The Best Exhibitions (Free!) in Parisian Galleries

© © Khalif Tahir Thompson: Chilly Winds Don't Blow, Courtesy Galerie Zidoun-Bossuyt - MartinParr/MagnumPhotos, Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière - Jean-Baptiste Monteil

No need to queue for hours outside the most popular museums in the capital to get a dose of culture. The art galleries are buzzing with ultra-inspiring exhibitions featuring their proteges, from Martin Parr's kitschy snapshots at Galerie Clémentine de la Ferronière to a one-way ticket to the beach with Ben Arpéa's canvases at Galerie Camille Pouyfaucon, from photographs of the world of classical dance at Galerie de l'Instant to Kalif Tahir Thompson's mix & match paintings at Galerie Zidoun-Bossuyt, or Janine Niépce and Emma Ball-Greene's artworks at Quai de la Photo. Shall we take you there?

Attention Martin Parr aficionados! If you missed the last exhibition of this pop culture icon at Quai de la Photo, Galerie Clémentine de la Ferronière presents a new exhibition by the British photographer in the heart of Île-Saint-Louis. This is your chance to explore his oh-so-kitschy universe with "Fashion Faux Parr": a retrospective of his last 25 years dedicated to fashion photography.

Whether for Vogue, Rebel Magazine, or prestigious houses like Balenciaga and Gucci, his shots are always as eccentric and sarcastic. His magical ingredients? Exaggerated colors and lights, tight framing, and sometimes VERY surprising perspectives, as seen in the shoot for Jalouse swimsuits. One thing is certain: he gives as much importance to clothing as to the characters and settings that define his photos. A gem!

Fashion Faux Parr until May 26 at Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, 51 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île, Paris 4th. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free admission.

© MartinParr/MagnumPhotos, courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière

Remember this name: Kalif Tahir Thompson. Rising star of the New York cultural scene, this artist hasn't even received his diploma from the prestigious Yale School of Art yet, and he's already published his first monograph, exhibited works in several American museums, and presented solo exhibitions in Dubai and Luxembourg. Today, he's unpacking his bags for the first time in France at Galerie Zidoun-Bossuyt for the exhibition "Chilly Winds Don't Blow".

On-site, thirteen immense paintings by the American artist are on display: intimate portraits of his family members, his romantic partners, and his friends placed in ultra-colorful settings. But what stands out about Kalif Tahir Thompson's creations is his use of various unconventional materials: denim, silk, leather, beads, newspapers, wood, magazines, papyrus... Approach the canvases to discover all these undetectable materials, as the artist smooths out the textures. A master craftsman's work!

Chilly Winds Don’t Blow until May 11 at Galerie Zidoun-Bossuyt, 51 rue de Seine, Paris 6th. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm. Free admission.

© Khalif Tahir Thompson: Chilly Winds Don't Blow, Courtesy Galerie Zidoun-Bossuyt.

Palm trees, sunsets, flowers, citrus fruits, beaches, tennis courts... Welcome to Ben Arpéa's world. The Franco-Italian artist takes over Galerie Camille Pouyfaucon with his new solo exhibition "Inside Out". This score of paintings forms a true explosion of pastel colors that immediately transports us to the beach, specifically to the Mediterranean, the artist's source of inspiration: between Pop Art and surrealism, his landscapes are bathed in warmth.

It's only by getting closer that you discover the work done on the flat areas and textures of the paintings: stripes, waves, geometric shapes made with sand to recall the landscape he depicts... With the color gradients, it's a dreamlike vision of these landscapes he represents. Among the gems not to be missed? The two tables that stand in the middle of the gallery, designed by Ben Arpéa with the same geometric shapes and colors as his paintings. We would love to have them in our living room...

Inside Out until May 4 at Galerie Camille Pouyfaucon, 19 rue Guénégaud, Paris 6th. Open Tuesday to Friday from 11 am to 6 pm and Saturday from 2 pm to 6 pm. Free admission.

© Jean-Baptiste Monteil

This time, Galerie de l'Instant takes us behind the scenes of ballets with the exhibition "Corps et âme" featuring photographs by Sylvie Guillem, herself a prima ballerina. Some 30 prints are piled up on the walls and floor of this small gallery. Between nude self-portraits or shots of her legs, there are stolen and suspended moments before the start of a show, also captured by her husband, Gilles Tapie: last warm-ups, pointe shoes, preparing her foot bandages, leg lifts, and even rehearsals with Rudolf Noureev.

To complete this cycle on classical dance, photographs immortalizing other artists and dancers are also on display: Yves Saint Laurent working on a costume taken by Boris Lipnitzki, solo portraits of Noureev captured by Cecil Beaton and André Carrara, or the dancer Jorge Donn dancing to the Bolero. Each picture more spectacular than the last!

Corps et âme until July 3 at Galerie de l'Instant, 46 rue de Poitou, Paris 3rd. Open Monday from 2 pm to 7 pm, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm, and Sunday from 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Free admission.

© DR / Galerie de l'Instant - Sylvie Guillem / Galerie de l'Instant - André Carrara / Galerie de l'Instant

Head to the quai de la gare to discover the new exhibition at Quai de la Photo as part of the Biennale of the 13th arrondissement. With "La vie devant soi", this floating art center brings together the shots of Janine Niépce and Emma Ball-Greene, two photographers who have never met and come from completely different generations. On one hand, Janine Niépce, an important figure in French humanist photography, began her career in the 1940s until the 1980s photographing her subjects only in black and white. On the other hand, Emma Ball-Greene, an emerging Franco-British photographer, fits into this vein of this movement that highlights the human being in his daily life or personal moments captured on the fly.

It is around this movement that they reflect on the themes of childhood, adolescence, and youth, capturing the markers of their time: the May 68 demonstrations or the open-air balls at Niépce's, versus neon crop tops or tooth rings, snapshots of the 2000s, in Ball-Greene's photographs. Unmissable!

La vie devant soi until May 27 at Quai de la Photo, 9 port de la Gare, Paris 13th. Open from Sunday to Wednesday from 12 pm to 1 am and Thursday to Saturday from 12 pm to 2 am. Free admission.

© Emma Ball-Greene / Courtesy Polka Factory

Also discover the glamorous exhibition at MAD inspired by "Au bonheur des Dames" and the eye-catching exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce.