FEMMES Curated by Pharrell Williams

Zanele Muholi Simthembile I, East London, 2017 Baryta print Image and paper size: 35.1 x 21.5 in. | 80 x 54.6 cm Edition of 8 + 2AP Courtesy Zanele Muholi; Southern Guild, Cape Town/Los Angeles; and Yancey Richardson, New York. © Zanele Muholi.

Perrotin presents FEMMES a group exhibition curated by Pharrell Williams featuring nearly 40 artists.

Pharrell Williams and Emmanuel Perrotin have shared a creative bond since first meeting in 2007 in Miami, where they connected over their admiration for the Japanese art scene led by Takashi Murakami.

*Pharrell Williams and Emmanuel Perrotin Photo: Tanguy Beurdeley Courtesy of Perrotin*

Featured artists: Nina Chanel Abney, Mequitta Ahuja, Kenia Almaraz Murillo, Malala Andrialavidrazana, Jess Atieno, Seyni Awa Camara, Gaëlle Choisne, Joana Choumali, Theresa Chromati, Kenturah Davis, Alex Gardner, Todd Gray, Prince Gyasi, Leslie Hewitt, Reggie Burrows Hodges, Lauren Kelley, Kapwani Kiwanga, Glenn Ligon, Naomi Lulendo, Esther Mahlangu, Georgina Maxim, Gabriel Moses, Zanele Muholi,
Thandiwe Muriu, Zéh Palito, Emma Prempeh, Robert Pruitt, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Betye Saar, Cinga Samson, Tschabalala Self, Kathia St. Hilaire, Tavares Strachan, Henry Taylor, Mickalene Thomas, Chiffon Thomas, Eden Tinto Collins, Carrie Mae Weems, Kennedy Yanko.

Expressions of respect and brotherhood between the two are frequent, with each recognizing the other’s enduring influence, relevance, and contributions to contemporary art and culture. Pharrell is particularly appreciative of Emmanuel’s taste, entrepreneurial spirit, and forward-thinking vision, while Emmanuel commends Pharrell for his multifaceted creativity, his dedication to family, and his generosity as a friend.

Pharrell’s sense of reverence for the women who have shaped his life—wife, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends and muses—inspires their upcoming collaboration, FEMMES.

*Tavares Strachan Black Madonna (Kadiatou Diallo and Amadou Diallo), 2022 Bronze, copper leaf 61 × 37 × 32 cm | 24 1/16 × 14 9/16 × 12 5/8 inches Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin*

Curated by Pharrell Williams and hosted by Emmanuel Perrotin’s Parisian gallery, this exhibition builds and expands on their past common endeavors, including the 2008 design exhibition Perspectives, which introduced Pharrell to Perrotin’s world and sparked an artistic dialogue between him and Takashi Murakami, Laurent Grasso, Sophie Calle and Daniel Arsham among others. It also follows the success and focus of the 2014 group show G I R L at Perrotin Paris, inspired by Pharrell’s eponymous hit album.

As Black women are important figures of personal inspiration for Williams, their kaleidoscopic representation is the core matrix of FEMMES, with the work of artists of African descent across generations serving as its foundation.

Robert Pruitt Figure Crowned in T.S.U. Ceramic Headdress (After Roy Vinson Thomas), 2024 Charcoal, Conté, pastel and coffee wash on paper 213.4 x 152.4 cm I 84 x 60 inches Photo: Elizabeth Bernstein Courtesy the Artist and Salon 94

At its heart, FEMMES is an anthem, leading the marching band of Black joy and creating space for ongoing and future cultural shifts. It is a celebration, a call to honor the artists—these Soldiers of Love— who transform the world through the power of their hands. With an unwavering commitment to art in all its forms, the curator-gallerist duo invites us on a spaceship journey into a constellation of brilliance—a creative ecosystem where humanity takes center stage and reigns supreme.
— Louise Thurin, author and curator