Jean-Michel Othoniel and the Ghosts of Love in Avignon

This summer, Jean-Michel Othoniel will take over several cultural sites throughout Avignon in “Othoniel Cosmos or the Ghosts of Love.” The major cultural event is a first for France and the French artist’s biggest project ever. On view June 28, 2025–January 4, 2026, in the UNESCO World Heritage site, are over 240 sculptural works and installations across 10 locations.

Across the Palais des Papes, Pont Saint-Bénézet, Musée du Petit Palais, Musée Calvet, Muséum Requien, Musée Lapidaire, Couvent Sainte-Claire, Bains Pommer, Collection Lambert, and Place du Palais will be the dazzling world of Othoniel—full of brilliant glass beads, bricks, astrolabes, fountains, totems, and knots, all larger than life. In August, a specially choreographed performance by Carolyn Carlson for Hugo Marchand and Caroline Osmont will take place at the Cour d’Honneur at the Palais des Papes.

Avignon is known as the city of the Holy Spirit, historically a papal place of literary fame. It was a refuge for those who sought freedom and enjoyed life in all its beauties. That essence is celebrated in the work of Othoniel, whose passion for poetry and belief that beauty will save us all is on display like never before.

Whitewall spoke with the artist ahead of this major moment, and we learned why “Othoniel Cosmos” is his most spectacular project yet. 

Jean-Michel Othoniel Takes Over Avignon

WHITEWALL: “Othoniel Cosmos or the Ghosts of Love” is described as your largest and most ambitious project to date. What was the initial spark for this exhibition, and how did the concept evolve?

JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL: This project is unique in France, and perhaps even in the world—it’s the first time, I believe, that a major cultural city like Avignon has asked a single artist to take over all its museums and historical sites to present their work. That commitment is truly exceptional. I envisioned this project as a grand solo exhibition unfolding across multiple venues, rather than a series of separate interventions.

“This project is unique in France, and perhaps even in the world,”

—Jean-Michel Othoniel

I’m presenting 250 works never before shown in France, including 160 new creations—it is a bit like a Documenta devoted to just one artist. So I looked within each museum for spaces where my sculptures and paintings could fully express themselves. The concept evolved through dialogue with each museum’s curators, and also because Avignon—known mainly for its international theater festival—is deeply marked by its own history. So the works and the path they chart also engage in a dialogue with the story of this medieval city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

WW: The exhibition unfolds across 10 historic sites in Avignon, creating a constellation of works. How did the city’s history and architecture influence your artistic choices?

JMO: “Othoniel Cosmos” is built like a vast constellation, with the central sun being the incredible Palais des Papes. Since the 1970s, after the last major exhibition there by Picasso, it has become one of the most challenging spaces for contemporary artists. This year, it’s the nucleus of my constellation, and I’ve added nine other sites, including the Pont d’Avignon, the Louvre’s satellite in Avignon with its collection of Italian Primitives, and the prestigious Yvon Lambert Collection. 

Other museums are closely tied to the city’s history, like the Musée Lapidaire, which holds the region’s Roman past; the Musée Calvet, established by one of the 19th century’s greatest collectors, featuring stunning paintings by Hubert Robert and their sculptural counterparts; the Muséum Requien, home to one of France’s largest herbarium collections; and the new Bains Pommer, which will open for the first time with this exhibition. All of these venues have exceptional architecture, providing a stunning backdrop for my often monumental works—like the ten-meter-high astrolabe on the Palais square. Many of the sculptures were created specifically for these locations.

WW: Love is a recurring theme in your work. How does “Othoniel Cosmos” expand on your exploration of desire, memory, and passion? Many of the works incorporate celestial imagery—astrolabes, constellations, and zodiac signs. What draws you to these cosmic references, and how do they relate to your vision of love?

JM: The exhibition’s subtitle is “The Ghosts of Love,” Exploring love has been central to my work from the beginning—whether it’s the pursuit of an impossible love or the pleasures of a fulfilled one. This retrospective of the last ten years, with works mostly coming from abroad—Brazil, Korea, Finland, Spain—reveals this search for the absolute and a connection to personal poetry. Projecting the feeling of love onto the stars has always been present in my work, even early on in pieces now held by the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, which already depicted constellations like Cygnus or the Southern Triangle. 

This relationship between the body and starry dust scattered through space has long been part of my visual language. In Avignon, monumental pieces like the golden cosmoses installed in the grand chapel respond to representations of constellations and zodiac signs, where each symbol becomes a portrait of universal lovers and each cosmos contains a nucleus around which emotions orbit.

Over 100 Sculptures at The Palais des Papes

WW: The Palais des Papes serves as the heart of the exhibition, with over 100 new sculptures created specifically for the space. How did you approach the challenge of integrating your work into such a monumental and historically charged setting?

JMO: For such a specific place as the Palais des Papes, I was especially inspired by accounts I read of Picasso’s major 1972 exhibition there. It was described as a grand carnival, a joyful, energetic parade—a kind of festive journey through space. I realized that because the venue is so strong, so monolithic, with its static medieval architecture, it needed that same energy, that sense of movement. The works I’ve created bring that joy and force, that light and color needed to make the space sing. 

“Every room becomes a discovery,”

—Jean-Michel Othoniel

Every room becomes a discovery. Fifteen rooms follow one another with moments of intimacy or grandeur. The grand chapel is the climax, with a sprawling Milky Way of bricks laid across the floor, topped by four golden cosmos sculptures, each five meters in diameter. Everything is scaled to match the site, making this, I believe, the most spectacular installation I’ve ever created.

WW: Your materials—glass, gold, mirrors, and bricks—play a key role in creating a sense of enchantment. How do you select and develop your materials to shape the emotional impact of your work?

JM: The materials I use—glass, gold, mirror, brick—are universally familiar, which I believe allows viewers to easily connect with my work. Combined, they help evoke wonder, enchantment—or rather, a re-enchantment of the world. Beauty is also a recurring theme in my work, and today it feels even more urgent. As Dostoevsky said, “Beauty will save the world.” I believe that beauty is increasingly vital to our survival in a world that seems to be falling apart. Beauty is political—it gives us the strength to confront horrors and reclaim our freedom.

“I believe that beauty is increasingly vital to our survival in a world that seems to be falling apart,”

—Jean-Michel Othoniel

WW: The exhibition includes a collaboration with Carolyn Carlson and dancers Hugo Marchand and Caroline Osmont for a performance in the Cour d’Honneur. What role do movement and performance play in your artistic universe?

JMO: This project in the Cour d’Honneur is exceptional. I’m the first artist invited to create there—normally, it’s a space dedicated to theater. That’s why I wanted to invite performers into the monumental installation that will inhabit the courtyard throughout August. It’s almost like an exhibition within the exhibition. I asked Carolyn Carlson to choreograph a piece specifically for my works, with Hugo Marchand, a principal dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet, as the lead. I strongly believe in the intersection of art forms. 

I created a foundation with my friend Johan Creten to explore crossovers between visual art, music, and dance. In Avignon, this is a dream come true—my work as a sculptor is inspired by the body and sensuality, even eroticism. All my pieces are connected to physical memories. Here, with dancers Hugo Marchand and Caroline Osmont, we’ll give form to my obsessions through movement and the real, living body.

WW: “Othoniel Cosmos” also engages with Avignon’s literary past, from Petrarch’s poetry to Shakespeare and Pasolini. How does literature inform your artistic practice?

JMO: More than literature, it’s poetry that interests me. I love its immediacy, its brilliance, the images it conjures. I see it as a radical response to today’s world of texts and messages on phones. Avignon is the birthplace of a poetic form created by Petrarch. He wrote poems throughout his life to a young woman he fell in love with in Sainte-Claire Church—which still exists and is one of the ten exhibition sites. I’ll be staging this moment of love at first sight by installing a massive red Murano glass heart behind a golden gate. Shakespeare, Pasolini, even Michelangelo were inspired by Petrarch’s medieval poetry. I’ve conceived “Othoniel Cosmos or the Ghosts of Love” like an entangled sonnet, where each museum adds a poetic layer to the whole.

The Power of Public Art

WW: Public art has been an integral part of your career, from Le Kiosque des Noctambules in Paris to your fountains at Versailles. What do you hope visitors will experience as they journey through this open-air exhibition?

JMO: Public art is essential to me—it reaches people who may never go to museums or galleries, people I don’t know but want to connect with. It’s like sending a message in a bottle, hoping to spark emotion, joy, or even inspire a calling. I believe artists today need to go out into the streets. In that spirit, I’ve installed several works outdoors in Avignon: the giant astrolabe in front of the Palais, the giant heart at the Sainte-Claire Convent, and the Wonderblocks on the façade of the Lapidary Museum. What I also loved about this project is that 90 percent of the museums involved are free and open to everyone.

“Public art is essential to me—it reaches people who may never go to museums or galleries, people I don’t know but want to connect with,”

—Jean-Michael Othoniel

WW: Looking ahead, you have major exhibitions planned in Shanghai and Cannes. How does “Othoniel Cosmos” fit into the larger trajectory of your work, and what directions are you eager to explore next?

JMO: I’m thrilled to be exhibiting for the first time in a Chinese museum. The Long Museum in Shanghai is a stunning space for my works. The Brutalist architecture contrasts beautifully with the precious materials I use. In Asia, beauty is not taboo—it’s a path to contemplation. The Cannes exhibition was also a new experience, opening during the film festival. It allowed me to meet artists exploring poetic imagery, emotion, and politics in ways very different from mine. But *Cosmos* in Avignon, through the dialogue it creates with the city’s architecture, opens the door to my growing desire for monumental construction, treating architecture as a total artwork. I want to keep creating immersive spaces—dream constructions.