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Michel Sima : Sima et ses amis In collaboration with Boogie Woogie Photography
and curated by Fabienne Martin
Exhibition from 6 July to 4 October 2026
Opening hours:
From 6 to 12 July:
Monday to Sunday, from 11 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 7 pm.
Thursday 9 July: closed to the public from 11 am to 3 pm. Open from 3 pm to 7 pm.
From 15 to 31 July:
Wednesday to Saturday, from 11 am to 1 pm and from 3 pm to 7 pm.
Closed from 1 to 19 August 2026.
From 19 to 29 August:
Wednesday to Saturday, from 11 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 7 pm.
From 2 September to 4 October:
Wednesday to Saturday, from 11 am to 1 pm and from 3 pm to 6 pm.
And by appointment.
Is there a time when the world will become such a difficult place that it will be impossible for it to be a home for any form of life? Will creation allow us to continue living and save us?
At the end of the 1940's, as the horrors of the Second World War were coming to an end, German philosopher Théodore Adorno answered by declaring that artistic creation was impossible after such a breach in civilisation. Would Michel Smajewski, known as SIMA, reveal the contrary?
Michel Smajewski returned to France in 1945 after having spent three years in concentration camps. Taken in by his friend Romuald Dor de la Souchère, curator at the Château d'Antibes, he gradually regained his physical health, without being able to take up sculpture again. He started photographing his entourage, and his artist friends encouraged him. Weren't photography and sculpture similar in many ways? Didn't they both reproduce reality whilst immortalising it ?
SIMA, who was very close to the artist of the École de Paris, rapidly became a privileged witness of the artistic vitality of the post-war years. He produced unique portraits of his peers. That is why, at Paul Éluard's suggestion, he took on his artist's pseudonym «SIMA», an anagram of the French word for friends : AMIS.
Marcel DUCHAMP, Île-de-France, c. 1955 – © Estate Michel SIMA
The friendship between SIMA and these artists is most certainly the catalyst that allowed him to gently yet powerfully produce the portrait of a generation far from any academic debate on art.
After having been through the very worst, SIMA brought us the testimony of his life force. It raises one resolutely contemporary question: the importance of the view of the world of those who have faced horror and who become our friends.
Fabienne Martin
Exhibition curator
About the artiste :
Michel Smajewski studied drawing at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. After becoming a student of Zadkine, he was noticed by Cocteau, who introduced him to Picabia and Paul Éluard.
From then on, while working with press agencies, he produced photographic reports on Paris and on the political and artistic events of the 1930s, while continuing his career as a sculptor.
In 1946, as a survivor of Auschwitz, he reunited with Picasso and photographed him day by day in his studio in Antibes, creating a unique photographic record of the artist and his work. This became the starting point for a remarkable series of portraits of artists from the École de Paris.
Note to Editors
About Galerie Huit Arles :
Founded in 2007, Galerie Huit Arles has built a strong reputation thanks to the careful selection of its artists — both established and emerging — and the quality of its displays and installations. Exhibitions are organised independently or in collaboration with other institutions and organisations.
Its many partnerships have included the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin, The British Journal of Photography, Factum Arte, and Galerie Sit Down in Paris.
In addition to its regular exhibitions and prestigious openings, the gallery hosts artistic stays for discerning travellers, artist residencies and themed workshops.
More than just an exhibition space, Galerie Huit Arles is a place of creation, inspiration and conviviality, set in an exceptional location.
About Boogie Woogie Photography :
Boogie Woogie Photography is a gallery founded in Hong Kong in 2016 to promote photography in Asia. It is named after Piet Mondrian’s painting Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942-43) and the blues dance music of which he was so fond. The launch of Boogie Woogie Photography responds to the growing interest for artistic photographic prints in Asia. Collectors, galleries, and museums are now increasingly promoting photographic works and the artists who produce them. Boogie Woogie Photography’s mission is to act as a platform for galleries, collectors, companies, and photographers aiming to develop photography projects in Hong Kong and Asia. Under the direction of Vanessa Franklin, the gallery represents photographers, organises exhibitions as curator or producer and advises collectors. Boogie Woogie Photography is located in a spacious loft in Wong Chuk Hang, in the new artistic hub of Hong Kong. Visits are available by appointment.
Contact Presse
Vanessa Franklin – vanessa.franklin@bewephoto.com
Gallerist in France and Hong Kong
+85252393730
06 60 64 34 82
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