Illustration: Elliot Elam
You can see the metro from your Belleville window, and as soon as the Bobos taking their kids to school clear off, you’ll stop by the Le Président for a nêm au porc: cheap and nutritious, the perfect breakfast. All the pain au choc’ and croissants will have been sold out by the time you emerge from your appart’ anyway. You tuck the right leg of your pants into your sock and hoist your bike onto your shoulder. You’re on your way to your shared atelier in Saint Ouen. Sure, it’s a pain to get to, especially on the bike – especially since the seat fell off (you really need to get that fixed) – but ever since you switched to ceramics you’ve been tellement inspiré, like you haven’t been in years. The collective show you did in Brussels last month went well… well… well, you would say in comparison to others. You managed to sell a piece but the gallery kept more than you think is fair. They always do. Still, the gallery served a really nice Sancerre at the vernissage – a nice break from of your usual lower-than-Kronenbourg-in-a-can beer. Although, honestly, the taste isn’t so bad and drinking it is also kind of a comment in and of itself. It’s a fun dialogue between pretending and consumption that you sometimes hope comes through in your work, although your friends do appreciate the occasional Champagne splurge whenever you sell something. You’re very much into the manipulation of bodies lately, and you’ve spent practically the whole week at Musée de la Chasse et Nature. Thank god you’re an artist and get free access to museums. Paris is the only city in the world that understands la vie creatif, and as long as that continues, so will you.
Our favourite places to spot a Creative
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Le Bal Café
Text and Images: Omid Tavallai Anna Trattles sits across from me at one of the handful of tables inside the high-ceilinged, white-walled, windowed room that is Le Bal Café. “You’ve got five minutes,” she says, constantly looking past the counter … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Marché de l’Olive La Chapelle
Text and Images: Emily Sands-Bonin Newly refurbished and opened in late September last year, the Marché de l’Olive has been hailed as very “Baltard” by Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris, an allusion to French 19th century architect Victor Baltard, designer … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Le Tango
Text: Richard Price Image: Le Tango Timing, as they say, is everything. At Le Tango, this could not be more true. On a recent Saturday night, my gal-pal and I arrived there at 23:30 and found no impediment between us, … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Outdoor Swimming
Text: Nick Forrester Image: Grenouille O_O Swimming isn’t really the same in summer unless you can do it outside. But where can one possibly hope to find outdoor swimming in central Paris? There are 30 or so public swimming pools located … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Bonom takes art to the skies: can graffiti be legal?
Text: Rooksana Hossenally. Images: various. No one really knows this mysterious chimpanzee who swings from building to building, spray cans and rollers at the ready. Like all superheroes, the artist who goes by the name of ‘Bonom’, wears a mask … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Les Rendezvous des Réalisateurs: Where to Find Filmmakers in Paris
Image: Raymond Cauchetier Text: Jon Handelman Patti Smith, in her poignant if not over-exposed National Book Award winning memoire, Just Kids, describes artistic life in New York in the 60s and 70s among artists, writers, painters, photographers, musicians and everything … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Paris' Best Art & Craft Supply Stores
Image: Anne S. Ditmeyer Text: Anne S. Ditmeyer & Natalie Turturro With so much wonderful art and so many incredible museums in Paris, we thought it was high time we put together a guide to help encourage some creative juices … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Le Festin d'Ève
Photo: I. Rozenbaum Text: Philip Tonda. Meet culinary chef Eve Tribouillet-Rozencweig and get to know her inventive creations. She’s a perfectionist, she’s fun, and she never does the same thing twice! Lately she developed a culinary event following the opening … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Bob Dylan – The Rock Explosion
Image: Daniel Kramer Text: Katherine Garratt The Bob Dylan: L’Explosion Rock 61-66 opened at Cité de la Musique last month with more fanfare than all of Dylan’s concerts put together. Presented in partnership with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Oh Othello
Image: Oh Othello George Jephson (left) and Thos Henley (right) are two guitar-strumming, lyric-writing, harmonizing Englishmen living and performing in Paris, both as solo artists and together as Oh Othello. When not touring or writing songs, they can be found … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Poetry Invasion in the 1e Arrondissement
Image: Poets Live Text: Emily Ruck Keene Paris can be a city of secrets, especially for the English-speaking poetry-lover. Where do you go for live readings, open mic, or simply for performances you can understand? Little pockets of Anglophonic creative … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Playing Parisian Hookie with Classic French Film
Image: Criterion Collection Text: Brian Clark Slipping into a small theatre at two in the afternoon to catch a beat-up 35mm print of an old movie is probably one of the most authentically Parisian activities still available in the city. … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Le Printemps des Poètes
Photo: Le Printemps des Poètes By Emily Ruck Keene Spring is in the air. Our legs may have forgotten what daylight looks like, but don’t despair – there are blue skies ahead, filled with sunshine, birdsong… and poetry! The Printemps … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Atelier Boba : Photo Prints ´sur mesure´
Image: Ryan Boatright in Atelier Boba Text: Philip Tonda The new Paris-based photo studio Atelier Boba does not only offer printing and technical advice on a high, professional level; they are also, unlike most printing places, very competent in giving … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Mia Funk: Meta Art
Nuavecabacus 2012 © Mia Funk, acrylic, gouache, antique wallpaper Images: Mia Funk Text: Susie Kahlich Talking to the artist Mia Funk … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
A Letter to George Whitman
Image: Boiling Point Photography Text: Guillermo Martinez de Velasco Escobedo I don’t think it would be polite of me to state the number of hours I’ve spent at Shakespeare and Company. Surely, I’m not the only Parisian who has spent ridiculous … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Les Rencontres Kinoma
Image: KinomaText: Jon Handelman On an early Thursday evening the vestibule in front of La Cité des Arts, a basement venue located by the Pont Marie, slowly became filled with a cross section of film enthusiasts for the latest Rencontres … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Sainte Chapelle
Image and text: Emily Ruck Keene I’d been past this place so many times on my bike and wondered at the long lines of predominantly Asian and American tourists standing outside, but never once had I dismounted to investigate the … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Paris on Film: Paris vu par…
Image: Les Films du Losange Text: Christophe Dumay This is the first in a monthly series about Paris on Film: a cinematic tour of Paris by a lifelong Parisian (and film buff) to explore and discover the world’s most beautiful … [CLICK TO READ MORE]
Gigs In Paris Interview Zach Condon
Text: Gigs In Paris There aren’t many bands who can sell out L’Olympia in the space of two days but one suspects Beirut could do it a few times over. Zach Condon the heart and head of the band first … [CLICK TO READ MORE]