The Maison Poincaré unveils its new exhibition: Creation, between art and mathematics

Arts and mathematics strive to bring into our tangible world concepts and ideas that originate in the realm of thought. To achieve this, these disciplines employ means that may appear different. In both cases, however, this process of concretisation does not occur spontaneously. The final result - whether a work of art or a theorem - often conceals the immense amount of effort required to bring it into being, to transform an idea into a result or a work. Creation is not instantaneous; it is a process.

This group exhibition not only highlights the creative process itself, but also the ways in which mathematical and artistic practices, through both their similarities and their differences, can enrich one another. Mathematicians work with artists, and some are artists themselves. They reveal the beauty of their discipline or use their works to communicate subtle ideas. Artists, in turn, find in mathematics a rich material to explore, creating works while investigating their own abstract systems.

The exhibition is intrinsically connected to the winter trimester of the Institut Henri Poincaré’s scientific programme, “Illustration as a Mathematical Research Technique”, presented at the institute from 5 January to 3 April 2026. In this context, an open call for proposals was launched, inviting artists and scientists of all nationalities. Fourteen projects, bringing together the work of 23 artists and scientists, will be shown in the exhibition, out of a total of 80 submissions. One of these projects has given rise to the permanent installation of “Laboratorio de nudos y afectos” on the wall of the Maison Poincaré. This interdisciplinary mural, at the crossroads of art and mathematics, explores knot theory while underscoring the links between the two fields. It will be installed shortly before the exhibition opening.

Each work in this exhibition emphasises certain facets of the creative process, while also revealing the diverse ways in which mathematics and the arts support and challenge one another, both as disciplines of research and exploration and as social practices. The call for proposals was open to everyone, particularly artists, mathematicians and scientists from around the world wishing to take part in this exhibition, with no obligation to participate in the research programme “Illustration as a Mathematical Research Technique”. All formats (painting, sculpture, installation, digital art, etc.) were accepted.

The selection committee is composed of:
• Jérémie Bouttier, Director of the Institut Henri Poincaré (IHP)
• Élodie Christophe, Head of the Maison Poincaré Department at the IHP
• Rémi Coulon, President of the Comité de Culture Mathématiques of the IHP
• Marie-Laure Desjardins, art critic and Editor-in-Chief of ArtsHebdoMédias
• Edmund Harriss (University of Arkansas), scientific curator and exhibition designer
• Justine Jean, Arts and Science Project Officer at the Department for Science, Culture and Society Relations at Sorbonne University
• Théo Lelieur, IHP Endowment Fund
• Martin Skrodzki, (Technische Universiteit Delft)
• Florence Wagner, Director of Galerie Wagner
• Glen Whitney (Studio Infinity), scientific curator and exhibition designer

This exhibition was conceived by the Institut Henri Poincaré (IHP), with the support of the IHP Endowment Fund and the Simons Foundation.
Scientific curators: Rémi Coulon, Edmund Harriss and Glen Whitney.

The exhibition opening is on Wednesday 8 April at 6.30 pm at the Maison Poincaré, 11 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris.
To register, please contact: presse-maison-poincare@ihp.fr