to see this autumn: three exhibitions redefining the gaze

For this cultural season, Paris reinvents itself through colour, skin and identity. Alchimist has selected three exhibitions not to be missed. On the programme: three artists, three continents and one shared obsession — putting colour (of skin, of pigment, of sound) back at the centre of an art history that long pushed it to the margins.

Three exhibitions, three ways of looking, one shared conviction: what art history left in its margins deserves the centre. Here is where to see them, and why each is worth the trip. Every exhibition has its own dedicated article, linked at the end of each section.

Kerry James Marshall — the Black body in the grand narrative

The American artist has been painting Black bodies since the 1980s, using pigments such as iron oxide to heighten their darkness. Between pop, Afrofuturism and the classical tradition, his painting writes them back into the grand narrative of art history, from which they had long been excluded. At the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, The Histories does not merely show paintings: it forces you to look differently.

Read the article — Kerry James Marshall →

Rafael Pavarotti — the lens that shifts the gaze

Behind the colour-saturated portraits of Rihanna and Beyoncé stands Rafael Pavarotti, a Brazilian photographer of Afro-Indigenous descent, born in Pará. He gives centre stage to Black and Indigenous models, with a colour-driven aesthetic inherited from fashion but reaching far beyond it. His first retrospective is showing at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

Read the article — Rafael Pavarotti →

Hassan Hajjaj — between heritage and hybridity

The Moroccan “Andy Wahlou” turns an alleyway into a studio and a tea tin into a picture frame. Based in London, this pioneer of Moroccan pop art celebrates cultural hybridity, photographing Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish and Madonna alongside his own neighbours. At the Philharmonie, My Rock Stars tells his story through music.

Read the article — Hassan Hajjaj →

One shared act of repair

Three artists, three geographies, three disciplines — painting, fashion photography, pop portraiture. But one shared gesture: taking back the bodies, the faces and the narratives that art history held at a distance, and placing them at the centre. To see, to connect, to carry with you this autumn.