Lévitation. Mathieu Forget, 10 ans de photographies

Sur les grilles de la Tour Saint-Jacques

For over a decade, Mathieu Forget has pursued the same research: capturing that precise instant when the body leaves the ground. Dancer, photographer and artistic director, he is both behind the lens and in front of it. Each image is the result of a real performance. No editing. No trickery. Only a fraction of a second during which the body seems suspended between falling and rising. Through this exhibition, Mathieu Forget presents a selection of emblematic photographs taken around the world. Each work testifies to a constant exploration of movement, composition, and the relationship between the body and its environment. Installed on the fences of the Tour Saint-Jacques, the exhibition offers an encounter between heritage and contemporary creation. In this exceptional setting, the photographs engage in dialogue with Parisian architecture and offer visitors a free, open and accessible experience. LEVITATION invites everyone to slow down, observe and see differently. For beyond physical performance, these images tell of a universal aspiration: that of rising, even if only for a moment. Between earth and sky…The Tour Saint-Jacques occupies a singular place in the Parisian landscape. An isolated monument at the heart of the city, it seems to emerge from the urban space to rise toward the sky. This relationship between anchoring and elevation also forms the core of Mathieu Forget's work. Through his levitation photographs made without digital trickery, the artist captures that fragile instant when the body momentarily escapes the laws of gravity. His images depict a state of suspension that echoes the very presence of the Tour Saint-Jacques: a vertical architecture that defies the eye and seems to float above the urban bustle. Displayed on the fences surrounding the monument, the photographs create a natural dialogue between heritage and contemporary creation. They invite passersby to lift their eyes, slow their pace and cast a new gaze upon the city. For beyond photography, it is indeed the same idea that connects the artist and the place: elevation as an aesthetic, physical and poetic experience. Exhibition itineraryThe itinerary brings together 44 photographs selected from among Mathieu Forget's most striking works. Taken across several continents over the past ten years, they testify to a body of work built around a single obsession: capturing the instant when the body seems suspended in space. Each photograph reveals a conversation between movement and its environment. Architecture, landscape, light and geometry become partners in an ephemeral choreography. The itinerary thus invites exploration of several dimensions of the work: • Movement as a universal language. • The body as living architecture. • Photography as a compression of time. • Travel as a field of experimentation. • Gravity as an artistic material. Displayed outdoors, the images enter directly into dialogue with the city. They offer visitors a free experience in which urban space itself becomes an integral part of the exhibition.

Source: Paris Open Data ↗