From October 25 to December 27, 2026, noisé reading room presents its fourth chapter, Fabien Baron: Two Heartbeats Ahead, at HE Art Museum (HEM) in Foshan, Guangdong. Taking the French creative director, designer and photographer’s monograph Fabien Baron: Works 1983–2019 as its starting point, the exhibition offers a new spatial arrangement of selected pages from the book, bringing together more than three decades of Baron’s work.
“Not just staying on the pulse, but two heartbeats ahead of it.”
So writes Kate Moss in her foreword to Fabien Baron: Works 1983–2019. Over the past four decades, Baron has helped shape the visual identity of some of the most influential fashion and cultural publications of their time, from Vogue Italia, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue Paris to Interview. Through his agency Baron & Baron, he has also developed longstanding relationships with leading international fashion houses. His approach to image-making has helped redefine the visual language of fashion publishing and luxury branding, with an influence that continues to be felt across the industry today.
Alongside his work in fashion and publishing, Baron has maintained an independent artistic practice, returning repeatedly to the sea, light, landscapes and natural forms in his photography. Whether working on a commission or pursuing his own projects, he remains drawn to what he calls “the elemental” and “the emotive.” As he writes in the book, his “mind and eye function similarly in both.”
For Two Heartbeats Ahead, Baron takes the book apart and recomposes selected pages into two new sequences in space. Commissioned work, photography and independent artistic explorations from different periods of his career are brought into a new relationship, revealing connections that chronology might otherwise conceal.
The exhibition is accompanied by a selection of books curated by noisé reading room, spanning art, photography, literature, poetry and visual culture, alongside past issues of noisé. The reading table brings these publications into conversation with one another, offering visitors a space to read, linger and follow their own associations across different works and disciplines.
Artist: Fabien Baron Creative Direction: Tang Siyu Editorial Direction: Murphy Guo Project Production: Noistudio Presented at HE Art Museum (HEM) Special thanks to Baron&Baron