until Sunday January 19 2025

Petit Palais
Av. Winston Churchill
75008 Paris
France

Press Contact
Mathilde Beaujard
T : +33 01 53 43 40 00
mathilde.beaujard@paris.fr

International Press
Alexis Grégorat / Claudine Colin Communication
alexis@claudinecolin.com
https://www.petitpalais.paris.fr

For the very first time, the Petit Palais is opening its doors to urban artists, inviting them to partake in a subtle dialogue with its permanent collections and its architecture. A veritable exploration of street art can be experienced through this unique exhibition, open free of charge to the public.

The title of the exhibition, We Are Here, has been used as a slogan in different historical and contemporary contexts, such as the civil rights movement. It is associated with messages of affirmation, resilience, and protest, while expressing the visibility and legitimacy acquired by this art movement.

It is the brainchild of Mehdi Ben Cheikh, Director of the Galerie Itinerrance, and curator of the exhibition along with Annick Lemoine, Director of the Petit Palais, in collaboration with the Association de promotion des arts plastiques et urbains contemporains (APAPUC). The exhibition brings together a host of remarkable street art pieces.

Thirteen key artists from the street art movement like Shepard Fairey, Invader, D*Face, Seth, Cleon Peterson, Hush, Swoon, Vhils, Inti, Add Fuel, and Conor Harrington take over the Petit Palais with a selection of monumental works, fostering a dialogue with the Museum’s collections. The exhibition features over two hundred works, all of which are presented in the same gallery space. This spectacular installation was designed as a tribute to the different art salons and fairs of previous times, like the Salon des Refusés and Salon d’Automne, at the origin of numerous artistic revolutions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this vein, the works on display have been created by major artists who have written and continue to write the history of street art. The immersive scenography invites the public to discover the diversity and wealth of this thriving movement.

Curators:
Annick Lemoine, Director of the Petit Palais, head curator
Mehdi Ben Cheikh, Director of the Galerie Itinerrance, specialist curator