Kiki of Paris

Kiki studied humanities and social sciences before turning towards drawing and painting. In Montparnasse, he was introduced by the actor Michel Simon to Henry Miller who advised him to devote himself to photography. He then worked with the ethnologist Robert Jaulin and traveled through Asia, Central Europe, Cuba, Jamaica, and the United States. In the early 1990s he joined the humanistic photography movement, associating with Willy Ronis.

Kiki of Paris built his artistic image around themes that were important to him, such as everyday life in the Italian summer.

The Kiki of Paris Committee was founded in 2006 with the sole aim of promoting the artist’s work and to provide certificates of authenticity for his work. Kiki of Paris has been a member of ADAGP.1 since 1999.

Kiki of Paris’s melancholy

The photograph Key West depicts the yellow taxi that Kiki of Paris had just ridden into Miami. The shot is defined by its inherent strangeness, particularly the sense of loneliness and isolation we feel through the photographer’s gaze. Although taken in a busy city, the taxi driving off into the heat certainly fills the viewer with the sense of loss and abandonment experienced by the photographer.

Kiki of Paris' work is defined by his ability to capture the abstract in everyday situations and settings. For example, The Last Ride depicts a fairground ride making its last run of the day. While this alone is nothing striking, the photographer perfectly captures the sense of time slipping away through the positioning of his subjects, both the rider operator and its passengers. This photograph is noteworthy for its use of a contemporary style and reliance on popular culture, although it’s truly made by the sense of romance it manages to find in this seemingly normal situation.

One of the most striking things about Kiki of Paris’ career is his small portfolio. This is because he destroys much of his work, or manages to lose the images, whether deliberately or not.

Polymorphous Structures

Along with creating new images, Kiki of Paris also reworks existing pictures in a series he calls Polymorphous Structures. His intention with this series is to find new meaning in what exists, along with provoking thought among his viewers. He uses these images to create an allegory, such as Ulysses or Sacrifice of the Cockerel.

Desolation Canyon is a perfect example of this thought process in action. In the image, the photographer uses a group of people he photographed in Charleroi and transposes them onto an American Landscape, specifically Death Valley.

All of Kiki of Paris' works capture his sense of subjectivity, along with his appreciation of the ordinary in everyday life and the way he views the world. Some notable examples of this include Loulou the dog, which only uses pedestrian crossings, or the coy smile of a member of the Prague majorettes.

He manages to capture the innate intimacy between people and the world around them, simply with the purpose of showing how we interact with our surroundings.

Adios Queen (Manhattan - New-York) 1988

Sense and imagination

Kiki of Paris' work bears many similarities to popular artists such as David LaChappelle or Nan Goldin, but it also stands out in its own right. Importantly, Kiki of Paris manages to find the unusual even in the most normal circumstances. This is the cornerstone of his humanistic approach to photography, as shown in the image Key West. Kiki of Paris claims this image reminds him of the book Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac:

“You know that strange feeling when the taxi leaves and you feel lonely in the world, like an orphan?”

Among the many of Kiki of Paris 's influences, it is worth noting some of the very brief encounters that guided her choices and her destiny: Henry Miller of course, but also the American director Joseph Losey and the survivors of the beat generation who passed through Paris. Notably among them was Burroughs, who, according to Kiki of Paris, had such a disturbing look on his face.

"What makes the image is culture, photography is a piece of encapsulated time, and the result is a composite chemistry. Add to that the "right moment, the T moment, the meeting between the idea, the concept, the aesthetic and a well-framed subject".

Kiki of Paris - Interview with the Swiss collector Abraham Gould, Venice 1998.

The Kiki of Paris Committee was created in 2006, to promote his work and to provide certificates of authenticity.

• The melancholy of Kiki of Paris
• The Last Ride
• Polymorphous Structures
• Ulysses
• Adios Queens
• Sacrifice of the Cockerel
• The Messenger
• Desolation Canyon This work assembles a group of three people that the artist photographed in Charleroi and placed in an image of Death Valley.
• Loulou, a French dog

«Demanding and opposed to clichés, your photographic work has the seduction of poetry. By seeking to reveal imaginary , your eye transcends the reality and daily life and leads to the emergence of images of great creativity » – Bertrand Delanoë (Mayor of Paris)[1]

• 1999 Telos Institute (Seattle)
• 2001 Nart Gallery (Paris)
• 2002 Tokyo International Forum
• 2002 Atelier Visconti (Paris)
• 2002 Salon des Indépendants (Paris)[2]
• 2004 Hype Gallery Palais de Tokyo (Paris)
• 2004 2009 Galerie ARTEnovance

• 1984 Bars de nuit à Paris — Night bars in Paris
• 1985 Fractures sociales, l'example de Belleville — Social fractures. The example of Belleville
• 1989 Obliques et perspectives — Obliques and perspectives
• 1999 Structures primaires et polymorphes — Primary and polymorphic structures
• 2001 Kiki of Paris (Telos Institute)

• Kiki of Paris website
• Kiki of Paris at ArtSlant San Francisco website
• https://www.saatchiart.com/kikiofparis
• https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/paris-ile-de-france/paris/revoir-paris-une-serie-inedite-de-photographies-entierement-dediee-la-capitale-par-le-photographe-plasticien-kiki-paris-436083.html