Hauser & Wirth Monaco has unveiled The Josephines, an exhibition by renowned sculptor and poet Barbara Chase-Riboud that honours one of the 20th century’s most iconic performers, Josephine Baker. The striking body of work, which pays tribute to Baker’s exceptional legacy through monumental sculpture, archival material and works on paper, will be on display until 14th June.
Monaco Life was invited to attend a curator-guided walkthrough at the prestigious gallery for the inaugural presentation of The Josephines on 6th March.
The exhibition is a celebration of Josephine Baker, an extraordinary performer whose career on stage spanned five decades, and it is designed as a tribute to her legacy, with its unveiling marking 50 years since her final performance and also the 100th anniversary of her Paris debut.
Barbara Chase-Riboud, the world-renowned creative behind the exhibition, is known for her large-scale bronze and textile sculptures. Here, she presents a plethora of captivating works that reflect Baker’s movement and energy.
Central to the exhibition are two monumental sculptures from 2022: Josephine Black/Black and Josephine Red/Red. The imposing sculptures are from the artist’s La Musica series. Rising two meters tall, they capture Baker’s essence through bold contrasts of hard metal and flowing silk, evoking the performer’s legendary movement and dynamism.
The exhibition features archival material too, including photographs of Baker’s performances in Monaco, presented with support from Archives Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer. Additionally, works on paper from Chase-Riboud’s La Musica (1990–2025) are displayed, continuing her exploration of form, movement and abstraction.
A special selection of all-white works on paper is also on display. These intricate pieces, crafted using a technique perfected over five decades, involve silk threads piercing Arches paper, forming compositions reminiscent of handwriting and hieroglyphics. The works reflect Chase-Riboud’s signature fusion of visual art and poetry, inviting viewers into a realm of rhythm, energy and light.
“A leap into space”
Chase-Riboud’s connection to Baker is one of fate and admiration. The artist first arrived in Paris in the 1960s and established her atelier near Le Bal Nègre, where Baker’s European career took flight. The two met only once, in 1975, backstage at the Bobino Theatre in Paris before Baker’s final performance. That brief yet powerful encounter, along with Chase-Riboud’s attendance at Baker’s posthumous induction into the French National Pantheon in 2021, has informed the creation of The Josephines.
Reflecting on her personal connection to Baker, Chase-Riboud shared, “It felt like a sign that our paths were meant to cross… The reason why I wanted to do Josephine was because it’s a leap into space.”
She connects Baker with futurism, an art movement that prioritised dynamism. Instead of depicting a static monument, it was Chase-Riboud’s desire to capture Baker’s energy and movement through sculptural forms in this Hauser & Wirth-housed showcase.
Chase-Riboud is herself celebrated for her groundbreaking contributions to art and literature.
She has exhibited globally and holds the distinction of being the youngest artist to have her work acquired by MoMA at just 15 years old. Her recent Paris retrospective, Everytime a Knot is Undone, A God is Released, featured site-specific sculptures across eight prestigious museums, including the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou. She is, in fact, the first living artist to exhibit beneath the Louvre’s glass pyramid.
Born in 1939, she has spent decades bridging sculpture, poetry and literature, with her works held in major museum collections. She has also received literary recognition, including the Carl Sandburg Poetry Prize and an award for Best Novel by an American Woman in 1979.
Her memoir, I Always Knew, is now available in both French and English. Copies of the tome are available at Hauser & Wirth Monaco.
Check out Monaco Life’s reel of The Josephines below:
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Photos courtesy of Hauser & Wirth Monaco