Bettina Rheims and Kader Attia at Musée d'art contemporain, Lyon

The Musée d'art contemporain in Lyon, France, presented a dual exhibition from June 16 to August 13, 2006, featuring Bettina Rheims and Kader Attia. Bettina Rheims, often described as a photographer of skin and the female nude, had her first retrospective in France, revealing a body of work that defies easy categorization. Her series 'Chambre close' (1991) explores intimacy and voyeurism, capturing the dramatic moment of unveiling. Rheims addresses themes of death, sexuality (homosexuality, transsexuality, prostitution), and disability (blindness) with a frank yet elegant gaze, walking a line between disturbance and shock. Her aesthetic, influenced by her fashion photography, is both beautiful and challenging, as seen in series like 'INRI' (1997), which reimagines religious iconography. Kader Attia's exhibition showcased works that play with perception and cultural symbols. His 2006 installation, composed of umbrella metal structures without handles or fabric, suggests giant spiders, evoking both childhood interpretation and Duchampian ready-made. The spider carries dual symbolism: a phobic object in Western culture and a good-luck charm in Muslim culture. Attia's work invites multiple readings, confronting fantasies and cultural biases. The exhibition also highlighted Attia's trajectory from a modest suburb to major museums. A separate exhibition of Kader Attia was scheduled at Le Magasin in Grenoble from October 15, 2006, to January 7, 2007.