At the Palais de Tokyo, Pauline Curnier Jardin delves into myths and bodies

Since April 3, 2026, the Palais de Tokyo has been hosting a major exhibition dedicated to Pauline Curnier Jardin, entitled Virages Vierges (Virgin Turns). Until September 13, the French artist presents an immersive experience blending installations, films, performances, and drawings. Conceived in collaboration with the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, this project explores representations of the body, rituals, and social norms through a sensory experience that challenges the viewer's usual points of reference.

An immersive journey through rituals, myths and transgression

The exhibition is structured as a journey rather than a linear narrative. According to Sortiraparis, visitors move through environments inspired by religious architecture as well as natural and urban spaces, where mythological figures, folkloric references, and contemporary imaginaries intersect. Films, installations, and immersive devices compose a fragmented, often theatrical whole, where images follow one another without attempting to impose a single interpretation.

The body, and in particular the female body, is central to this exhibition. It is shown in both its fragility and its power, caught in the tensions between sacred and profane, control and desire. The project draws on multiple references—Christian iconography, ancient myths, and folk tales—to question social norms and representations related to gender and sexuality. The exhibition thus presents transgressive figures and ritual gestures that directly challenge established frameworks.

A sensory exhibition that rejects simple answers

Entitled Virages Vierges (Virgin Turns), the exhibition takes as its starting point the idea of ​​deviation and deviating from the established path. The Palais de Tokyo explains that this notion refers to narratives that stray from expected routes to open up other possibilities, particularly concerning female bodies, often caught between idealization and stigmatization. The artist thus constructs a universe where identities and roles shift, never settling into fixed positions.

This approach is also reflected in the very form of the exhibition. The layout is deliberately disorienting, almost labyrinthine, inviting visitors to feel rather than immediately understand. Each installation acts as a sensory device, where light, sound, and movement create an experience that is as much physical as it is visual. Having already participated in group exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo such as Dynasty in 2010 and Anticorps in 2020, Pauline Curnier Jardin here fully inhabits the space with a project that extends her research on margins, rituals, and forms of resistance.