With "Corpus, Women Painted by Women," the Nantes-based bar presents a new menu that is as committed as it is sensorial, where mixology dialogues with art history and the female gaze.
Before being a bar, Sœurs Carnage is a narrative. A story told in two acts, two energies, two faces of the same evening. With Corpus, Women Painted by Women, the venue unveils the second volume of Sœurs, its most contemplative moment, where tasting takes time for reflection.
A Liquid Homage to Eleven Female Painters
Corpus revolves around eleven female painters to whom the team has chosen to pay homage, or rather a "femmage." All pioneers in their field, they asserted their own vision, their own way of representing bodies, defying the objectification of women long relegated to mere objects of desire for the male gaze. Long before the term became widespread, they were already championing what is now called the woman gaze.
Long forgotten, marginalized, or relegated to footnotes in art history, their works are resurfacing today, unearthed and celebrated by contemporary feminist movements. At Sœurs Carnage, this resurgence is neither academic nor museological: it is sensorial.
When Painting Becomes Flavor
Here, each painting translates into a cocktail. Every pictorial gesture becomes a texture, every artistic intention an aromatic palette. The recipes do not merely illustrate the works; they interpret them. A floral and mischievous spritz inspired by Gerda Wegener, an orange-mint long drink with wild energy, a dry Manhattan with cocoa that speaks of the passage of time, or even a non-alcoholic cocktail with smoky and mystical notes, enhanced with CBD oil.
The approach is deliberate: mixology is conceived as culinary experimentation. Liquids are cooked, borrowing from pastry, gastronomy, and sometimes even chemistry. The result is narrative, precise, sometimes bewildering, always sensitive glasses.
Representing all women
Corpus also asserts a clear position: to represent all women. Women of color, queer and trans artists and models occupy a central place in the selection, symbolically rectifying a historical invisibility. The commitment is not superficial; it permeates the menu, the texts, the ingredient choices, and the flavor balances.
Each cocktail thus becomes a space for expression, a discreet but assumed political gesture, where pleasure never erases the message.
Two faces, one evening
As always at Sœurs Carnage, the evening unfolds in two acts. Until 9:30 PM, it's time for Sœurs: a suspended moment, conducive to attentive tasting and contemplation. Then, after this threshold, the scenery changes. Carnage takes over, more raw, more festive, more nocturnal. The menu changes, and so does the energy.
A manifesto bar in Nantes
In Nantes, Sœurs Carnage confirms that it is much more than a cocktail bar. It is a place where works are drunk, where long-forgotten legacies are celebrated, and where each glass tells a story. An invitation to slow down, to feel — and to raise a glass to those who have painted the world differently.
