The worsening public health situation in Europe has meant that the FIAC art fair will not be taking place this year as usual in the Grand Palais. While the fair’s cancellation prompted mixed reactions in the Parisian art scene, many are determined to show that the spirit of the art week lives on in the numerous exhibitions opening at the city’s museums and galleries this week.
Gallery night this year is October 22, with spaces staying open to visit until 8 p.m, leaving enough time for art lovers to get home before the city’s 9 p.m. curfew.
Here is our pick of eight shows to see around Paris during this very unusual FIAC week.
Cindy Sherman at Fondation Louis Vuitton
Through January 3, 2021
Cindy Sherman, Untitled #602 (2019). Collection Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris. Courtesy of the Artist and Metro Pictures, New York © 2020 Cindy Sherman.
Shape-shifting photographer Cindy Sherman is getting the full treatment at Fondation Louis Vuitton, her first show in Paris since 2006. The works on view span the artist’s long career, from the groundbreaking “Untitled Film Stills” to her more recent “Disasters,” “Headshots,” and “Society Portraits.”
Due to the influx of visitors, the Fondation recommends guests come in the morning or after 5 p.m.
“Sarah Sze: Night Into Day” at Fondation Cartier
October 24, 2020–March 7, 2021
Sarah Sze, Centrifuge (2017). Presented at Haus Der Kunst © Sarah Sze Photo © Sarah Sze Studio.
Sarah Sze is debuting two new works at Fondation Cartier that will reflect upon the architecture of the Jean Nouvel-designed building. Sze’s immersive installations are meditations on technology and the ways images are shared, transferred, and created.
Tickets are available to book online at Fondation Cartier.
“Hélène Delprat: Je déteste mes peintures. I hate my paintings…” at Christophe Gaillard
Through November 7, 2020
Hélène Delprat, La guerre élégante (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Christophe Gaillard.
As the show’s title indicates, Delprat’s work is suffused with self deprecation, and yet, the artist says she persists because it’s her nature to keep doing things despite the pain they cause. In this case, it’s to our benefit, as the large-scale installation works combine fictional characters and universal themes in a delightful combination.
“Wu Tsang: visionary company” at Lafayette Anticipations
Through January 3, 2021
Wu Tsang, production still, “The show is over” (2020), photo by Diana Pfammatter. Produced by Schauspielhaus Zürich, co-commissioned by Lafayette Foundation. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin.
For the US artist’s first exhibition in France, Wu Tsang is presenting an immersive show including recent and past film, performance, and sculpture work, centered around the artist’s 2020 work The show is over, a multi-layered opera about liberation and alienation in which dancers perform to the rhythm of the African American poet and academic Fred Moten’s text Come on, get it!
Visitors do not need to book a ticket but may have to wait if the gallery is busy.
“Oscar Murillo: News” at David Zwirner
Through December 19
Oscar Murillo, manifestation (2019-2020). ©Oscar Murillo Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.
Oscar Murillo is showing paintings made while he was in quarantine in Colombia in the spring and summer of 2020. Part of his ongoing “manifestation” series, the works are the largest and most frenetic of the series to date, reflecting the heightened state of global anxiety during the present moment.
Appointments are encouraged but not required and can be booked online.
“Yesn’t” at Galerie Sultana
Through October 31
Installation view of “Yesn’t” at Galerie Sultana, Paris. Courtesy Galerie Sultana ©Aurélien Mole.
Co-curated by gallery founder Guillaume Sultana and artist Paul Maheke, the artists in this group show are all practitioners of what they call a “politics of refusal.” They are attempting to build a non-binary vocabulary and ways of thinking in response to the polarization of today’s society—as evinced by the title of the show, which is, as they put it, “a no camouflaged as a yes.” The exhibition includes works by Absalon, David Caille, Anthea Hamilton, Candice Lin, Patrick Staff, Achraf Touloub, free.yard, Paul Maheke, and Tabita Rezaire.
“Antibodies” at Palais de Tokyo
October 23–January 3, 2021
Josèfa Ntjam & Sean Hart, Mélas de Saturne (2020). Courtesy Palais de Tokyo.
AK Burns, Kate Cooper, and Pauline Curnier Jardin are among the 20 artists who will feature in a timely group show that looks at the porousness of the human body. While the show does not directly deal with the current public-health situation, issues of distance, touch, and bonding are overarching themes.
Tickets to the show may be booked online.
“Kings of Kin” at Magnin-A
Through October 30
Kings of Kin. Courtesy Galerie Natalie Seroussi.
Galerie Magnin-A and Galerie Nathalie Seroussi have teamed up to show artists hailing from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. “Kings of Kin” includes around 30 historic and recent works by Isek Kingelez, Chéri Samba, and Bodys Isek Kingelez which depict diverse aspects of Congolese life and politics.