries across the world including Russia, Japan and Azerbaijan. Marking a departure from his preference to use medium format and film, Gronsky embraces digital techniques to depict sequences of urban and natural landscapes, such as ageing buildings, pedestrian crossings and supermarkets, as they change, for better or worse, over time.

Details.

See what’s happening in Paris this week and over the weekend, with our weekly guide to the best things to do in Paris.

And there’s always more to come! To stay up-to-date with our latest stories and to find your weekly fix of things to do in Paris, follow Urban Mishmash on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.


This article has been written in collaboration with our contributor Abhrya Das.

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