O Gringo Exhibition – Galerie Ariel Jakob | Place des Vosges, Paris

Après avoir profondément ému le public du Musée National de l’Azulejo, à Lisbonne, avec l’exposition Espérance au-delà de l’Horizon, Bastien Tomasini, connu internationalement sous le nom de O Gringo Exhibition, est revenu dans la ville où son parcours artistique a véritablement commencé à prendre forme : Paris.

O Gringo artist – Jakobson Gallery , Place de Vosges , Paris – 2024

After moving audiences at the National Tile Museum in Lisbon with the exhibition Hope Beyond the Horizon, Bastien Tomasini, internationally known as O Gringo, returned to the city where his artistic career first began to take shape: Paris.

In 2024, the artist welcomed the directors of Galerie Ariel Jakob—now known as Jakobson Gallery—to his studio in Portugal. Their proposal was ambitious: to dedicate an exhibition of nearly 300 square meters, spanning the gallery’s two spaces in the heart of the Marais district—one overlooking the historic Place des Vosges and the other located on Rue de Turenne, only a few steps away from each other.

More than simply presenting a new exhibition, this project marked a deeply symbolic homecoming. Paris had been part of the artist’s personal journey long before Portugal became central to his work. It was here that two stories converged once again: the city where O Gringo matured as an artist and the artistic research he had developed over recent years around Portuguese heritage, azulejos, and cultural identity.

Few places could have hosted this reunion with greater symbolic significance than Place des Vosges.

Commissioned by King Henry IV in the early seventeenth century on the grounds of the former Hôtel des Tournelles, the square was inaugurated in April 1612 during the royal celebrations of the marriage of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, alongside Elisabeth of France and the future Philip IV of Spain. Originally named Place Royale, it became the first monumental square in Paris and served as an architectural model for countless European squares built over the following centuries.

In 1800, it was renamed Place des Vosges, honoring the first French department to fully meet its fiscal obligations during the French Revolution. Over more than four centuries, the square has survived monarchies, revolutions, empires, wars, and political transformations while preserving its iconic arcades of red brick, limestone, and blue slate. It was also home to Victor Hugo, who lived at number 6 between 1832 and 1848—a residence that is now the Maison Victor Hugo Museum.

Today, Place des Vosges remains one of the most prestigious destinations for contemporary art in Paris. Beneath its elegant arcades, internationally renowned galleries, specialized bookshops, antique dealers, and artists’ studios create one of the city’s most influential cultural districts within the historic Marais.

O Gringo artist – Galerie Ariel Jakob

It was precisely here that Ariel Sibony founded Galerie Ariel Jakob in 1998, establishing it at 28 Place des Vosges, directly opposite the Musée Picasso. Over more than twenty-five years, the gallery has built a distinctive identity, championing artists whose work exists between figuration and abstraction, where heritage and contemporary creation naturally coexist.

Ariel Sibony  and O Gringo – Jakobson Gallery – Paris – 2024

As the gallery itself explains in the official exhibition catalogue, the decision to present O Gringo’s work came naturally. The directors recognized in his artistic language the very balance they had pursued since the gallery’s foundation: a dialogue between tradition and innovation. His reinterpretation of Portuguese azulejos—respecting their historical legacy while transforming them into a contemporary artistic language—perfectly reflected the gallery’s curatorial vision. The catalogue also highlights the artist’s authenticity, sensitivity, and remarkable ability to create meaningful connections between people, cultures, and generations. 

The O Gringo exhibition was titled Émotions.

O Gringo Exhibition Paris – Jakobson Gallery 2024

Rather than extending the narrative begun in Lisbon, Émotions represented a genuine artistic evolution. While maintaining the azulejo as the central element of his visual language, O Gringo expanded his research by introducing new materials, textures, and construction techniques that transformed every artwork into a hybrid object situated somewhere between painting, photography, ceramics, and sculpture.

In the curatorial essay accompanying the catalogue, Dr. Dora Fernandes describes this exhibition as a decisive milestone in the artist’s career. According to the curator, O Gringo continues the path initiated during his solo exhibition at the National Tile Museum while taking that language significantly further. The azulejo becomes a second skin covering the human body, and the forty artworks unfold like successive pages of an intimate diary where love, separation, waiting, femininity, and the sea intertwine. She also highlights the artist’s increasing technical freedom through the combination of photography, cardboard, paper, canvas, ceramic tile fragments, mosaics, charcoal, Indian ink, gold leaf, and acrylic painting, creating an increasingly spontaneous and emotionally charged visual language.

O Gringo artist – Jakobson Gallery , Place de Vosges , Paris – 2024

O Gringo Viuva Lamego

One of the most significant moments of the exhibition was the public unveiling of the collaboration between O Gringoand Viúva Lamego, founded in 1849 and regarded as one of Portugal’s greatest names in artistic ceramics. It was in Paris that visitors first discovered The Face, a ceramic sculpture conceived by O Gringo and handcrafted by the historic Portuguese manufacturer using traditional modeling, hand-painting, glazing, and kiln-firing techniques. The work demonstrated that artistic innovation can emerge through complete respect for centuries-old craftsmanship. The collaboration is presented in the official exhibition catalogue as one of the highlights of the project.

The opening evening became one of the defining moments of the exhibition.

At the invitation of Paris 75 Image, Dr. João Pedro Monteiro, then Director of the National Tile Museum, traveled to Paris to deliver the opening speech. His presence gave the exhibition an exceptional institutional dimension and symbolized the continuation of the dialogue initiated in Portugal between cultural heritage, artistic research, and contemporary creation.

When O Gringo’s Art Met Chef Alessandra Montagne’s Cuisine

The reception was equally distinguished by the culinary signature of the award-winning chef Alessandra Montagne, born in Rio de Janeiro and based in Paris, widely recognized as one of the leading figures of France’s contemporary gastronomic scene. Owner of the acclaimed restaurants Tempero and Nosso in Paris, both recommended by leading gastronomic guides, Alessandra was also selected by Alain Ducasse to lead one of the restaurants at the Musée du Louvre, one of Europe’s most prestigious culinary projects. Alongside her work in France, she also oversees the kitchen of the elegant Cícero Bistrot in Lisbon, where she continues to build bridges between French, Portuguese, and Brazilian culinary traditions.

For the opening of Émotions, Alessandra created an exclusive menu for the reception, designing a gastronomic experience that naturally echoed the artistic vision of the exhibition. Just as O Gringo’s artworks unite heritage with contemporary expression, her cuisine seamlessly combines tradition with innovation, transforming the dining table into a sensitive extension of the narrative presented throughout the walls of Galerie Ariel Jakob.

The entire exhibition was conceived as an integrated artistic experience in which architecture, heritage, curatorship, gastronomy, cultural production, and contemporary creation existed in constant dialogue. Every detail was carefully considered, reinforcing the artist’s narrative and creating an experience designed to remain with visitors long after they had left the gallery.

The international project was entirely coordinated by Paris 75 Image, responsible for O Gringo’s exclusive management and representation, as well as the planning, exhibition production, international communication, and overall coordination of the event, working closely with Galerie Ariel Jakob to bring to life one of the most important milestones of the artist’s international career. As identified in the official exhibition catalogue, Paris 75 Image Production was responsible for the exhibition planning, production, and communication. 

Today, Émotions stands as one of the defining chapters in O Gringo’s artistic journey. More than an exhibition in Paris, it represented the meeting between one of the Marais district’s most respected galleries and an artist who transformed Portuguese heritage into a universal contemporary language.

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