PHILIPPE PARRENO

Early Years

Philippe Parreno was born in 1964 in Oran, Algeria, and raised in France. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Grenoble before completing postgraduate studies at the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques in Paris, where he was taught by renowned theorist and curator Pontus Hultén. Early exposure to critical theory and new media shaped his approach to artmaking, which often challenges linear narratives and the conventions of the white cube. Today, Parreno lives and works in Paris, where he continues to explore the intersections of cinema, sound, sculpture, and performance.

Artworks

Philippe Parreno’s artworks transcend static objecthood, embracing time, contingency, and collaboration to script dynamic environments. Often described as cinematic or operatic, his exhibitions are choreographed in real time, inviting the artwork, space, and viewer into an unfolding conversation.

No More Reality

Between 1991 and 2001, Parreno initiated No More Reality, a seminal series of pseudo-manifestos, fanzines, and performances that questioned how reality is constructed, consumed, and mediated. Rejecting conventional art objects, the works treated information itself as a sculptural medium. The phrase became a rallying cry for a generation of artists disillusioned with institutional narratives and media spectacle. By destabilising authorship and embracing collaborative platforms, Parreno set the tone for his later work—positioning the exhibition as a site of speculation, transformation, and anti-hierarchy. No More Reality remains a critical foundation for understanding his interest in systems, storytelling, and alternative temporalities in contemporary art.

Annlee and the Politics of Authorship

In 1999, Parreno and fellow artist Pierre Huyghe purchased the copyright to a generic Japanese manga character named Annlee from a character bank. Through the project No Ghost Just a Shell, they and others—including Rirkrit Tiravanija and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster—created new works that featured Annlee in different contexts and narratives. The project challenged conventional notions of artistic ownership, intellectual property, and identity. Parreno and Huyghe ultimately transferred legal authorship to Annlee herself in a performative act of emancipation. This conceptual gesture exposed the mechanisms of commodification in both pop culture and the art world, cementing the work’s place as a landmark in relational and post-conceptual art practice.

Exhibition as Medium

Parreno’s practice revolutionised the idea of the exhibition as an artwork in its own right. His 2013 exhibition Anywhere, Anywhere Out of the World at Palais de Tokyo transformed the museum into a sentient, time-based entity. Viewers were guided through a sensory choreography of lighting changes, soundscapes, film screenings, and kinetic sculptures that activated different zones of the building. Rather than presenting discrete works, Parreno treated the space like a stage with a nonlinear script. The gallery became an organism with its own breath and rhythm, reflecting his desire to make exhibitions that behave rather than merely display. The format has since influenced curatorial strategies worldwide.

Public Commissions

• Danny / No More Reality, LUMA, Arles (permanent)
• Echo, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2019–ongoing)

Exhibitions

Philippe Parreno has been the subject of both solo exhibitions and group exhibitions at important institutions. A selection of important exhibitions is provided below.

Solo Exhibitions

• Voices, Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul (2024)
• Echo2: a Carte Blanche to Philippe Parreno, Rotunda of the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris (2022)
• La Quinta del Sordo, Museo Prado, Madrid (2022)
• La Quinta del Sordo, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (2021)
• Elsewhen, Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia, Venice (2019)
• La Levadura y El Anfitrión (The Yeast and The Host), Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2017)
• Anywhen, Hyundai Commission 2016: Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London (2016-17)
• Philippe Parreno, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (2012)

Group Exhibitions

• Une seconde d’éternité, Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection, Paris, (2022)
• Luogo e Segni, Punta della Dogana, Venice (2019)
• In Tune with the World, Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2018);
• VIVA ARTE VIVA, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice (2017);
• Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2016)
• The Bride and The Bachelors, The Barbican Art Gallery, London (2013)

Philippe Parreno FAQs

Ocula | 2025