The title of this show, “Truth Fiction”, references an eponymous embroidery work of the same name created in 1990 by Brazilian artist José Leonilson (1957-1993). His art serves as a deeply personal visual diary of a queer person living with HIV in São Paulo during the epidemic. At a time when HIV and AIDS were still surrounded by stigma and fear, discussions about the disease were often silenced. Leonilson practice is noted for blurring the line between autobiography and fiction - creating a tender, coded archive of queer existence during a crisis.

This exhibition explores the boundary between truth and invention, where intimacy serves both as a subject and a strategy. Through the use of auto-fictional gestures, fragments, distortions, and staged confessions, the artists reveal deeply personal perspectives that are deliberately crafted. These works are not mere transparent diaries, but layered performances of the self, where sincerity and fiction coexist in every detail and color. The pieces in the show raise important questions: What is true, and what is performed? What do we reveal when we tell stories about ourselves, what is hidden and what is transformed?

Through the lyrical use of form, language, and color, Tarek Lakhrissi (b. 1992)’s drawings evoke a sense of nostalgia connected to queer childhood experiences and its echoes. The drawings from this series develop a visual language shaped by imagined futures and shared emotional landscapes. Similarly, Audrey Ramos (b. 1998) creates dreamlike abstract paintings that merge her Peruvian heritage with her memories of growing up in the suburbs of Geneva. Her works depict repetitive or fragmented landscapes, conveying a sense of disorientation and a quest for familiarity within a cultural in-between.

Jacent (Jade Fourès-Varnier, b. 1984; Vincent de Hoÿm, b. 1984) is a duo whose work is rooted in their everyday lives and close relationships, inviting the public to feel like guests in their home. The sculpture they present in the show, based on a drawing made by their son, captures a quiet, intimate moment of family life. It may be a simple gesture, but one that opens a door to something tender that occurs within a domestic space.

This sense of intimacy, shaped through personal experiences and shared environments, extends into the work of Chris Kauffmann (b. 1999). His painting series ‘music vidœ’ brings onto canvas the video editing language to explore how abstract painting can translate visual rhythms and sequences, regardless of the video’s subject. The extension of these paintings takes place in the videos ‘Chemsex party (the comeup)’ and ‘(the camedown)’, where the artist is the protagonist of his own work, revealing a moment of collective intimacy, desire and pleasure of private queer spaces. Giving visibility to his personal documentation it creates a link between the private and public, addressing questions surrounding chemsex - a practice involving the use of specific drugs in sexual contexts, often to intensify sensation and prolong pleasure.

The paintings by Lexi Fleurs (b. 1998) weave personal experience into a vivid, theatrical language—where queer magic meets emotional intensity. The works shown in this exhibition come from two recent series: one created in New York in 2024, marked by an acid camp aesthetic, and another begun in Ukraine in 2025, where small canvases serve as intimate diaries from her time near the Donetsk frontline. Together, these works reveal a practice that is both cathartic and performative, transforming trauma, memory, and resilience into vibrant visual narratives.

Historical works by Stéphan Landry (1960-2009) are placed in a quiet yet powerful dialogue with a new drawing created specifically for the exhibition by Italian artist Juri Bizzotto (b. 1998). Both artists navigate personal terrains shaped by queer identity, memory, and transformation. Bizzotto’s work centers on the concept of the “egg cracking”, a term used within trans communities to describe the moment of realization and self-recognition. In this metaphor, beings that hatch from eggs are born twice: once biologically and once through the act of aligning with their true selves. This sense of dual emergence resonates with Landry’s practice, where childhood imagery, melancholy, and coded references to queer life subtly unfold. Together, their works create a temporal fold–a soft space where queer memory, legacy and transformation ripple across generations.

In this context, storytelling serves as a political tool and a means of survival, especially for queer and marginalized communities. Truth Fiction opens a space for contradiction, ambiguity, and soft invention, allowing for connections with new realities.

Danniel Tostes