November 5 - December 18, 2026
opening Thursday November 5 from 5 p.m.
dedication of the exhibition book by the artist
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., during the opening
Exhibition from Thursday November 5 to Saturday December 19, 2026
Tuesday to Saturday, 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Thursdays will be late night until 8:30 p.m. - Metro: Odéon, Bus 58 & 70
Arsenic Galerie
14, Rue Guénégaud - 75006 Paris
[from the press release]
Heir to the symbolism and anti-naturalist aesthetic of Gustave Moreau, who reinvented the femme fatale, Gilles Berquet unveils a timeless photographic universe that is both subversive and poetic. He also belongs to the transgressive lineage of Pierre Molinier, whose photographs, discovered in the 1980s, proved a catalyst for him. Like Molinier, Berquet approaches the human body as if it were a text, a living language coded by unconscious desires upon which society continually imposes its norms and laws. Through his photographic creations, his set and prop designs, Gilles Berquet shifts the eroticism of power toward a surreal dreamlike quality that evokes claustrophobic settings, film noir, comics, and genre cinema.
Unlike Pierre Molinier, whose photographs are self-portraits of his inner fantasies, Gilles Berquet illuminates the bodies of others. In the workshop that serves as his shooting studio, the women who pose for his lens do so with a profound desire to see themselves. The unfolding of this "intimate ceremony" is guided by Gilles Berquet's visions, "on the lookout for a gesture or an attitude that will give a particular presence to the person being photographed." He relies on the creative collaboration of the artist Mirka Lugosi, the third eye who, from the perspective of the scene, suggests poses to the protagonist, encouraging her to interact with set elements and props made by Berquet. "I don't like using manufactured objects that you might see in other photographers' work. It's not a form of protection, but rather a way of distinguishing myself. It's also to inject humor into an approach that could otherwise seem austere or harsh," he explains.
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