Martine Aballéa has always invented stories that emphasize the extremely fluid line that divides fiction from reality. Because of the saturation of our environment with media images, the real seems closer to fiction, at the same time that extreme situations begin to look banal. The point, however, is not to play on the gullibility of the viewer, nor to determine what is true and what isn’t. Aballéa invents stories that construct a universe, one that is as marvelous as it is monstrous. But if previously her photos, vi trines, and other presentations were combined quite systematically with a

The tile of the exhibition “Double Mixte” (Mixed doubles), curated by Jean-Pierre Criqui, is a pun that refers to the original function of the Jeu de Paume where court tennis (a precursor of modern tennis) was played in the 19th century. Two men, two women American Barry X. Ball, Frenchman Pascal Convert, Canadian Lynne Cohen, and Englishwoman Rachel Whiteread—divided up the space, not in a spirit of antagonism but in a climate of collaboration. The words “mixed” and “doubles” evoke the complex way in which themes volley back and forth among these works.

These four artists all fabricate objects