Othoniel : Cosmos ou les fantômes de l'amour

Exhibition in the city of Avignon, 28 June 2025 – 4 January 2026

To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of its designation as European Capital of Culture, the City of Avignon has entrusted Jean-Michel Othoniel (1964-) with the task of transforming its iconic sites and museums. The Canzoniere by Petrarch, who lived in Avignon, is dedicated to his lost love; Othoniel has chosen this monument of universal literature, both sentimental and conceptual, as the guiding thread for his exhibition, creating a poetic world dominated by infinite, concise, abstract and marvellous reasoning.

This exhibition catalogue presents more than 220 works, including 160 new creations. Following in the footsteps of the visitor, it composes a photographic journey through the city, highlighting the relationships between the works and the setting that hosts them. A pilgrimage of love where the past is reinvented under the gaze of a visionary artist.

10 exhibition venues: Palais des Papes, Pont Saint Bénezet, Place du Palais des Papes, Musée du Petit Palais, Musée Lapidaire, Musée Calvet, Museum Requien, Bains Pommer, Couvent Sainte Claire, Collection Lambert.