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Kim Laidlaw

@unlockparis

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Kim | Unlock Paris™
Arbiter of good taste in Paris since 2002.
Curated culture, art & lifestyle for discerning explorers.
Founder @unlocktheagency

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Artist @bilalhamdad creates vast oil paintings depicting quotidian scenes of contemporary, cosmopolitan Paris—bustling café terraces, thrumming crowds outside metro stations, a child on a scooter, a woman engrossed in her phone.

But, while his portrayals may appear realistic at first glance, closer inspection reveals meticulously constructed compositions, into which quotes from works by Manet, Dégas, or Velázquez are deftly inserted.

For the latest issue of @dapperdanmagazine, Bilal spoke to me about the ideas behind his work—and we were even lucky enough to wander around his exhibition at the Petit Palais on a day when the museum was closed (see photos 3-6).

Read the interview in full—and appreciate the beautiful images—in Dapper Dan issue 33. Out now!

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Petit tour à Paris💕

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“If you had five million people in a room, you could pick out the Comme des Garçons people — they’re identifiable.”

Photographer @cris.fragkou talked to me about capturing the @commedesgarcons community for the latest issue of @dapperdanmagazine .

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Paris Sergileri Serisi 9️⃣: Claire Tabouret – D’Un Seul Souffle, Grand Palais

Fransız sanatçı Claire Tabouret, Notre Dame Katedrali için tasarladığı yeni vitray pencerelerini ilk kez Grand Palais’de görücüye çıkacak.

📍 Le Grand Palais
🗓️ 10 Aralık 2025 – 15 Mart 2026
🎥 Media: @unlockparis

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French artist Mireille Blanc paints still lifes— ostensibly, at least—often on a larger-than-life scale, zoomed in with a tightly cropped composition.

Yet they aren’t really paintings of objects at all; they’re paintings of photos—and paintings that question the very idea of painting itself. Blanc never works from life, but instead takes pictures of a scene that inspires her, and then translates the image of that photo onto canvas in gloriously thick, undiluted oil paint.

I talked to Mireille for the latest issue of @dapperdanmagazine to find out more about her fascinating process and the meaning behind her beguiling works.

#mireilleblanc#contemporaryart#stilllife#dapperdanmagazine#painting

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Balancing on the border between enigmatic beauty and alluring bad taste, @mireilleblancstudio ‘s paintings feature a repertoire of everyday paraphernalia, spanning half-eaten cakes (as in Idôle, picture 1) and discarded tangerine peel to faded sweatshirts and kitsch knick-knacks.

I first saw Mireille’s work in real life when she exhibited Idôle next to Manet’s Asparagus at the Musée d’Orsay (see picture 2). And, for the latest Dapper Dan magazine, I visited the artist in her studio to talk about what that experience meant to her, as well as how her work updates the genre of still life and questions the very idea of painting itself.

Read the interview in full in @dapperdanmagazine issue 32, out now.

#mireilleblanc#dapperdanmagazine#museedorsay#manet#contemparyart

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Much Love & Chockolat chaud this time in Paris!💫
Bisous & See you soon again🌿

Ps; For the ones we did not see, we will meet next time!😘

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For the latest issue of Dapper Dan Magazine, I visited French artist Mireille Blanc in her studio just outside Paris (photo 2) to see her paintings up close and in real life, replete with their visible brushstrokes.

While Blanc’s beagle Brownie snored peacefully at our feet, we discussed the reproduction of images, genres of art, and Manet’s Sprig of Asparagus, with a palette covered in years’ worth of paint—layered up high like the gloopy icing on one of Blanc’s birthday cakes— sitting on the table between us.

Read the interview in full in the latest issue of Dapper Dan, out now!

Huge thanks to @mireilleblancstudio and @galerieasbenichou 🖤

#mireilleblanc #contemporyart #dapperdanmagazine #artsjournalism #newart #artnow

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KIM
2024, acrylic on wood, 59 x 46 cm

actuellement présentée à l’exposition personnelle :

NAUGHTY BY NATURE
10/10/2025 – 06/12/2025
GALERIE MUNICIPALE JULIO GONZALEZ
21 avenue Paul Doumer – 94110 Arcueil – FR

- samedi 15 novembre de 16h à 19h : Rencontre et dialogue avec l’artiste

#julienbeneyton #painter #artist #fineart #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #frenchpainter #portrait #iris #pinscher #scotland #england #paris #naughtybynature #galeriemunicipalejuliogonzalez #soloexhibition

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STUDIO VISIT

“A day at the studio consists mostly of turning the volume down and seeing which ideas resist these low frequencies.”

Theodore Psychoyos talks to Kim Laidlaw in the latest issue of Dapper Dan Magazine.

#dapperdanmagazine#design#journalism#fashionmagazine#printmagazine

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Balancing form and function, Theodore Psychoyos creates sculptural works that explore, in particular, the materiality of marble.

We visited Theodore’s studio — based in a former ouzo factory in Piraeus, just outside of Athens — to discover more about his approach to upcycling, his meditative process and the evolution of his practice.

Interview by Kim Laidlaw for the latest issue of Dapper Dan magazine - out now!

#journalism #artsjournalism #artistinterview #studiovisit #artsandculture #dapperdanmagazine

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For this fashion shoot in the latest @dapperdanmagazine, photographers Martin Parr and Bruce Gilden shot the same model, in the same setting, at the same time, each creating distinct images in their recognisable signature styles.

Kim Laidlaw spoke to them about the experience—read the whole article and discover all the photos in Dapper Dan issue 31 out now!

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