Chat Noir, crossed gazes

In March 2025, the legendary Cabaret du Chat Noir came back to life for a free, collective street-art exhibition. MadamePolare created the official poster.

From March 13 to 30, 2025, a former telephone exchange in Paris’s 9th arrondissement was transformed into a reinvented cabaret. L’Expo des 150, a poetic and rebellious tribute to the Chat Noir, brought together over 350 artists from the urban art scene — established names, newcomers, and creators from all walks of life.

Across more than 3,000 m², murals, installations, graffiti, collages and sculptures took over the venue in a spontaneous creative surge, with no imposed theme. It felt like a contemporary Salon des Refusés — open, free, alive — where the public wandered through performances, DJ sets, concerts and poetry.

MadamePolare was thrilled to design the event’s poster. A bold, frontal image born from our take on the original cabaret: a cat, reduced to its essence. Two eyes piercing the night. A silhouette cut from shadow, staring, drawing you in, hypnotic.

We drew inspiration from the iconic graphic world of Steinlen to propose a modern, accessible reinterpretation — at the intersection of counterculture and contemporary creation. The poster becomes an invitation to step into the unknown, into a space where freedom, ideas, and instinct collide.

© Arts in the city

This ephemeral, collective, and resolutely free project reminded us why we believe in designing images that trigger something instinctive. Something that stings, questions, attracts. Like the eyes of a black cat in the night.

A heartfelt thank you to the organizers, the artists, and the public for bringing this shared vision to life.