The Best (Free!) Exhibitions at Parisian Galleries

No need to queue for hours in front of the most popular museums of the capital to get a shot of culture. It's buzzing around art galleries and third places, which are currently presenting free and ultra-inspiring expos. On the program: paintings with a wild world atmosphere, a retrospective on the most beautiful Malian photographs, a world tour in one gallery, a girls only expo curated by the one and only Pharrell Williams, or even a retrospective on the Série Noire that will give you sleepless nights… Shall we take you along?

Miss an artist freshly exhibited at the Musée de l’Orangerie? Hell no. We rush to the Marais at the iconic Galerie Templon of Grenier-Saint-Lazare, where the great painter Philippe Cognée is displayed until May 3rd for the desirable expo Paysages Fragmentés.

Philippe Cognée is a real big boss of contemporary art: Villa Médicis laureate, finalist of the Prix Marcel Duchamp… His talent? Sublimating the banal. His technique? The painter is a virtuoso of encaustic, a technique consisting of diluting colors in melted wax. For this exposition, the painter offers us a new interpretation of the landscape. We find ourselves face to face with his fascinating and disturbing scenes of forests, fields, or his raging marine views, offering a sharp look at a disenchanted era. A true questioning of our relationship with nature, this ultra-current expo is not to be missed under any circumstances!

Philippe Cognée, “Paysages Fragmentés”, from March 8th to May 3rd at Galerie Templon, 28 rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare. Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm.

About sixty works are exhibited for this panorama of Malian photography, a reminder of the importance of this art in the country of the Biennale de Bamako. Un autre Mali dans un autre monde is the current expo at Quai de la Photo, a place with an unusual concept mixing living space, marina, and art center, docked on the quays of the 13th arrondissement.

We embark on a true retrospective! From mythical shots of youth in Bamako by the pioneer Sidibé in the 60’s to the current scene, we discover the talent of the Malians for this art that is photography. This hybrid living space gives more than an important place to these African artists rarely exhibited, through this highly immersive journey with singular stories and views. Big crush on the elegant and modern black-and-white portraits of Seydou Keïta. The must: enjoying a drink facing La Seine after the expo.

Un autre Mali dans un autre monde at Quai de la Photo, 9 port de la Gare, Paris 13e. Open from Wednesday to Sunday from noon to midnight, exhibitions open from 11 am to 8 pm.

Award-winning several times, the Italian photojournalist Paolo Pellegrin even has a photo album dedicated to his work by Reporters Sans Frontières. In two words: pure class. In the Marais, at the atypical Galerie de l’Instant, the artist makes a stop for a beautiful retrospective of his photos.

More than just reportage photos, we detect in his work an outstanding artistic eye. A true nomad, we travel with him to Greece, Japan, Switzerland, or New York through his urban photos and breathtaking landscapes. Our favorites: his photo of a market in Cuba with an Edward Hopper ambiance, or that of New York City in 2011, which, in its light contrasts on the buildings, almost reminds us of the Animals album cover by Pink Floyd… And speaking of legendary album covers, the gallery is full of gems from past expos in its basement to (re)discover. Too cool: we take the opportunity to see the photo/cover of Melody Nelson by Gainsbourg, alongside other hyper-glamorous shots from the 60’s / 70’s…

Galerie de l’Instant, 46 rue de Poitou, Paris 3e. Open from Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 6:30 pm.

The King Pharrell Williams, a true jack-of-all-trades capable of turning everything he touches into gold (his collections for Vuitton sell like hotcakes), is the curator of the exposition Femmes, held at Galerie Perrotin until April 19th.

Through the works of about forty artists, including Gaëlle Choisne and Zanele Muholi, the genius of beauty highlights the female figures that have always inspired him. Girlpower! Better yet: the racial heritage of Pharrell also influences his choice of artists for his collaborations, exhibiting the works of nearly forty artists, all with African roots. This exposition continues the collaboration between Pharrell Williams and Emmanuel Perrotin. If you only knew the man for his hits (Happy, Get Lucky…), Pharrell has more than one string to his bow. The tireless and unstoppable creator, capable of producing global hits while assuming the role of co-chair of the Met Gala 2025 (yes, yes…), has already curated several exhibitions at Perrotin, notably Girl in 2014. We love it!

Femmes at Galerie Perrotin, 76 rue de Turenne, Paris 3e. From March 20th to April 19th. Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm.

We move from book to screen with the new exhibition at Galerie Gallimard, which offers an exhibition on its cult collection Série Noire, launched by Marcel Duhamel.Nicknamed by crime novel lovers as The Queen of the Night, the book series was immortalized by 1950s cinema. Meet at the gallery to (re)discover its cultural impact.

Hyper emblematic, these crime novels with their black and yellow covers, recognizable among thousands, revolutionized genre literature. Corrupt cops, unsolvable mysteries, the French have devoured these immoral stories of crooks and violence.Great, this year, we celebrate properly the 80 years of the collection! With 3,000 crime novels and around 500 films, the literary series has forged its myth.After World War II, there was a real boom of film noir on the big screens in the US as well as in France.How can we not think of the brilliant adaptation of the book Touchez pas au Grisbi, with Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura, or the super classy Jeanne Moreau?In short, after the expo, we reread the most chilling classics of Carter Brown or rewatch Les Passagers de la Nuit with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

La Série Noire au cinéma, 80 ans d’écrans noirs et de nuits blanches, from March 28th to May 13th, 2025, at Galerie Gallimard, 30 Rue de l’Université, Paris 7e. Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 1 pm to 7 pm.

The Swedish Institute, in the heart of the Marais, offers a top-notch artistic journey 2-in-1, between the great painter Barbro Östlihn and a retrospective of the revolutionary museum curator Pontus Hulten.

Unthinkable not to discover the work of the artist Barbro Östlihn. This avant-garde painter experienced the full rise of the pop-art movement and was one of the only ones to be exhibited in London in 1969 in the expo dedicated to this artistic movement.The visit begins with a first presentation of her New York period, and we also discover the mythical works and the artist’s eternal fascination for architectural details, but also plenty of sketches and photos.Her first retrospective in France is an absolute must-see.We also take a detour to the ultra-design expo Keep Smiling by Pontus Hulten, Swedish art curator and first director of the Centre Pompidou.Totally aesthetic and modern posters from legendary expos are on display.So, ready for a getaway to Sweden?

Institut Suédois, 11 rue Payenne, Paris 3e. Ouvert du mardi au dimanche de 12 à 19h et le jeudi de 12h à 21h.

Also discover The fantastic mr Wes Anderson at the Cinematèque and Couture Kimonos at the Quai Branly Museum