« Virages Vierges », l’exposition personnelle de Pauline Curnier Jardin

Palais de Tokyo

Entitled « Virages Vierges », Pauline Curnier Jardin's solo exhibition takes as its starting point the notion of deviation, even deviance: the turn (virage) as a departure from the straight line, the abandonment of a stable trajectory in favor of uncertainty and side paths. Mirroring her fragmented narrations, the artist's work is built within zones of trouble where fiction, ritual and documentary intertwine without hierarchy. The "vierges" (virgins) refer to female bodies, saturated with stories, injunctions and violence, caught in a constant tension between sacralization and stigmatization. Between the figures of the saint and the prostitute, these bodies—alternately idealized, controlled or condemned—assert a desiring and transgressive power, far from any passivity or objectification. The term also evokes virgin territory: the unknown as a space for projection and reinvention. « Virages Vierges » thus designates those pivotal moments when bodies, narratives, beliefs and constructions leave well-worn paths to open, in an irreverent and untamed manner, other possible becomings. This major monographic exhibition allows Pauline Curnier Jardin to unfold her practice through a selection of major works—including video installations and sculptures—as well as new productions. Visitors discover her phantasmagorical atmospheres, between theater, cinema and ritual, in service of recurring themes: the fluidity between vulnerability and power of bodies, the place of women in society, as well as forms of popular spirituality and syncretism. For the creation of a new video installation, the artist draws inspiration from a clandestine cinema discovered in 2004 beneath the Trocadéro (neighboring the Palais de Tokyo) and nicknamed « les arènes de Chaillot »—a place to invent other forms of freedom. This site resonates deeply with her work, nourishing her attraction to liminal spaces, dissident practices and narratives that escape established norms. This project continues a long-standing relationship between the Palais de Tokyo and the artist, who has previously taken part in the group exhibitions « Dynasty » (2010, with the musée d'art moderne de Paris) and « Anticorps » (2020). This exhibition is produced in collaboration with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid). The Palais de Tokyo (Paris), the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid) and the M HKA (Anvers) will publish in 2026 the first monograph devoted to the work of Pauline Curnier Jardin.

Source: Paris Open Data ↗