1. Dries Van Noten – Inspirations
Youth, youth, youth, ENERGY. Walking through the front doors of this exhibit is like stumbling into a basement 80s nightclub on freeze-frame. This showcase is all about culture meeting clothing, and designer Dries Van Noten’s part in the past 30 years of visual history.
Highlights of his various collections are showcased next to the art, pop culture images, and clothing that have inspired him, making a cool collage effect. The exhibit works as a submersion into Van Noten’s inspirations as well as the creations he manifested from them.
It’s a trip into the designers mind. It’s a dream that has become reality. It’s the happening place to be this spring.
This is no invitation into a Parisian atelier; it’s a welcome into the scene Van Noten’s work created, an exhibition of culture and ripple effects.

Les Arts Décoratifs – Mode et textile 107, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris Open: March 1- August 31 // Tuesdays to Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Métro: Palais-Royal, Pyramides ou Tuileries

2. Astralis
Entering off a Champs-Elysées side street and then being welcomed into a black-out elevator, this exhibit is about losing your sense of reality and being given a new one. All contemporary art, it pushes you to come eye to eye with the abstract.
The exhibit’s concept of bringing together art that delves into “Astral” (invisible) depths is uniquely alive in each of the 12 pieces. Be sure to pick up the informational paper at the beginning of the visit that thoroughly explains each artist and piece chronologically. Without it, each œuvre is universes away from reality and comprehension. With it and with understanding, contemporary art has never been so potent.

Espace culturel Louis Vuitton 60, rue de Bassano or 101, avenue des Champs-Élysées 75008 Paris Open: February 7- May 11 // Monday to Saturday from 12pm to 7pm, Sunday from 11am to 7pm Métro: George V

3. Papier Glacé
Without a doubt one of the best exhibits of the season, Papier Glacé has brought forth the most glorious pieces of fashion photography published by Condé Nast. Delving into this physical manifestation of our favorite magazines (Vogue, Vanity Fair, W…) is to leave reality and enter the world fashion editors and their photographers have created for us. With various couture pieces also displayed, this exhibit is what every woman– and plenty of men– in Paris have waited for for years. Magazine pages, here, leave the second dimension.

Palais Galliera, musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris
10, av. Pierre Ier de Serbie
75116 Paris Open: March 5- May 25 // Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm Métro: Iéna

4. Henri Cartier-Bresson
Cartier-Bresson was able to catch a spirit in the people he photographed, a narrative that not only details a person, but an era. He pulled together the elements around him masterfully, placing his lens in a subtle way that evoked an inaccessible truth within his subject.
This exhibition goes from accurately representing the cheery daily life and streets scenes of the 1930s to plunging the observer into dark rues swallowed in a second World War. The works breathe potency through composition. Cartier-Bresson’s eye for capturing more than just an image makes him stand out as one of the 20th century’s great artists. The exhibit is an intimate masterpiece of design, but have a coffee first– you’ll need it to soak in the 500 plus photographs, drawings, paintings, films, and documents.

Centre Pompidou Place Georges-Pompidou 75004 Paris Open: February 12- June 9 // Every day except Tuesdays from 11am to 10pm Métro: Hôtel de Ville

5. Mathieu Pernot: La Traversée, The Crossing
This exhibition is about putting raw, honest portrayals of life shaped by poverty within the stark white walls of museum. It’s a social experiment of sorts, a situational irony that asks you to consider what is happing in Paris’ streets and suburbs while you indulge in art. Pernot’s photographs are personal and human, displaying the worn faces of gypsies, migrants, and other social outcasts.
The most moving piece in the exhibit though, is a wall of framed notebook pages covered in handwritten Farsi. The photographer once took an empty school notebook, gave it to a homeless Afghani migrant, and asked him for his story. What is written is for you to discover there, with the words in front of you. (There are translation packets next to display.) Just don’t expect your eyes to be dry by the time you’re done.

Jeu de Paume 1, place de la Concorde 75008 Paris Open: Tuesday from 11am to 9pm, Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm Métro: Concorde

Article: Amanda Hinton