At the MEP in Paris, artistic director Clothilde Morette discusses the themes of community, history, and self-determination that guide Mitchell’s first French solo exhibition. Curated by Brendan Embser and Sophia Greiff in collaboration with Clothilde Morette, the exhibition traces a decade of his practice.
Tyler Mitchell, Untitled (Red Steps), 2016. © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian.
Tyler Mitchell’s first solo exhibition in France, ‘Wish This Was Real’, is now on view at the MEP in Paris. Curated by Brendan Embser and Sophia Greiff in collaboration with Clothilde Morette for the MEP, the exhibition spans a decade of Mitchell’s practice in photography, video, and sculpture. Known for his dreamlike images that celebrate Black life while grappling with the weight of history, Mitchell has become a leading voice of his generation. The show is structured around three thematic sections: Lives/Liberties, Postcolonial/Pastoral, and Family/Fraternity. Each reflects his evolving artistic language and commitment to self-determination, memory, and the pursuit of joy. In conversation, Morette reflects on how Mitchell’s work navigates utopia and reality, and why presenting this exhibition in Paris now offers a vital space for dialogue.
Stephan Rheeder: The exhibition spans a decade of Mitchell’s practice and is organised into three thematic sections: Lives/Liberties, Postcolonial/Pastoral, and Family/Fraternity. What guided this structure, and how do you see these themes reflecting his evolution as an artist?
Clothide Morette: The exhibition was conceived around the key themes that run through Tyler Mitchell’s work: community, family memory, and the pursuit of pleasure and joy, elements that are also confronted with the political realities of the United States, as in his video Wish This Was Real (2015), and with history more broadly. All of Mitchell’s influences come together in the images he creates. His multiple references, spanning artistic and academic culture as well as more popular ones such as skateboarding, coexist without hierarchy, reflecting the richness and complexity of his visual language. In the same way that he draws on a wide range of references, his work transcends the separation between fashion photography and artistic practice, as well as between aesthetic exploration and political engagement.
Tyler Mitchell, Riverside Scene, 2021. © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian.
Mitchell’s images often combine utopian visions of Black life with historical weight. How does the exhibition balance the dreamlike and the political dimensions of his work?
Mitchell’s work continuously holds these two dimensions together rather than opposing them. His photographs and films create dreamlike spaces of beauty, joy, and utopia, while simultaneously confronting the historical and political realities that shape Black life in America. The dreamlike quality of his imagery is never a retreat but rather a proposition: a vision of what life could be, always in dialogue with what it has been. As Mitchell himself often explains, joy in his work is never isolated but always exists in tension with its opposite, desolation. This duality is deeply embedded in the lived experience of Black people in the United States. The exhibition reflects this balance by presenting works that oscillate between moments of lightness, play, and aspiration, and others that carry the weight of history and memory.
Tyler Mitchell, Untitled (Topanga II), 2017. © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian.
The presentation includes photography, video, and recent experiments with textiles and mirrors. What role does materiality play in expanding our understanding of Mitchell’s artistic language?
Mitchell’s starting point has always been the image, particularly those drawn from film and popular culture. Yet these influences have also fueled his desire to grant photographs the status of objects, creating works that invite viewers to engage with them physically, beyond the image itself. Even as his practice expands into new forms, it remains deeply anchored in the image. His experiments with textiles, mirrors, and sculptural approaches are inspired by figures such as Robert Rauschenberg and his Hoarfrosts (1974–76), the quilters of Gee’s Bend, David Hammons, and designer Grace Wales Bonner, who have opened his practice toward materiality, objecthood, and sculpture.
Tyler Mitchell, Flotation, 2022. © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian.
Collaboration has always been central to Mitchell’s practice, whether with friends, family, or subjects who actively shape the images. How does this spirit of cooperation translate into the curatorial process?
This exhibition was born from an invitation extended to Tyler Mitchell by the MEP two years ago. At that time, however, he was already preparing a show with curators Brendan Embser and Sophia Greiff at C/O Berlin. The MEP therefore joined this itinerary, working from an exhibition that had already been outlined, while also adapting it to the specific architecture of our museum and making new choices regarding the works on view. This genesis reflects Mitchell’s own collaborative spirit. Just as collaboration is central to his practice, whether with his models, his peers, or his broader artistic lineage, it also shaped the curatorial process. He is someone deeply attuned to dialogue and listening, with a genuine pleasure in sharing, which was strongly felt throughout the preparation of this exhibition.
Tyler Mitchell, New Horizons II, 2022. © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian.
This is Mitchell’s first solo exhibition in France. What does it mean for the MEP to present ‘Wish This Was Real’ now, and what conversations do you hope it sparks with audiences in Paris?
We are very proud to present Tyler Mitchell’s first solo exhibition in France. His work challenges traditional images of young Black life by foregrounding autonomy, interiority, and joy. This exhibition invites audiences in Paris to reflect on those negotiations while also embracing joy as a radical form of resistance.
‘Wish This Was Real’ is on view at the MEP, Paris, from 15 October 2025 to 25 January 2026. For more information, visit mep-fr.org.
