Fixed faces, furiously expressive features and an indecipherable look, the contemporary paintings of Michael Ray Charles embody the contradictions that have marked African-American history. Half-joyful, half-terrified, his acrylic portraits take us back to this fragile border between racism and humanity, inherent to black identity. Between the immaculate walls of the Templon gallery, their scarlet noses, as lively as a warning signal, question us. Under the clown dimension, it is the symbol of a stigma that is still relevant today that the artist highlights in this striking exhibition. Taking the clichés, Michael Ray Charles makes them a subject of reflection, pushing the viewer to confront their own prejudices, to better deconstruct them.