The designer owns the largest collection of Korine’s art in the world. The expansive, hypnotic exhibition of American multidisciplinary artist Harmony Korine is now on display in Paris, presented by French fashion designer agnès b., who owns the largest collection of Korine’s work globally.
Korine (b. 1973) is most famous for his independent films, including his directorial debut ‘Gummo’ (1997) and ‘Spring Breakers’ (2012), which starred James Franco and Selena Gomez. His first major cinematic milestone was writing the screenplay for Larry Clark’s cult classic ‘Kids’ (1995) after meeting Clark while skateboarding in Washington Square Park. Korine is also an accomplished fine artist, having had solo exhibitions at Hauser & Wirth and Gagosian. His artistic approach incorporates humor, erraticism, experimentation, and improvisation, and he has referred to his work as “mistakist.”
La Fab, the designer’s library and gallery located in a social housing project at Place Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, serves as the headquarters for agnès b.’s endowment fund and has hosted public exhibitions, concerts, and screenings since February 2020.
Agnès b. and Korine first met in 1999 at the Venice Film Festival when the designer came to see Korine’s latest film, the experimental drama ‘Julien Donkey Boy’, after being a fan of “Gummo”. The two collaborated for the first time that same year when Korine contributed to issue #12 of Agnès b.’s ‘Point d’Ironie’, a periodical co-created with Swiss curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and French sculptor and photographer Christian Boltanski.
Their relationship grew into a lasting professional and personal friendship. “There is something between us, we become children together. It’s not about support, it’s about friendship,” Agnès b. told ‘The Independent’ in 2003. Korine echoed this sentiment, saying, “I liked her immediately. She’s like a kindred spirit or something.” Korine had his first solo exhibition, ‘The Sigil of the Cloven Hoof Marks Thy Path’, at Agnès b.’s Galerie du Jour in Paris in 2000, followed by a second show in 2003 featuring screenplay drafts, drawings, and photographs. Galerie du Jour, founded by Agnès b. in 1984, was known for its exhibitions of graffiti artists like Futura 2000, A-One, and Les Tétines Noires.
Korine’s fourth feature, ‘Trash Humpers’(2009), was co-produced by Agnès b. through their joint production company O’Salvation. Korine explained the formation of O’Salvation, saying, “I didn’t want a movie production company because I’m just as interested in writing books or art shows, stuff like that. She understood that I wanted to go off in different directions. I needed something that whatever I wanted to do I could do and get it out there.”
“Harmony Korine in Agnès B. Collection Since 1997” is on view at La Fab, Place Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paris, from November 22 to March 23, 2025. The new exhibition, which is the first solo show of Agnès b.’s collection to be hosted at La Fab, features paintings, photographs, and prints by Korine, showcasing his artistic work, which has often been overshadowed by his filmmaking reputation. The exhibition celebrates the “artistic complicity” between the two and honors their professional and personal relationship, which has supported each other’s practices for over 25 years.
