The Guests of the Louvre

From 2024 to summer 2026, Kader Attia and Elizabeth Peyton are the Guests of the Louvre. Kader Attia (born in 1970 in Dugny, lives and works in Paris and Berlin) is known for his work at the boundary of forms and ideas, between sensitive inquiry and contemporary thought. Elizabeth Peyton (born in 1965 in Connecticut, lives and works in Paris and New York) makes painting resonate through the art of portraiture.

For two years, they have inhabited the physical and imaginary spaces of the Louvre. They had a studio there, created work there, conversed with its teams, and became part of its audiences.

Neighbours through their studios, they now share the exhibition space of the Chapelle room to show the outcome of their respective journeys through the museum: the film and installation by Kader Attia, inspired by his own intimate experience of the institution, contemplate the fluctuation of eras, memories and gazes, making the gaze itself an object. Elizabeth Peyton's paintings and drawings are so many reinterpretations of Louvre works, made since her earliest years, alongside representations of subjects that cross history and the contemporary, in her studio in the palace.

Their intersecting readings of the institution reveal the resources of the museum and of the works it holds, material for creation for artists as well as for every visitor.