At LaM, another history of women artists
In Villeneuve-d’Ascq, LaM brings together more than 300 works by 70 self-taught artists in “Singulières. Artistes, autodidactes, affranchies.” The exhibition highlights creative paths shaped outside institutions, often in solitude and without any expectation of museum recognition.
The show opens on 3 October 2026 and runs until 14 February 2027 at LaM in Villeneuve-d’Ascq. It gathers paintings, drawings and other works that speak less about a movement than about the need to make images, to build a world, sometimes under difficult circumstances or against the suspicions of their time.
What stands out is the way these artists develop a personal way of looking. Their works reveal intimate worlds, highly individual visions of the body, everyday life or dream states, using direct, inventive means rather than academic polish.
For artists and for anyone interested in painting and drawing, the exhibition is a reminder that skill is not only learned in the studio or the academy. It can also emerge through a singular use of line, colour and material, creating a language of its own beyond the usual art-historical categories.
By bringing together these works and biographies, LaM offers a broader reading of self-taught women’s creativity. The exhibition invites visitors to look closely at what these images say about the freedom to create, and about the barriers that kept many of these artists away from museums for so long.
Source : Le Journal des Arts