White Cube Paris is pleased to present ‘Rara avis’, a group exhibition curated by Jerry Stafford which brings together antiquities, artefacts and contemporary works of art sharing the subject of birds. Latin for ‘rare bird’, the exhibition title infers discovery and a sense of the wondrous or exquisite, but also intimates feelings of loss and lament.

The curator’s lifelong fascination with ornithology is rooted in personal narrative; from the bird as a private symbol of escape from repression, to the myths of Icarus and Ganymede which coloured his adolescent dreams and fantasies. Taking this as its point of departure, the exhibition explores the avian as messenger and polysemous signifier through selected works spanning different cultures and moments in time.

‘Birds are performance artists, shapeshifters, global ambassadors, messengers between worlds, musical maestros and biological miracles whose often evasive or half glimpsed presence and significance underscores not only our daily lives but also our subconscious wanderings.’

– Jerry Stafford, February 2023