Exhibitions
The unpublished dialogue between Annette Messager and Christian Boltanski at the Center Pompidou Málaga
The Centre Pompidou Málaga presents, until April 6, 2026, the temporary exhibition AM CB. Annette Messager and Christian Boltanski , a unique encounter between two key figures of contemporary French art. The exhibition brings together some thirty works by both artists, offering the public the opportunity to explore the dialogue between their creative universes, marked by poetry, ethics, and conceptual vitality.
Annette Messager (Berck, France, 1943) and Christian Boltanski (Paris, 1944-2021) shared both their personal lives and their early artistic careers. However, in the 1970s, they decided to pursue separate professional paths, and until now, they had never agreed to a joint exhibition. "I always wanted our works to be separate," Messager confessed during the exhibition's presentation.
Annette Messager and Christian Boltanski at the opening of the exhibition 'Richard Serra. Sculptures' at the Centre Pompidou in 1983. Photograph by André Morain © André Morain © Richard Serra, VEGAP, Málaga, 2025.
The artist recalled the difficulties of being a woman in the art world during that decade: "We were always considered the artist's girlfriend. I even heard that a woman's only creative capacity was motherhood, and I disagreed." Her determination to forge her own path shaped her career, although they continued to have long conversations about art: "It was our whole life," she stated.
The exhibition pays homage to Boltanski, whose work is characterized by its poetic intensity and ethical depth, and celebrates Messager, whose vision continues to challenge norms and expectations with admirable lucidity and vitality. This exhibition allows us to appreciate how, despite their individual trajectories, their artistic languages engage in surprising dialogue, revealing new layers of meaning and emotion.
Annette Messager, Mes Voeux [My Vows], 1989. © Center Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/ Philippe Migeat /Dist. GrandPalaisRmn.
Beyond the personal interests that marked their trajectories—destiny and the human condition in the work of Christian Boltanski, and the place of women in society in that of Annette Messager—, over time a fundamental difference is appreciated: the absence of the body in one and its presence in the other.
The exhibition AM CB. Annette Messager and Christian Boltanski seeks to re-establish this dialogue, revealing affinities that have been little explored until now due to the lack of direct comparison between their works. The exhibition brings together some thirty pieces, mostly from the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and has been curated by Annalisa Rimmaudo, offering the public a unique opportunity to rediscover the creative relationship between these two great French artists.
Christian Boltanski, Monument, 1986. Courtesy Fonds de dotation Christian Boltanski and Marian Goodman Gallery.
