Inaugural exhibition Ego in Arcadia by John Isaacs runs from 4 October – 16 November 2025
Paris, France, 16 September 2025 – Christopher Taylor, internationally recognised curator, gallerist, musician, and cultural figure, announces the opening of his eponymous contemporary art gallery, Christopher Taylor, on 4 October 2025, located in his Baroque Parisian apartment at 124 Boulevard Malesherbes. Continuing the experimental legacy of his previous apartment-turned-gallery, Museum 52 (London), and American Contemporary (New York), Taylor will present a programme of emerging and established artists whose work challenges, inspires, and expands the discourse of contemporary art.
Christopher Taylor comments: “With this new space in Paris, I want to recapture the intimacy, inventiveness and ambition of those early days in London while drawing on everything I’ve learned in New York and beyond. Paris is one of the great cultural capitals, and I’m excited to add a new voice to the city’s vibrant art scene … from the comfort of my living room.”
Taylor first established his reputation in London with Museum 52, an apartment-turned-gallery on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, that quickly became a vital site for artistic discovery and discourse in the early 2000s. He later expanded to New York first as Museum 52 and then as American Contemporary. Across both spaces he worked with an impressive roster of artists who have since gone on to build significant international careers, including emerging talents at the time such as Shara Hughes, Conrad Shawcross, Esther Stocker and Kon Trubkovich, as well as more established figures like John Isaacs and Nick Waplington.
Christopher Taylor (Paris) will open with John Isaacs: Ego in Arcadia (4 October – 16 November 2025), marking a two-decade creative history between Taylor and Isaacs.
A British contemporary artist working across sculpture, painting, and installation, Isaacs often explores the fragility of the human condition, confronting themes of mortality, material excess, and belief systems. A key figure in the Young British Artists movement, he was among the first artists to exhibit at Museum 52 and helped build the original gallery space.
24 carat gold leaf, steel, diptych, each panel 100 x 80 x 10 cm
Ego in Arcadia takes its name from the classical phrase “Et in Arcadia ego”, a reminder of mortality even in paradise. Isaacs reimagines the ego within this mythic idyll, now shaped and distorted by contemporary forces such as digital narcissism, algorithmic identity, and performative politics. The show features striking new sculptures, paintings, and immersive installations that blend the faded aesthetics of classical antiquity with the visceral realities of contemporary life. Classical figures, mythic references, and anatomical forms are combined with household objects, industrial materials, and social media imagery, to highlight the tension between permanence and impermanence, idealism and entropy, and the sacred and the profane.
Drawing on his extensive experience in film and theatre set design, Isaacs transforms the gallery’s space into a surreal tableau where ornate mouldings, faded grandeur, and carefully staged decay provide a backdrop for works that are simultaneously confrontational, witty, and hauntingly beautiful.
John Isaacs comments: “I wanted to build a world where antiquity meets the present, not just in aesthetics, but in meaning. We live in a culture that feeds on fragments – soundbites, selfies, symbols – much like the ruins of the past. But what do these fragments say about us? About what we value, fear, or forget?”
The gallery’s opening reception takes place on Saturday 4 October at 124 Boulevard Malesherbes, from 6 – 9pm, featuring a party, champagne and live music in the courtyard of the space.
About Christopher Taylor
Christopher Taylor is an internationally recognised curator, gallerist, musician, and cultural figure. He founded Museum 52 in London and later American Contemporary in New York, both known for championing emerging and established artists. Beyond the gallery, Taylor is a founding member and singer of the cult band Menlo Park, a longtime collaborator and manager of global icon M.I.A., and an accomplished composer and music supervisor, most recently for the Oscar- and BAFTA-winning documentary Navalny.
Instagram: @christophermtaylor
About John Isaacs
John Isaacs (b.1968) is a British contemporary artist whose interdisciplinary practice spans sculpture, painting, and installation. His work often explores the fragility of the human condition, addressing themes of mortality, material excess, and belief systems. A central figure in the Young British Artists movement, Isaacs now lives and works in Berlin. His work has been widely exhibited at leading institutions including the Centre Pompidou, La Maison Rouge, Saatchi Gallery, Tate Britain, and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).
Website: www.johnisaacs.net
Instagram: @john.isaacs
