October 15, 2024
Inaugural show by Apolonia Sokol and simultaneous participation in Art Basel Paris featuring Venice Golden Lion Winner Nil Yalter.
THE PILL®, a global contemporary art gallery rooted in Istanbul’s dynamic art scene, is excited to announce its expansion to Paris with the opening of a new gallery at 4 Place de Valois in immediate proximity to the Louvre Museum, Fondation Pinault, Fondation Cartier and French Ministry of Culture.
The gallery’s Parisian chapter will be inaugurated with a highly anticipated solo exhibition by the renowned artist Apolonia Sokol, opening on October 15, 2024.
The Paris expansion marks a significant step in THE PILL®’s evolution, bringing its unique curatorial vision and focus on global contemporary art to one of the world’s most influential cultural capitals. This new space, nestled in the historical heart of Paris, will span over 300 sqm and serve as a platform for innovative and thought-provoking exhibitions.
The inaugural show will mark the first monographic exhibition of Apolonia Sokol in France. Known for her evocative and complex portraits, Sokol’s practice challenges narratives of identity, gender, and art history and reflects her deep exploration of representation in art and politics.
Simultaneous with this milestone event, THE PILL® will participate in Art Basel Paris in the new Premise sector highlighting historical practices. The presentation will feature The Ambassadress, one of Yalter’s groundbreaking works, exemplifying her long-standing engagement with issues of feminism, identity politics, and the relationship of privilege and power. Additionally, Nil Yalter, the recipient of Venice Biennale’s prestigious Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award, will open the Art Basel Conversations on October 17.
The dual focus on Apolonia Sokol’s contemporary exploration and Nil Yalter’s historical reflection demonstrates THE PILL®’s continued dedication to presenting artists who engage with critical social and political themes across various media and generations.
About THE PILL®
THE PILL® was founded in 2016 by Suela J. Cennet in the historic peninsula of Istanbul, to operate as a global platform and mobile vessel for contemporary art, supporting artists through a dynamic of cosmopolitanism beyond the dialectics of center and periphery.
Dedicated to the most ambitious emerging artists as well as those of international stature, the gallery’s exhibitions and participation in major contemporary art fairs have been widely acclaimed by critics and trusted by the most prestigious collections.
In 2022, THE PILL® partnered with JBE Books for New Art Scales, revisiting the gallery’s first years of programming and paving the way for an ambitious publishing line.
About Apolonia Sokol
Acclaimed figurative painter of Polish and Danish descent, Apolonia Sokol introduces portraiture and autofiction into scenes inspired by canonical works from art history and contemporary issues around feminisms. She has been exhibited worldwide, from Mexico City to Los Angeles and Brussels, in institutions such as the Arken Museum in Denmark (2023), MO.CO Panacée (Montpellier, 2023); Fondation Pernod Ricard (Paris, 2022), MUCEM (Marseille, 2022); Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (Texas, 2022); Women and Change, Polana Institute (Warsaw, 2021); Fondazione Memmo, (Rome, 2021) and Villa Arson, (Nice, 2019). In 2023 the HBO-produced documentary Apolonia, Apolonia directed by Léa Glob which follows Sokol’s life and career over a decade had multiple awards at film festivals across the globe.
About Nil Yalter
A pioneer feminist video artist in Europe, Turkish-born French artist Nil Yalter’s research-based practice gives platform to socially marginalized groups such as migrant workers, female laborers or former prisoners, and questions grand historical narratives using photography, video, drawing and text. From her participation in the first international video art exhibition in France (MAM Paris, 1974) to groundbreaking historical exhibitions (Transvoices, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1992; WHACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, 2007) and recent retrospectives at MAC Val (Val-de-Marne, 2019), Museum Ludwig (Cologne, 2019) and Hessel Museum of Art (NY, 2019), Yalter has been at the forefront of socially engaged practice.
For further information: contact [at] thepill.co.
THE PILL® Paris, 4 Place de Valois, 75001 Paris.
