The First Solo Exhibition in Europe by Ming Smith

This is the first European solo exhibition dedicated to the acclaimed African American photographer Ming Smith, opening just days after the group show Paris noir at the Centre Pompidou. Held at M77 Gallery, the exhibition traces over fifty years of Smith’s career, an early trailblazer in contemporary photography and the first Black woman to be included in the permanent collection of MoMA. Born in Detroit and active in Harlem since the 1970s, Smith has merged visual experimentation with social consciousness, portraying the African American experience with poetic intensity. The exhibition features over one hundred works, ranging from her early pieces to recent creations, with a focus on portraits, self-portraits, and scenes of everyday life, alongside tributes to writers Ralph Ellison and August Wilson. Her photographs, often enhanced with painterly touches directly applied to the film, blend realism with surrealism, becoming visual metaphors of memory, resistance, and spirituality. The show offers a rich and multifaceted insight into one of the most authentic and revolutionary voices in contemporary art.