Enter through the doors at 18, rue de la Verrerie in Paris’ Marais district, walk through the courtyard and into the space that occupies Galerie Alaïa and discover a secret garden of sorts, 'planted' by designer and artist Kris Ruhs. The fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa commissioned Ruhs, who has also designed jewellery for Alaïa, to create his own magical world. Titled Hanging Garden, and on view until 27 December, the installation invites viewers to use their own imagination to transport them to a place of wonder.
Over a year, Ruhs and his team worked painstakingly with porcelain, brass and iron thread, creating over 45,000 pieces for the installation, which also comprises his first solo show in Paris. Curved brass forms delicate flower petals, while carefully formed pieces of porcelain are shaped to look like leaves. The dangling flowers hang over three islands that visitors can walk through.
'The experience of it is to look and get lost,' says Donatien Grau, an academic who works with Alaïa. Adds the artist, 'I like the movement, when people brush by it or whatever, it kind of gives you a little bit of lightness to it.' The walls of the space were also covered with swirls, and leaves and blossoms in metallic hues of gold, silver and bronze, accented with the same pieces in the garden. The project also got the local community involved; artists Julian Schnabel and Mike Bouchet participated in the installation, as did Alaïa and members of his team.
'Everybody has a different approach to it,' says Ruhs. 'Everybody has a different feeling. Everybody has a different reference, so that’s nice. It’s like theatre. I leave it in the hands of the audience.'
Over a year, Ruhs and his team worked painstakingly with porcelain, brass and iron thread, creating over 45,000 pieces for the installation, which also comprises his first solo show in Paris
Curved brass forms delicate flower petals, while carefully formed pieces of porcelain are shaped to look like leaves. ’The experience of it is to look and get lost,’ says Donatien Grau, an academic who works with Alaïa
INFORMATION
Hanging Garden is on view until 27 December
Photography courtesy Galleria Carla Sozzani
ADDRESS
Galerie Azzedine Alaïa
18, rue de la Verrerie
75004 Paris
-
Ashlyn, the quietly romantic New York label from a Yohji Yamamoto alumnaThe focus of our latest Uprising column, Seoul-born Ashlyn Park worked for fashion greats before starting her own label in 2020. Showing her S/S 2026 collection at NYFW yesterday, she talks to Wallpaper* about marrying Japanese influences with the romance of Parisian savoir-faire
-
'There is no way light and darkness are not in exchange with each other': step inside Christelle Oyiri’s sonic world in BerlinIn an explosion of light and sound, Christelle Oyiri explores celebrity, mythology and religion inside CANK, a former brutalist shopping centre in Berlin’s Neukölln
-
A family home turns into an immersive exhibition space for London Design FestivalCeramicist Emma Louise Payne displays design in domestic surrounds for group show ‘The Objects We Live By’
-
Stephen Prina borrows from pop, classical and modern music: now MoMA pays tribute to his performance work‘Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise’ recalls the artist, musician, and composer’s performances, and is presented throughout MoMA. Prina tells us more
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
-
Richard Prince recontextualises archival advertisements in TexasThe artist unites his ‘Posters’ – based on ads for everything from cat pictures to nudes – at Hetzler, Marfa
-
The best Ruth Asawa exhibition is actually on the streets of San FranciscoThe artist, now the subject of a major retrospective at SFMOMA, designed many public sculptures scattered across the Bay Area – you just have to know where to look
-
Orlando Museum of Art wants to showcase more Latin American and Hispanic artists. Do you fit the bill?The Florida gallery calls for for Hispanic and Latin American artists to submit their work for an ongoing exhibition
-
The spread of Butter: the Black-owned art fair where artists see all the profitsThe Indianapolis-based art fair is known for bringing Black art to the forefront. As it ventures out of state to make its Los Angeles debut, we speak with founders Mali and Alan Bacon to find out more
-
Steve Martin wants you to visit The Frick CollectionThe actor has appeared in a video promoting New York’s newly renovated art museum
-
Architect Erin Besler is reframing the American tradition of barn raisingAt Art Omi sculpture and architecture park, NY, Besler turns barn raising into an inclusive project that challenges conventional notions of architecture
