The Hotel La Louisiane, a true staple in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area in Paris, has seen it all. From the jazz musicians in the 1950s and 1960s – Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bud Powell, Lester Young, Chet Baker, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon – to the great thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre and film directors like Leos Carax, Louis Malle, Bertrand Tavernier among others, the mythical building has inspired and nourished the story of the post-war Paris. Undoubtedly, the hotel is a symbol of the intellectual influence the city once had on the world and still manages to capture a certain French way of life. 

Anaid Demir, art critic and curator, is taking over La Louisiane for a very special exhibition called Flower Power, as part of the Parcours Saint-Germain, in the form of an ode to the hotel and its many convoluted corridors which hold the history of Paris in the 60s and 70s. Seven contemporary artists are thus paying homage to this explosively creative era by giving their take on the hippie movement and making it resonate in today’s climate. Artworks by Martine Aballéa, Pierre Joseph, Vidya Gastaldon, Hsia-Fei Chang, Frank Perrin, Suzanne Husky and Sophie Kitching all share a taste for the psychedelic. Since the hotel is so close to the art institution of Les Beaux Arts, a few young artists from Nathalie Talec’s workshop will participate in the event with installations and actions. To draw a parallel with iconic movements of the 60s and 70s, Anaid Demir has also invited the artist and collector Jaïs Fred Elalouf to display some pieces from his incredible collection of psychedelic posters.

The Flower Power exhibition runs from May 23rd through June 2nd at La Louisiane.