Patti Smith

She moved to New York City in 1967 where she met artist Robert Mapplethorpe and writers Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. Passionate about poetry, particularly the work and figure of Arthur Rimbaud, in the 1970s, Smith began focusing on painting, writing and theatre arts. Over the course of the years, she began dedicating herself to music, melding rock and roll with poetic performance art. In 1975, she released her punk rock album Horses, produced by ex-Velvet Underground member John Cale and it has remained a cult classic. During the 1980s and 1990s, Smith continued to pursue her artistic activities alongside her music career. Her oeuvre consisted of a mix of drawing, photography and writing around themes of rebellion and spirituality. She was also writing, producing and supporting human rights and environmental issues. Smith also co-founded the non-profit organisation Pathway to Paris with her daughter. This rock poetess is one of the rare artists to be recognized during her lifetime, having received such honours as being inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame (2007), and was also declared a Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters by the French Legion of Honour for the entirety of her artistic works.

In 2008, Smith had a solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier, Land 250, which provided a glimpse into the lyrical, spiritual and poetic universe of the artist. It featured Smith's multimedia works created between 1967 and 2007 including Polaroids™, drawings and films. Along with the exhibition catalogue, the Fondation Cartier also published, jointly with Actes Sud, three works united under the title Trois. The first, Charleville, includes Smith's works inspired by Rimbaud, Statues is an ensemble of Polaroids™ of sculptures created between 2002 and 2008, accompanied by poems by Smith, and finally Cahier, inspired by the artist's own notebooks. She also participated in several Soirées Nomades in 2008, 2011 and 2014.