From April 3 to 6, 2025, COUCOU BEBE presented a fake exhibition, cleverly pastiching the well-worn codes of small modern art galleries in Paris. A deliberately disorienting event, conceived as a life-sized April Fool’s prank.
The artworks, generated by artificial intelligence just days before the opening, resembled microwave-heated leftovers: lukewarm servings carefully designed to attract the hurried gaze of art consumers and the Thursday-night free-drink crowd alike.
Beyond the joke, the show sparked a genuine reflection on how contemporary art is perceived. The images on display cast doubt on their own existence, plunging visitors into a kind of dizziness — somewhere between dream, collective hallucination, and institutional critique.
Recommended For You
What is the REAL story behind the FAKE Prada Store?
The hidden costs of exhibiting at a fashion show in Vienna
Coucou Bebe 75018’s Revolutionary Runway at Paris Fashion Week
Paradoxically, despite being a “fake” exhibition, this project likely provoked more thought, conversation, and questioning than many of the city’s typical Thursday openings. As if, by faking art, COUCOU BEBE had touched on something more real, more urgent, more necessary.
The method — at once simple and striking — is central to his practice: to invite viewers to question what they see, what they think they see, and what they are truly seeking in these highly codified gallery spaces.
The exhibition was staged and represented by F. Delétrain, a curator specializing in the valorization and mediation of contemporary artistic practices. Somewhere between conceptual happening, meta-joke, and immersive experience, this anti-exhibition left a lasting impression and drew in an audience both curious and intrigued.
