“When the gallery asked me to curate a show at White Cube Paris salon, I was exhilarated and also thought, fuck. How to dare… “, says Michele Lamy ahead of her Sweet Lust exhibition, which opens today in Paris. In spite of her nervousness, Lamy displays a feeling of home in her show, which honours artists who have inspired her throughout her career and addresses a subject that has intrigued her for many years: the body.
Through works from 1929 to the present day, Sweet Lust celebrates a poetics of the body, curated by the White Cube’s senior director, Mathieu Paris. From a wide range of perspectives, the show examines the human form – from expressions of corporeality to expressions of carnal impulses – but the works in the show are united by the agitation of “preconceptions of the body and its representation.”
The show includes everything from drawing and painting to sculpture and installation works. Lamy’s partner, Rick Owens, whose sculptural furniture will be on display, will join the 25 artists, including mid-century disruptors Hans Bellmer and Louise Bourgeois, YBA legend Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas, and younger artists Somaya Critchlow and Korakrit Arunanondchai.
“The body is beautiful and we are happy to present a story of our time, one that proposes a new stage of opportunity and strength,” says Lamy of the show. “I hope that my Deleuzian assemblage, like a code of conduct, will allow you to desire the show as an ensemble, even though it’s in their singularities that I adore each and every one of the artists. Sweet Lust everybody!”
Sweet Lust is curated by Michèle Lamy and Mathieu Paris and is on view at White Cube Paris from 3 March – 30 April 2022.
Cody is the Editor in Chief and senior contributor at liminul.
He is a photography aficionado, fashion enthusiast, avid Lana Del Rey fan, and lover of all things aesthetically pleasing.