Fabulous Femmes: Pharrell Williams celebrates Black femininity in new Paris art show

In  FEMMES, a group exhibition, Williams explores the enduring impact of Black women – “the artists who transform the world through the power of their hands” – through an exploration of femininity.

Artists include pioneers octogenarian Esther Mahlangu and Carrie Mae Weems to emerging talent such as Tschabalala Self, Emma Prempeh and Naomi Lulendo.  

“Women have been such a force in my life from my grandmothers to my mother, to my wife, my daughter, my nieces, my cousins, people on my team, and people on our extended bench. Women are an amazing force for good in the world,” says Pharrell who is married to model and designer Helen Lasichanh, with a family of four children.  

The subject of identity is tenderly captured in Kenturah Davis’ work on delicate woven paper while Tschabalala Self celebrates the black female body in her joyous screen prints featuring lounging figures.  

The show is eclectic, of course Happy, and expansive featuring 40 cross generation artists who explore the many facets of black womanhood spanning body, fashion, motherhood, activism, queerness and spirituality, through multiple media including photography, painting and, the traditionally under regarded realm of textile art. As Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Creative Director, it is a genre that fascinates Pharrell.  

Mixed-media emotions

The impact and power of art: what it can be and what it can open eyes to is a driving force for both Pharrell and Perrotin who nimbly tap the convergences between fashion, art, and music. But at this show, the dedication and brilliance of black female artists reign supreme. 

There are mesmerising pigment print portraits of Nina Simone and Eartha Kitt by American artist Carrie Mae Weems, alongside bold graphic abstract paintings by South African Esther Mahlangu who was born in 1935.

Meanwhile young London talent Emma Prempeh explores ancestral threads in her vivid cinematic paintings, while Lauren Kelley skews stereotypes with her stop motion animations featuring black Barbie dolls.

Pool party partners

The FEMMES exhibition is a follow up to the 2014 group show G I R L at Perrotin Paris, inspired by Pharrell’s eponymous hit album.

Pharrell Williams and Emmanuel Perrotin first met in 2007 at a pool party in Miami.

They bonded over their mutual admiration for the Japanese art scene led by Takashi Murakami. “I’ve always felt grateful to be one of the people that gets to work with him. Every time we’re able to collaborate, he makes me see my worth that I don’t see in myself, even as a musician. He has the ability to recognise things that will be cultural, make cultural impact and light fires in places that were once something else,” says Pharrell. The respect is mutual. “Pharrell is so nice and open to everyone, always in a good mood, and always easy going. It’s unbelievable, considering his many years of success and his central role in the cultural landscape,” says Perrotin of his friend who also opened his eyes to many under the radar artists in the show.  

Perrotin, founded in Paris in 1990 by Emmanuel Perrotin at the young age of 21 is a blue-chip gallery that works at the nexus of pop culture and art. The Claridge’s ArtSpace venue in London is the newest in the Perrotin’s roster that spans Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Los Angeles. “Emmanuel represents this amazing platform, curated with a very refined spectrum of taste and a really specific point of view on not just what art is, but what art can be. He is one of the people that I really look up to in terms of high-level taste, who sees me. That’s the greatest honor,”  says Pharrell.