Borrowed Words & Common Thoughts Exhibition, Librairie 7L, Paris

As part of the 7L Correspondances program, Coco Capitán was invited to create a project inspired by Librairie 7L and its 33,000 books. The installation “Borrowed Words & Common Thoughts,” on view in Paris until November 8, 2025, unfolds in two interrelated parts, celebrating the playfulness and power of words.

Drawn more to words than images, the artist explored their formal presentation and arrangement on the page. Capitán reappropriated them in her paintings, borrowing artwork and book titles from Robert Mapplethorpe, phrases from James Baldwin and James Agee, while mimicking different typefaces and layouts. These “Borrowed Words” resonated with her own state of mind and shaped the second part of the exhibition, “Common Thoughts.”

On the occasion of the opening on September 11, 2025, Capitán participated in a public conversation with Simon Baker, director of MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris).