MARTELL
LITTLE PARIS GROUP
INSPIRATION
Loïs Mailou Jones was one of the most notable figures to attain fame for her art while living as a Black expatriate in Paris during the 1930s and 1940s.
Influenced by the Harlem Renaissance movement, Jones’ Parisian-style salon dubbed ‘The Little Paris Group’ became a hub for local Black artists to hone their skills and exchange critiques.
While her work is celebrated today, in post-war Paris her work only entered American galleries under the name of a white woman.
IDEA
Working in partnership with Janelle Monae, Martell partnered with the Loïs Mailou Jones Trust to help us authentically bring the Little Paris Group into 2023.
Martell’s revival of the historic Little Paris Group followed the same principles as Lois setout years ago, but with new teachers of both traditional and modern art disciplines.
Participating artists included Emonee LaRussa, Blue the Great and Sophia Victor. In partnership with The Bishop Gallery, a black-owned gallery in Brooklyn, Martell hosted a week long celebration of Jones and her work, including a VIP night hosted by Janelle Monae to uncover the future of black creativity.
RESULTS
For the event, we hosted 20 top-tier media from titles including Forbes, INSIDER, PEOPLE, and Rolling Stone, as well as members of the artist & creative community, to celebrate the revival of Loïs Mailou Jones historic Little Paris Group in Brooklyn, NY at the Bishop Gallery.
We saw feature coverage in top-tier outlets including Architectural Digest, Oprah Daily and People Magazine, in addition to engaging content across channels developed by our creator + talent partners. So far, we’re at 2 BILLION impressions and counting.
