From October 2 through November 30, Cyril Bailleul’s newest photographic exhibition documenting the Clermont Lounge, « 789 Ponce de Leon Avenue, » will be on display for the first time ever inside the club itself.
French photographer Cyril Bailleul has been an artist-in-residence at the Clermont Lounge since 2014, inspired by the atmosphere of this iconic Atlanta strip club. Over the last decade, the women of the Clermont Lounge have trusted Cyril to capture them in their essence, using only the club’s dimly lit décor and the adjoining Hotel Clermont as the source of inspiration:
“My photography is all about relationships and giving something back. Often, I let my subjects create the scene and the atmosphere, allowing myself to be guided by what they provide. In exchange, I try to offer a beautiful image. I want to pay homage to the women and show their beauty.”
Following the exhibition of “Girls Girls Girls” in Paris in 2017 (Jacques De Vos Gallery) and « Above Where the Ladies Dance » for the reopening of the Hotel Clermont in 2018, Cyril returns to celebrate his 10 years as Artist in Residence at the Clermont Lounge and Hotel Clermont with « 789 Ponce de Leon Avenue, » his first exhibition inside the Lounge itself.
As the lounge approaches its 60th anniversary in 2025, it continues to be an integral part of the vintage 1924 building that also houses the Hotel Clermont. There has been “entertainment” in the building’s basement since 1943: Anchorage Club, the Gypsy Room, the Continental Room, briefly an unofficial Atlanta Playboy Club, the Jungle Club and of course, since 1965 everyone knows this is the home of the Clermont Lounge.
Exhibition Opening
Clermont Lounge | Wednesday, October 2 | 6 to 7:30pm
Join us for the opening of « 789 Ponce de Leon Avenue » on October 2, 2024. Moving beyond traditional frameworks of visual display, Cyril Bailleul has created an experience between place and subject for this exhibition, with pieces designed especially for the show including lights boxes, triptych, and slide projections. On exhibition inside the Clermont Lounge until November 30, 2024.
The exhibition is accompanied by the release of a fanzine 789 Ponce de Leon Avenue Vol.1 in collaboration with graphic designer Théo Miller. A limited edition of 200 copies with a signed print from the artist. In the coming year, Cyril plans to release 789 Ponce de Leon Avenue Vol.2 which will focus on the Clermont Hotel followed by Vol.3 which will see a return to the Clermont Lounge.
This book signing on October 6 is part of Hotel Clermont’s all-day celebration of the building’s 100th anniversary.
Presented by the Clermont Lounge, the Hotel Clermont, and Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, in partnership with Atlanta Celebrates Photography.
Cyril Bailleul is a French portrait and documentary photographer currently based in Paris and Atlanta. Through his work in Atlanta Cyril has found a passion for the South. His work on this subject has been exhibited at Galerie Jacques De Vos (2017), the Atlanta Celebrates Photography festival Hotel Clermont (2018), on the gates of the Mayor’s office of the 1st Arrondissement of Paris (2020), Pôle international du Cheval Longines-Deauville France (2020), Photo Fair: Photo Doc. 5th edition Paris France (2020) and APG-ATL group exhibition at Atlanta international Airport – USA (2020) – Cat Eye Creative Gallery Atlanta-group exhibition USA 2021 – Château de Thury Harcourt – France 2021 – Phoenix mural midtown ACP festival Atlanta USA 2021 – Photo Doc. 6th edition Paris France 2022 – Calvados Department France 2023 -Remèdes galerie group exhibition Paris 2024 – SALO XII group exhibition Paris France 2024 – Cat Eye Creative Gallery group exhibition Atlanta USA 2024
Since 1997 he works regularly with UNESCO and spent several years as the official photographer for the Grand-Ducal Court of Luxemburg. In parallel, he became a UN correspondent and served as official photographer to Kofi Annan in Paris. His work for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other international organizations has been published widely.
Through his art Cyril has met wonderful people from everyday life as well as more famous including, the Dalai Lama, heads of state, and artists. Cyril’s photos are exhibited in museums, festivals and galleries. The Portuguese Ministry of Culture acquired a series of his portraits of artists which have been exhibited at the Museum of Aveiro and the Lisbon Institute of Contemporary Art.
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