George Hallett, William Melvin Kelley, James Barnor

Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière showcases George Hallett, William Melvin Kelley, James Barnor, a component of Centre Pompidou’s exhibition Paris Noir, as part of the Centre’s ‘Échos Paris noir’ programme.

The exhibition highlights the work of three major photography figures: George Hallett (1942-2020), William Melvin Kelley (1937-2017), and James Barnor, who documented African and Afro-diasporic artistic and intellectual circulation in the second half of the 20^th century.

Presented at the gallery from 20 March to 17 May 2025, the exhibition explores the links between Africa and the United States with Paris and London, highlighting the transnational cultural dynamics and artistic commitments dedicated to forms of recognition and emancipation.

Curated by Christine Eyene, George Hallett: Home and Exile explores different periods of the photographer’s work. These include images of District Six (a culturally mixed area of Cape Town declared ‘white’ by the apartheid government in 1966); photographs taken in London, Paris and Amsterdam in the 1970s and 1980s; and some of his print experiments. A particular emphasis is placed on his role in publishing, with his African Writers Series book covers highlighting a dialogue between his photographs and literature. The display also includes some of his fashion photographs that have never been exhibited in France before.

William Melvin Kelley, curated by Alicia Knock and Marie Siguier, is the first French showcase of the writer’s photographic work. The exhibition unveils a new series of fourteen works, revealing his intimate view of Black cultural life in Paris in the 1960s. Capturing the daily life of African American intellectuals and activists, his images depict a pivotal time when Paris was a place of exchange and reflection for many artists and thinkers.

The bookstore space is dedicated to the work of James Barnor, an emblematic figure of Ghanaian and diaspora photography. In dialogue with the works of George Hallett and William Melvin Kelley, the display presents a selection of photographs taken in the 1960s in London, for Drum magazine, an influential publication founded in South Africa in 1951.

Paris Noir: George Hallett, William Melvin Kelley, James Barnor
20 March – 17 May 2025

Preview: Wednesday 19 March, 17h00 – 21h00
Meet the curators: Friday 21 March from 19h00

Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière
51 rue Saint-Louis-en l’Île
75004 Paris
www.galerieclementinedelaferonniere.fr

The programme Échos Paris noir expands the exhibition Paris noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950 – 2000, curated by Alicia Knock at Centre George Pompidou, Paris.