10 EXHIBITIONS NOT TO MISS IN FRANCE – JANUARY 2026

The year 2026 begins with an array of exhibitions centered on the theme of the environment. The artists, deeply concerned with the living, waste, the Anthropocene, and biology, reshape our sensitivity to ecological issues. We borrow the name of the Fresnoy exhibition at the Théâtre des Amandiers to testify to a real morphogenesis between artists and the public this January!

Tender Debris
Group show
With : Pilar Albarracín, William Amor, Arman, Julien Berthier, François Dufrêne, Perrine Guyonnet, Raymond Hains, George Herms, Martin Kersels, Louise Nevelson, Henrique Oliveira, Duke Riley, Niki De Saint Phalle, Moffat Takadiwa, Jean Tinguely, Jacques Villeglé
Galerie Vallois, Paris
Until March 7, 2026

The exhibition highlights, alongside major figures of the Nouveau Réalisme movement, works by contemporary artists who create by valuing discarded materials, practice an art of recycling, and do so with political commitment or within an economic reasoning.

More info: here

Prince Toffa Robe mégots 2019 Cigarette butts on fabric 106 ¹/₄ x 98 ³/₈ x 78 ³/₄ inches

Les Animaux ne portent pas de chaussures
Curator : Anne-Laure Lestage
With : Ana Botezatu, Zélie Boulestreau, Corentin Grossmann, Raphaël Larre, Annette Messager, Shirley Nirina Thomas, Giuseppe Penone, Mathilde Rosier, Shimabuku, Kiki Smith, Ema Vanekovà.
Le Bel ordinaire, Pau
Until March 14, 2026

Various methods (painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, video, tapestry) invite viewers to look at animals with gentleness and respect. The sixteen works brought together by the curator challenge the boundaries between humans and non-humans and guide us toward symbiosis.

More info: here

Corentin Grossmann

Toxic Lands, Living Narratives
Co-curated with Sammy Baloji
Avec : Nilla Banguna, Sixte Kakinda, Godelive Kasangati Kabena, Lafleur & Bogaert, Mickaël-Sltan Mbanza, Pendezâ Mulamba.
Galerie Imane Fares, Paris
Until February 21, 2026

An exhibition that extends the research initiated during the most recent editions of the Lubumbashi Biennale, organized by the Picha association in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The artists examine colonial legacies and their lasting repercussions on bodies, territories, and imaginaries.

More info: here

INTRICATIONS
Josèfa Ntjam
IAC, Villeurbanne
Until February 22, 2026

The 2026 Marcel Duchamp Prize finalist transforms the art center’s space with chimeric figures and biological entities, offering an experience that is at once sensory, political, and mythological.

More info: here

© Josèfa Ntjam, “Sanctuaire des pluies anciennes”, 2025. Vue de l’exposition “INTRICATIONS” à l’IAC Villeurbanne, 2025. Courtesy de l’artiste et NICOLETTI, Londres. © ADAGP, Paris, 2025. Photo : Ivan Erofeev

Chaumont-Photo-sur-Loire 2025/2026
With : Guillaume Barth, Kim Boske, Tamás Dezsö, Vincent Fournier, Santeri Tuori
Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire
Until Feruary 22, 2026

The photographs by the artists in this edition invite us to take our time, to slow down, to pay attention to nature, and to reconnect with the living. This year, a space is dedicated to the Domaine’s photographic collection.

More info: here

Lumières sur le vivant. Regarder l’art et la nature
Vincent Munier
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg
Until April 27, 2026

Vincent Munier’s photographs call for a patient gaze to connect with the animal. They engage in a dialogue with works from the collections of the Museums of the City of Strasbourg (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Musée Zoologique, etc.). Here, the museum becomes a refuge for the living, to be contemplated and preserved.

More info: here

Vincent Munier : Lumières sur le vivant Photographe Munier Vincent

Morphogénèse – Tout est interaction
Group show
With: Hicham Berrada, Yue Cheng, Éléonore Geissler, Alain Fleischer, Yosra Mojtahedi, Momoko Seto
Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers
Until February 22, 2026

Morphogenesis is at the origin of this immersive exhibition, presented by Le Fresnoy – National Studio for Contemporary Arts, in which the works make perceptible the metamorphoses of the living and the transformations of matter.

More info: here

Momoko Seto, PLANET A, film, 7’40, 2008, production Le Fresnoy – Studio national

Armoires vides
Victoire Inchauspé
Galerie Jousse Entreprise, Paris
Until February 21, 2026

This is the artist’s first solo exhibition. A 2022 graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, her works, like relics, summon the cycles of nature, evoking both their fragility and their power.

More info: here

An Age of Liberty When the World Had Been Possible
Melanie Smith
Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Paris
Until February 27, 2026

The artist’s drawings, paintings, film, and installation, rooted in an almost anthropological approach, bear witness to the impact of extractivism on specific ecosystems and environments in Latin America.

More info: here

Jardiner
Group show
Cité des sciences, Paris
Until July 12, 2026

At the crossroads of sensory experiences offered by artists, designers, and architects, and of knowledge acquisition, this exhibition invites visitors to explore the various challenges of 21st-century gardening.

More info: here