The French are showing Dan Graham plenty of amour this year. The American writer, curator and pioneering conceptual artist currently has a solo exhibition at MAMO, on the rooftop of Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse in Marseille. And this week, a new Graham exhibition opened at Marian Goodman's Paris space, centred on Passage Intime – the latest in a series of sculpture/architecture 'pavilions' Graham has been working on since the late 1970s.
Passage Intime is essentially two stainless steel curves holding two way mirrors. It allows for two people to walk between the curved screens at the same time, though with a degree of forced intimacy. Which is the point. 'Passage Intime can be seen either as a Tunnel of Love or as a frightening tight squeeze,' says Graham. 'A claustrophobic and uncomfortable spatial experience or an intimate body moment.' This discombobulation is compounded by the distorting effects of the curved two-way mirrors, for those inside and outside the passage. The work Graham says, is part 'fun house', part exploration of Lacanian theory.
The show also includes the first screening of Graham's 2004 satirical rock opera Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty; a collaboration with puppeteer Phillip Huber (whose CV includes Being John Malkovich and John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together), set designer Laurent Bergen and art-rockers Japanther.
On 12 October, Passage Intime will begin a month-long residency in Place Vendôme, partnered with another of Graham's pavilions, Two Nodes, currently on display at MAMO.
The work comprises two stainless steel curves holding two way mirrors. It allows for two people to walk between the curved screens at the same time, though with a degree of forced intimacy
A screening of Graham’s rock opera Don’t Trust Anyone Over Thirty, created with the help with satrical puppeteering heavyweight Phillip Huber, accompanies the installation
Graham describes Passage Intime as ’part fun house’ and part exploration of Lacanian theory, the space combining the distorted reflections of the former with the psychoanalytic instability of the latter
Next month, Passage Intime will move to the Place Vendôme to accompany Graham’s other pavillion, Two Nodes
INFORMATION
Website
Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery Paris. ’Dan Graham’ is on view until 8 October
ADDRESS
Marian Goodman Paris
79 Rue du Temple
75003 Paris
-
In Shanghai, Hermès conjures a ‘cosmopolitan explorer’ for its one-off show on the Huangpu RiverNadège Vanhée, artistic director of Hermès’ womenswear collections, presented ‘The Second Chapter’ of her A/W 2025 collection earlier this evening (13 June 2025) against the futuristic skyline of Shanghai
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Peugeot brings back a classic performance badge for the electric era: meet the E-208 GTiPeugeot has unveiled the new E-208 GTi, a performance EV designed to hark back to a golden age of compact sports cars
-
San Francisco’s controversial monument, the Vaillancourt Fountain, could be facing demolitionThe brutalist fountain is conspicuously absent from renders showing a redeveloped Embarcadero Plaza and people are unhappy about it, including the structure’s 95-year-old designer
-
See the fruits of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's creative and romantic union at Hauser & Wirth SomersetAn intimate exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset explores three decades of a creative partnership
-
Technology, art and sculptures of fog: LUMA Arles kicks off the 2025/26 seasonThree different exhibitions at LUMA Arles, in France, delve into history in a celebration of all mediums; Amy Serafin went to explore
-
Inside Yinka Shonibare's first major show in AfricaBritish-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare is showing 15 years of work, from quilts to sculptures, at Fondation H in Madagascar
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhoodTschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
-
Wanås Konst sculpture park merges art and nature in SwedenWanås Konst’s latest exhibition, 'The Ocean in the Forest', unites land and sea with watery-inspired art in the park’s woodland setting
