Pharrell Williams’ FEMMES At Galerie Perrotin
Pharell Williams is not just a singer-songwriter. He is also a curator and loves ART! Williams in collaboration with Galerie Perrotin, presents FEMMES, which honors the racial experiences of more than 40 African women. The free-for-all show runs from March 20 to April 19, 2025. The exhibition comprises paintings, sculptures, large-scale installations, and multimedia exhibits.
Courtesy – Artsy
At Galerie Perrotin, FEMMES artwork and curation honours strength, resilience, and creativity. A sheer celebration of black joy, it spotlights women with their creative expressions. Pharrell Williams investigates Black women as —“the artists who change the world through the power of their craft”—focusing on femininity.
What is Pharrell Williams’ FEMMES About?
FEMMES is a tribute to the influential women in Pharrell Williams’ life—wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, and muses—by displaying the works of Afro-descendant artists from various generations. Pharrell has brought together a complex and ubiquitous representation and nature of black women to honour the women who have supported him in his personal and professional life.
Pharrell William notes, “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.” MSN reports.
Courtesy – Perrotin Gallery
The 40 inter-generational artists at Galerie Perrotin work around the equally myriad aspects of black womanhood, encompassing body, fashion, motherhood, activism, queerness, and spirituality, through a range of media, including photography, painting, and the often-overlooked field of textile art. Their art is an exchange between historical and contemporary themes. With FEMMES, Pharrell Williams invites audiences to reconsider traditional depictions of women in art and to acknowledge their vital roles in shaping cultural and societal landscapes.
Artists in Galerie Perrotin’s FEMMES and What They Represent?
FEMMES brings along experienced individuals alongside emerging talents such as Naomi Lulendo, Nina Chanel Abney, Betye Saar, Gabriel Moses, Todd Gray, Leslie Hewitt, Alex Gardner, Tavares Strachan, Chiffon Thomas, Zéh Palito, and Kenia Almaraz Murillo at Galerie Perrotin. Kenturah Davis, using woven paper has explicitly captured the theme of identity. Tschabalala Self honours the black female form through her lively screen prints depicting relaxed figures.
Courtesy – Artsy
The artworks also include American artist, Carrie Mae Weems’ stunning pigment print portraits of Nina Simone and Eartha Kitt. South African artist Esther Mahlangu (1935)’s bold graphic abstract works. Young London artist Emma Prempeh dismantles ancestry through cinematic paintings, while Lauren Kelley challenges stereotypes with her stop-motion animations of black Barbie Dolls.
Courtesy – Artsy
Haitian artist Kathia St. Hilaire and Zimbabwean artist Georgina Maxim are a hit with their textile artworks, often traditionally done by women. South African artist, Zanele Muholi has curated striking portraits that redefine Black identity. American artist Mickalene Thomas slays with pop culture’s visual vernacular in FEMMES.
Courtesy – YouTube
Author and curator, Louise Thurin reports, “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 honour the artists—these Soldiers of Love— who transform the world through the power of their hands.” FAD Magazine reports.
Pharrell Williams and Galerie Perrotin’s Emmanuel Perrotin Friendship
You would be shocked to know, but Pharrell Williams and Emmanuel Perrotin met during a pool party in Miami in 2007. The admiration of the Japanese art scene, especially Takashi Murakami became a productive partnership, resulting in Perspectives (2008) and G I R L (2014), a homage to Pharrell’s famous album. Both Pharrell and Perrotin believe in art’s potential to enlighten. The ideology motivates them to explore the intersections of fashion, art, and music.
Courtesy – Tanguy Beurdeley/ Courtesy Perrotin
Pharrell Williams is amazed by Emmanuel’s taste, entrepreneurial mindset, and innovative vision. Emmanuel Perrotin founded Galerie Perrotin in Paris in 1990 at just 21, The prestigious gallery showcases the intersection of pop culture and art. The gallery has branches in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and London.
Image – Nina Chanel Abney. Marabou (2024). Courtesy – Nina Chanel Abney
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