Maria, 22, first took off her shoes. Then the short-haired student took off her green jumpsuit and underwear, which she quickly stuffed into a large black trash bag. His neighbor also took off his suit, discreetly applied deodorant, before joining the very special public who, on the evening of November 17, visited the “Hyperrealism” exhibition. This is not a body”, at the Maillol museum, in Paris (until March 5, 2023).
In the simplest way, alone, as a couple or with friends, the visitors had responded to the invitation of the Association of Naturists of Paris. “No cell phone, no camera!” », warns a member of the organization, without having to raise your voice. In the aisles, the atmosphere is relaxed, bodies pass each other without touching. Everyone shows their “ass and [ses] good manners “, as Jacques Brel would say. “It’s like having a drink with friends”, summarizes Emmanuel (most of those interviewed did not wish to give their name), 50 years old, naked and all smiles.
Nearly 800 people flocked to the three evenings reserved for naturists at the Maillol Museum. To the point that Tempora, the Belgian company organizing the exhibition, does not rule out opening new naked visit slots in January. “We reach a different audience, welcomes Emilie Derom, spokesperson for Tempora. Confirmed naturists who devote themselves to their practice or friends who come there as a challenge all end up looking at works. »
In their element
President of the Association of Naturists of Paris, Laurent Luft is also thrilled. For four years, this sympathetic proselyte has been trying to get urban naturism out of established swimming pool hours. In 2018, its members were able to visit the exhibition “Discord, daughter of the night”, at the Palais de Tokyo. In the Louis de Funès retrospective at the Cinémathèque, they took their revenge on the intractable policeman from Saint-Tropez who hunted bare-breasted on the beach at Pampelonne.
“There is a mirror effect, it’s almost disturbing. » Philippe, 65 years old, naturist
But it is in “Hyperrealism”, this exhibition devoted to artists reproducing the human figure, in particular the nude, so realistically that it seems larger than life, that nudists really feel in their element. “There is a mirror effect, it is almost disturbing”smiles Philippe, 65, a longtime naturist, who is visiting the exhibition for the second time. “We are almost the subject of the exhibition”, rebounds Leo, a 31-year-old plastic surgeon, who came there with two friends.
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