Exhibition "Confrontation générationnelle: Alexandre Valette - Niki de Saint Phalle - Damoclès" at M.A.K. Galerie

Let Niki de Saint Phalle's camel carry you through this luminous exhibition. He'll guide you between the "Méditation" by painter Alexandre Valette and the "Kentin" travelers by Damoclès, in collaboration here with Maison Pinel&Pinel... it all happens at M.A.K. Galerie, 24 avenue Matignon, until June 30.

Afamily business established in the "Golden Triangle" since the 1950s, the gallery moved to Avenue Matignon in 2010. At the time, it was known as "Espace Marc-Arthur Kohn". In 2023,Valérie Kohn took over aspresident and renamed the gallery "M.A.K. Galerie" .Valérie and Marc-Arthur Kohn are also members of the Comité Utrillo-Valadon. The Committee holds its appraisal meetings for works by Maurice Utrillo and Suzanne Valadon at the gallery, 24 avenue Matignon.

M.A.K. Galerie, meeting place of the Utrillo-Valadon Committee

Valérie Kohn and her team follow in thefootsteps of the great modern and contemporary art dealers. For example, they staged a highly acclaimed Christo exhibition to coincide with the packaging of the Arc de Triomphe in 2021. More recently, they have showcased paintings by Achille Laugé, Edgar Degas, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion... to name but a few artists recently honored by Parisian or international museums. After Arman, César and Jim Dine, Niki de Saint Phalle is the star of the "Confrontation générationnelle" exhibition. Her works are in dialogue with those of two emerging artists, Alexandre Valette and Damoclès, in collaboration with Maison Pinel&Pinel.

Niki de Saint Phalle, designer

A key figure in the history of art and design in the second half of the 20th century, Niki de Saint Phalle advocated total art. She designed the sets and furniture for the films she directed. She was still in the early stages of the Tarot Garden in Tuscany when she was consecrated "designer" at the Musée d'Art Moderne for the pair of armchairs that catch your eye as you enter the gallery on the left. This is a series numbered in small numbers; Monsieur is an artist's proof. An Oiseau amoureux and an Ange could be used as vases, and the Chameau as a jardinière. The bestiary would not be complete without Thoëris, the Egyptian hybrid deity, half hippopotamus, half crocodile, protector of the home.

Alexandre Valette's luminescent paintings

Already on the street, the glow of the shop window intrigues you. What is it? No, it's not neon. They're Alexandre Valette's oil paintings, done using traditional techniques, but rendered in a strikingly luminous way. The paintings on display can be read in counterpoint to each other. The Meditation series opens windows that invite you on an inner journey. All around you, everything disappears. The Immanence series is designed to bring you face to face with the materiality of the work and its immateriality. Colors vibrate. You become aware of the light waves that surround you.

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Damocles Translucent Sculptures

Damoclès puts the teaching he received at the Ecole Professionnelle de Dessin Industriel (EPDI) in Paris to good use in his kinetic, graphic and sculptural works. For this exhibition, he is collaborating with Maison Pinel&Pinel.

First and foremost, it's the story of a meeting between two men in search of adventure. On the one hand, an artist involved in the non-profit world, founder of BunCoeurDamoclès, and whose Kentin are an eponymous tribute to his son. On the other, Fred Pinel, a passionate craftsman whose "Made in Paris" creations are handmade to order in his 20th arrondissement workshop. The Kentins, who seem to gaze in amazement at the world around them, come in a cheerful, colorful range that has found its counterpart in Pinel&Pinel leathers.

So go ahead, take a Kentin to a desert island in its matching trunk.