Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025.
Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
Pharrell Williams Curates Exhibition Celebrating Black Femininity at Perrotin Paris
On view through April 19, "FEMMES" is a dynamic group show that features 39 artists at the gallery’s storied Parisian headquarters
A few months ago, Pharrell Wiliams reached out to his friend gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin with an idea for an exhibition at his gallery. They are, in fact, seasoned collaborators. The duo had teamed up for a 2008 exhibition of chairs designed by the musician, titled “Perspectives,” and six years later, Pharrell organized the group show “G I R L” which featured the likes of Tracey Emin, Prune Nourry, and Guerrilla Girls. “It was exciting to imagine what could be done to bring our collaboration to another level,” Perrotin tells Galerie. The answer is “FEMMES,” a who’s who-type group show that currently occupies the gallery’s storied Parisian headquarters with the work of 39 artists selected by Pharrell himself.
Located in the Marais district, the 18th-century mansion’s ornate charm uplifts sculptures by such artists as Kapwani Kiwanga, Chiffon Thomas, Kennedy Yanko, and Betye Saar, as well as a large wave of paintings which include those by Tschabalala Self, Kathia St. Hilaire, Theresa Chromati, and Zéh Palito, Esther Mahlangu. Photography is also celebrated through a diverse approach to lens in the hands of Zanele Muholi, Carrie Mae Weems, and Leslie Hewitt. During last Thursday’s intimate opening remarks, the musician who has recently become the creative director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s collection described the show as an “installation itself,” and expressed his humbleness to “give reverence to Black thought and estrogen.” The 13-time Grammy winner explained his project as a “festival that will continue to grow.”
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
True to its title and its curator’s sentiment, the exhibition is a celebration of Black femininity and perseverance through the multitude of artistic potential. From Saar who is 99, to the 30-year-old painter Kathia St. Hilaire, the artists generational breadth—as well as narrative and visual—demonstrates the era-defining creative and activist stamina of its roster. Perrotin notes the artists’s “kaleidoscopic representation,” which he believes “forms the core of the show.”
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
Pharrell fills the light-filled space with vignettes of handful of artists which result in unexpected alchemies. The pairing of Kiwanga and Thomas by a large window, for example, yields a materially-rich conversation: the former’s wall-leaning sculpture Drying Fields (2016) blends the hauntingly white softness of sisal fiber with the immediacy of wooden beams, while Thomas’s untitled totemic concrete, steel, and metal sculpture (2023) responds with a breezy chilliness in texture and appearance. Another vignette in fact greets the visitors at the entrance with a textural richness that reflects the overall show’s promise. Chromati’s two large-scale acrylic and glitter paintings (both 2025) dance between the boundless storytelling ability of abstraction and playful nods to body and sexuality—a similar sculptural agility is not missing in Yanko’s floor sculpture Teary Eyed (2024) which pairs light mauve and stained yellow hues in metal’s industrial roughness. Steps away, Jess Atieno’s Black Madonna (2023) is a handwoven leso tapestry woven with East African documentary photography and the Swahili proverb which says, “a good thing sells, a bad thing advertises.”
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
While the show’s title and theme celebrate matriarchal ingenuity, a few male artists are invited into the fete, and among them are Todd Gray whose collaged photography Conjure Women (Hollywood/Akwidaa) (2025) sits in a sculptural frame and juxtaposes an editorial imagery with two stills from Ghana where the artist has a studio. Two male painters Zèh Palito and Henry Taylor deliver an intergenerational outlook on Black figuration, radiating a similarly unrestraint representation of the body. Next to them run three video works by Lauren Kelley who puts a witty spin on the show’s exploration of femininity and the self.
"We both approach the art world with an open mind and I deeply admire Pharrell’s multifaceted creativity.”
Emmanuel Perrotin
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
“Pop culture and its visual language have always been deeply embedded in our creative DNA, a connection that is evident in today’s show,” adds Perrotin about his ongoing collaboration with Pharrell. They met in 2007 at a Miami party and immediately bonded over a mutual love for the Japanese art scene, particularly for Takashi Murakami. “FEMMES” extends the duo’s curiosity to expand the defiers of an exhibition project. “We both approach the art world with an open mind,” says the dealer, “and I deeply admire Pharrell’s multifaceted creativity.”
FEMMES is on view at Perrotin through April 19, 2025
See more images below:
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025. Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
Cover: Views of the exhibition ”FEMMES curated by Pharrell Williams“ at Perrotin Paris, 2025.
Photo: Claire Dorn. Courtesy of all the artists and Perrotin © ADAGP, Paris, 2025
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