Odore: An Olfactory Art History at Galerie Pauline Pavec

The exhibition 'Odore. L’art, l’odeur et le sacré' at Galerie Pauline Pavec in Paris, running until February 20, 2021, explores olfactory art through historical and contemporary works. Curated by Sandra Barré, a researcher in olfactory art history, the show presents pieces by Marcel Duchamp, Mathieu Mercier, Joseph Beuys, Jana Sterbak, Sarah Trouche, and Orlan. The exhibition traces the use of scent in art from ancient Greek and Roman practices—where statues were perfumed to carry prayers to gods—to modern and contemporary works that treat fragrance as a plastic medium. Duchamp's 1919 'Air de Paris' (a sealed ampoule of Parisian air) is cited as a pivotal moment, elevating scent to art. The show also references shamanic and druidic traditions of using smoke and plant essences for mystical journeys. Barré aims to challenge the oculocentric bias of Western art history, proposing that scent can access the divine and rewrite art history through bodily experience. The exhibition includes theoretical framing from the catalog, which notes that Western art has focused on visual and auditory perceptions, neglecting other senses. Artists are presented as contemporary magician-priests and alchemists, investigating the link between odor and prayer, the aura of perfume, and the power of olfactory environments and relics.