Christine Sun Kim in Paris this autumn

Author : Lucille Enel
Published on : September 29, 2026

Christine Sun Kim for The Festival D’Automne

This autumn, Christine Sun Kim’s work can be seen in several places across Paris. I first discovered her work in Beijing in 2018, at White Space Gallery, which represents the artist. Her exhibition With a Capital D left a lasting impression on me. I was particularly struck by Dregrees of my deaf rage in the Art World. The work reflects on the experience of being a Deaf artist in the art world.

For the Festival d’Automne, Kim has created a new series of large-scale works. L’esprit de l’escalier is presented in the corridors connecting Auber RER station to Opéra. The works explore the movement, speed and impact of sign language.

Christine Sun Kim’s forthcoming performance at Bourse de Commerce

On the rooftop of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, Forever Behind Now explores how time is expressed through American Sign Language (ASL). The past is positioned behind the body. The present occupies the space around the signer. The future is placed in front. Kim transforms this spatial structure into a large-scale artwork. Her Paris presentation also includes Community Sigh, a performance presented at the Rotonde of the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection during Art Basel Art Week. The work develops an earlier installation based on the sighs of more than sixty Deaf people. Here, the sigh becomes a shared expression of exhaustion. It also speaks about political fatigue, visibility and the fight for rights.

About Christine Sun Kim

Christine Sun Kim is an American artist based in Los Angeles. Born Deaf, she explores sound as a social, political and cultural material. Her multidisciplinary practice includes performance, drawing, installation and video. She has exhibited internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her work challenges conventional ideas about sound. It also invites us to experience language and communication in new ways.