Paula Cooper Gallery is pleased to present On the Hunt, a new body of work by Sophie Calle. First conceived as À l’affût for the Musée de la Chasse in Paris (2017), On the Hunt is the work’s expanded and final form, now incorporating photographs and additional texts. On the Hunt premiered in Overshare, Calle’s first U.S. retrospective, at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (November 2024–January 2025). The retrospective will travel to the Orange County Museum of Art, where it opens on January 22, 2026.

Calle describes On the Hunt as “a catalogue of the qualities most desired in women by men, and in men by women, drawn from personal ads published in Le Chasseur français between 1895 and 2010.” Calle discovered copies of the magazine in the archives of the Musée de la Chasse. The periodical’s remarkably popular matrimonial ad section prompted her to reflect on the idea of “hunting for a romantic partner”. She began excerpting ads, selecting between fifteen and thirty listings per decade for each gender. After 1990, she expanded the project to include ads from other print publications and online dating platforms.

Spanning twelve decades, the work features framed text panels excerpted from personal ads written by men (titled in red) and women (in blue). Shifting trends in language and priorities reveal a layered history of the 20th century. Marriage appears in the early panels primarily as an economic arrangement, whose perceived necessity often overrides moral considerations. Over time, romantic companionship and equality come to the fore—reflecting, in part, women’s growing financial independence. References to injury and ability emerge during and after World War I, indicating the broader impact of conflict. The final panels, drawn from dating apps, emphasize casual, no-strings-attached encounters. Across this historical arc, enduring biases and prejudices coexist with moments of tenderness and longing for connection. Taken together—and presented through the lens of the artist’s characteristic dry wit—the texts invite critical reflection, engaging viewers with the myriad evolving dimensions of seeking partnership.

Mounted above each panel are double-sided framed photographs: one side shows a hunting stand, the other a nighttime image of an animal captured with an infrared camera (Calle sourced these images from a wildlife study conducted near French highways). These visual pairings prompt the question posed by Calle—“Who’s the hunter and who’s the prey?”— symbolically leaving the answer to the viewer, who can choose which side of the frame to display. On the Hunt extends Calle’s longstanding exploration of power, trust, doubt, and intimacy in romantic desire. With its historical scope, the work also maps shifting cultural attitudes toward love, gender roles, and personal agency across the twentieth century.

This exhibition marks the New York premiere of the series in English. In addition to On the Hunt, a reading room featuring English-language books and limited editions by Sophie Calle will be on view throughout the exhibition, highlighting Calle’s remarkable contribution to the artist book genre.

Concurrent with On the Hunt, Calle will open Behind the Curtain at Perrotin New York on September 4. She is also featured in the upcoming 12th season of Art in the Twenty-First Century by Art21, premiering in October 2025. On September 9, Art21 will co-host an advance screening of Calle’s segment, followed by a conversation between Calle and filmmaker Bette Gordon.