Pierre et Gilles' politically incorrect exhibition in Paris

The Musée de la Musique at the Philharmonie de Paris hosts 'Pierre et Gilles – La Fabrique des idoles', a major monographic exhibition dedicated to the French duo Pierre (born 1950 in Roche-sur-Yon) and Gilles (born 1953 in Le Havre). The show features 110 photo-paintings, 25 record covers, 200 memorabilia objects, 6 music videos, and about 140 songs available via audio guides. The duo, who met at a party in 1976, create hybrid works blending painting and photography, reality and fantasy, dream and nightmare, centered on portraiture. Their subjects range from unknown people to global stars like Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Boy George, Stromae, Kylie Minogue, Dita Von Teese, and Michael Jackson, each posed in complex studio sets and then subjected to an elaborate pictorial process including handcrafted frames. The exhibition includes an 'altar of music' installation resembling a Neapolitan votive shrine dedicated to the Madonna, saints, and Maradona, with a screen showing 1980s music videos. Curated by Milan Garcin, an art historian and doctoral candidate at the École du Louvre, the show explores how Pierre et Gilles draw from classical art and hagiographic traditions to create a 'iconoclastic and sentimental pantheon'. The exhibition runs until February 23, 2020.