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20 Sensational Cures for Fair Fatigue During FIAC
From Tino Sehgal's enigmatic show to the newly reopened Ritz Hotel.
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The sparkling Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe—the City of Light remains one of the most magnificent destinations in the world, with Parisians, unlike tourists, resolutely undeterred by last year’s terrorist attacks.
Paris uniquely combines historical buildings with the best of contemporary art, and visitors to this year’s edition of FIAC, which runs from October 20 – 23 at the Grand Palais, will have a lot to discover in the city’s galleries and institutions.
We’ve gathered 20 of the most exciting shows and events around Paris:
Marcel Duchamp Porte-bouteilles (Bottle Rack) (1959). Photo: Glenn Steigelman, courtesy of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation © Succession Marcel Duchamp/ ADAGP, Paris, 2016.
1. Marcel Duchamp “Porte-Bouteilles” at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, October 20 – January 14
Opening for FIAC week, Duchamp’s emblematic Porte-bouteilles (Bottle Rack) is being shown in the gallery’s Marais space along with a selection of works by the French artist, and archive documents. The Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, along with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, is selling Marcel Duchamp’s well-known sculpture from 1959 and will be making sure to place this piece in a museum collection.
The exhibition coincides with the 100th anniversary of the term “readymade,” first used by the artist in a letter to his sister Suzanne in 1916. The sculpture was bought by Robert Rauschenberg for his personal collection after it was included in group show featuring works by the two artists. The gallery, which also represents the Rauschenberg estate since last year, is holding its first show with the artist at the same Marais location, titled “Salvage,” and featuring the artist’s eponymous last series on canvas.
Installation view, “Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010” at Dia:Beacon
Photo: Dia Art Foundation
2. Carl André, “Sculpture as Place” at the Musée d’Art Moderne, October 18, 2016 – February 12, 2017
In what will the first exhibition of Carl André’s work in France in 20 years, the retrospective “Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010” includes some 40 sculptures, but also works on paper, photographs, and poems in a show that attempts to “defy pigeonholing,” according to the press release. In addition, never-before-seen works will be on view, including his “Dada Forgeries.”
What remains to be seen is whether the artist’s fierce protestors, operating under the name WHERETHEFUCKISANAMENDITA?, will make an appearance.
Palais de Tokyo. Photo: Florent Michel, courtesy Palais de Tokyo.
3. Tino Sehgal at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, October 12 – December 16.
Tino Sehgal has been given carte blanche over the entirety of Paris’ Palais de Tokyo this fall. The British born, Berlin-based artist will transform the museum’s exhibition space into and area where his own “constructed situations” reside, displayed in conjunction with a selection of the artist’s major works and those of other artists Sehgal has invited, such as Pierre Huyghe.
This including an extension of his 2013 presentation AnnLee: The original AnnLee saw a live action incarnation of the eponymous manga character break the fourth wall to share her disquieting ideas about her own character and being with visitors.
Henri Matisse, La Danse (1909-1910). Courtesy of Fondation Louis Vuitton and The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.
4. The Shchukin collection at the Fondation Louis Vuitton , October 22, 2016 – February 20, 2017
The collection of the Russian textile merchant Sergei Shchukin, described as one of the world’s finest collections of modern art, will go on view outside of Russia for the first time in nearly 100 years at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. The collection constituted by Shchukin includes works by the most renowned impressionist, post-impressionist, and modernist masters like Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, Renoir, Picasso, and Van Gogh.
The art patron was a visionary in his taste for modern French art, leading him to begin forming an exceptional collection from 1898, representing the most radical trends in art from the era. Nationalized during the Russian revolution, the paintings in the collection have been displayed at separate locations in Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
Courtesy Paris International.
5. Paris Internationale, October 19 – 23
Functioning as a satellite fair to FIAC, Paris Internationale is the brainchild of five emerging galleries: Galerie Crèvecoeur, High Art, Antoine Levi, Sultana, and Gregor Staiger—four of which are Parisian, and one located in Zurich. Created by the young dealers as a collective attempt to launch a platform that’s supportive of new initiatives in contemporary art (and that’s affordable for small galleries fostering young talents) the fair is only in its second edition, but has already established itself as the go-to spot for discovering edgy, up-and-coming artists.
The fair is held at the historic 51 Avenue d’Iéna, a hôtel particulier built in 1897 and best known for its former role as the residence and salon of collector Calouste Gulbenkian. The list of exhibitors, which galleries can join by invitation only, boasts 54 galleries and seven project spaces drawing from over 21 countries. Exhibitors include Carlos/Ishikawa (London), Croy Nielsen (Vienna), Simone Subal (New York), Proyectos Monclova (Mexico City), and Rob Tufnell (London/Cologne), among others.
Ayoung Kim, still from Please Return to Busan Port from Tales of a City, (2012). Courtesy the artist and Choi&Lager Gallery
6. Asia Now Art Fair, October 20 – October 23
Another satellite fair that’s not to be missed is Asia Now, the first “boutique art fair” in Europe to focus exclusively on the contemporary Asian Art scene.
This year, it will double in size for its second edition in Paris, bringing over 30 galleries from 11 Asian territories to a new venue at 9 Avenue Hoche. Highlights include Chimères, a platform curated by Hervé Mikaeloff in collaboration with Arndt, and Shang Xia & Christie’s, presented with a collaboration on Chinese contemporary design.
A 2015 shot of visitors and dealers at the fair. Courtesy of Outsider Art Fair.
7. Outsider Art Fair, October 20 – October 23
Small-ish in size but big on championing self-taught artists, the Outsider Art Fair (OAF Paris) will present 38 galleries, 15 of which are new to the fair, in this 4th edition in the French capital. Founder of Wide Open Arts, Andrew Edlin, acquired the OAF and built on the New York fair by adding a Paris edition in October 2013. By bringing the fair to Paris, Edlin hopped to tap into the city’s reputation of support for Art Brut and self-taught artists.
This year’s edition will include a diverse talks program which will center around art from beyond the grave, or “Mediumistic” art such as that of Georgian Houghton, titled “Beyond Art, the Art of the Afterlife.”
Installation view of “The Great Animal Orchestra” at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2016, Paris. Photo Thomas Salva / Lumento.
8. “The Nights of Uncertainty: The Infinite Conversation and The Great Animal Orchestra,” at the Cartier Foundation, Thursday, October 21, at 6:30 pm
Based on a proposal by Hans Ulrich Obrist, the Fondation Cartier will host a conversation moderated by the Serpentine director and featuring artists, scientists, and intellectuals in relation to “The Great Animal Orchestra” exhibition, currently on view there.
The show was inspired by the bio-acoustic compositions of Bernie Krause. Krause is widely known for introducing the Moog synthesizer to film and music, and his work can be found on albums by Van Morrison, Brian Eno, and David Byrne, among others. Over the course of 50 years, he also traveled widely, collecting thousands of sound recordings of natural habitats both terrestrial and marine which have helped form the basis of new scientific disciplines.
Mia Fonssagrives-Solow. Courtesy Galerie Agnes Monplaisir
9. Mia Fonssagrives-Solow at Galerie Agnes Monplaisir, from October 14 – November 12
Mia Fonssagrives-Solow is bringing her sculptural works to Paris in a show which will evidence the wide range of her artistic practice, which is based on combinations of elements from traditional sculpture to contemporary items.
Her output encompasses fine jewelry, sculpture, collage, and paintings and her most renowned works are her futuristic metal objects. For this exhibition, Fonssagrives-Solow will be showing her colorful modernist inspired sculptural works and futuristic fine jewelry.
René Magritte, La lampe philosophique (1936). Image: © Photothëque R. Magritte / Banque d’Images, Adagp, Paris, 2016.
10. René Magritte, “La trahaison des images” at the Centre Pompidou, September 21, 2016 – January 23, 2017.
“René Magritte: La trahaison des images” (the treachery of images) promises a novel approach to the works of the celebrated Belgian surrealist painter. The Centre Pompidou will showcase around 100 of the artist’s paintings, drawings, and documents in the latest of a series of monographic exhibitions devoted to key figures of 20th century art.
The exhibition will display some of Magritte’s most recognizable masterpieces alongside lesser-known works with a fresh outlook that emphasizes the artist’s interest in philosophy, arguably a driving influence on his art’s turn away from his early surrealist works.
This new show, under curator Didier Ottinger, focuses on five figures the painter always referenced in his work: fire, shadow, curtains, words, and the fragmented human body. The exhibition captures the “reasoning turn” from the random meetings between sewing machines and umbrellas that defined his surrealism to the precise logic of his search for solutions to what he dubbed “problems,” which would culminate in 1973 with the publication of Michel Foucault’s Ceci n’est pas un pipe.
Yto Barrada, N du mot Nation en arabe, Tanger (N of the Nation in Arabic, Tangier) (2003). Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg.
11. Marcel Duchamp Prize at the Centre Pompidou, October 12, 2016 – January 30, 2017
The Marcel Duchamp Prize is one of the most hotly anticipated exhibitions of the FIAC week, as it is the most prestigious contemporary art award in the country. The winner is announced during the fair, and the show at Paris’ top contemporary art museum, the Centre Pompidou, provides a unique opportunity to view the work of the shortlisted artists (before and after the winner is revealed).
This year, the nominees are Kader Attia, Yto Barrada, Ulla von Brandenburg, and Barthélémy Togua. Although very different in their practice, these artists nevertheless share a common trait: They all explore cultural tensions in today’s world, a theme that is sadly very current.
Alberto Giacometti at the 1962 Venice Biennale. Photo from Fondo Paolo Monti via Wikimedia Commons.
12. Picasso-Giacometti at the Musée national Picasso, October 4 – February 5
Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti are two monumental artists of the 20th century, and this exhibition, a joint effort between the Musée national Picasso and the Fondation Giacometti, explores their working relationship and shared artistic interests.
The results of a research project undertaken by the two institutions, the exhibition will display works of sculpture, drawing, and painting from early to late in the careers of both men. Over 200 works of art are brought together from both institutions, as well as private collections in France and abroad. Also on display will be sketches, documents, notebooks, and annotations that indicate the nature of the artists’ correspondence, and illuminate their common fascinations with non-Western art, surrealism, and finally, a return to realism.
Tom Wesselmann, Smoker #3 (1968). Courtesy Almine Rech Gallery.
13. Tom Wesselmann, “A different kind of women” at Almine Rech Gallery, October 17 – December 21
Super dealer Almine Rech—who has recently launched a new space in London, showcasing works by none other than Jeff Koons—is hosting the most significant representation of Tom Wesselmann’s work in Paris since his 1994 retrospective at the Fondation Cartier.
The exhibition will feature a selection of historical works, including his seminal Bedroom Tit Box, a live nude work from 1970 that will be staged in Paris for the very first time. The exhibition, organized in partnership and with the collaboration of the Estate of Tom Wesselmann, will also include post-collage works and other key pieces, so if you’re a fan of this American Pop artist, this one is a must.
Maurizio Cattelan. Photo: Pierpaolo Ferrari.
14. Maurizio Cattelan, “Not Afraid of Love” at Monnaie de Paris, October 22, 2016 – January 8, 2017
Despite his famous “retirement” in 2011 with the show “All” at the Guggenheim in New York, Cattelan will be presenting his largest exhibition in Europe since the 2011 outing with “Not Afraid of Love,” curated by Chiara Parisi. What will be on view remains mum, but the website teases with a vague description that “Cattelan will never have been so present in an exhibition, and yet each of his artworks yells his absence.”
We all know Cattelan for his colorful provocations such as the kneeling Hitler sculpture or the Pope being hit by an asteroid. In the museum’s 18th century rooms, Cattelan once again seeks to challenge visitors.
Daniel Buren Aveline gallery. Photo by Caroline Lahame
15. Daniel Buren at Galerie Aveline, October 10 – December 31
How can an antique dealer attract visitors during FIAC? The Galerie Aveline on Place Beauveau, specializing in 18th century furniture, has the answer. Jean-Marie Rossi is a true visionary, having collected Roy Lichtenstein and Daniel Buren long before others. The gallerist bought 10 Buren paintings in the 1960s and this year, he invited Buren to paint the façade of the gallery, making it pop and shine. Inside, viewers can view Rossi’s Burens, in addition to many more.
Lovers of the artist should also make the short trip to the Louis Vuitton Foundation where Buren’s roof shows bright colors for another couple of months as well.
Jean Tinguely, Wackel-Baluba (1963). Courtesy Vallois
16. Jean Tinguley, Galerie George-Philippe et Natalie Vallois, September 9 – October 29
As a tribute to mark the 25th years since the passing of artist Jean Tinguely, Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois has opened a solo show of the artist’s sculptures, whose estate has been represented by the gallery for the last five years. The sculptures explore sound and movement through their forms, and endure a kind of formal anarchism and chaos.
The show features additional works from a series that is on view at the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, a retrospective of Méta-Reliefs that will then travel to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam later this year. Where the retrospective ends at the year 1959, the exhibition at Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois picks up with works from the 60s and onward.
Napoleon Sarony (1821-1896), Portrait of Oscar Wilde #15 (1882). ©Library of Congress, Washington.
17. Oscar Wilde, “l’impertinent absolu” at the Petit Palais, September 28 – January 15
Exiting the Grand Palais it is worth taking a peak just opposite into the Petit Palais to visit the first exhibition in France dedicated to the writer Oscar Wilde.
The exhibition evokes his life and work through a collection of 200 pieces, bringing together documents, portraits, and Pre-Raphaelite paintings relating to this scandalous figure of the literary world. The exceptional documents, some of which will be presented for the first time, include manuscripts, photographs, drawings, and caricatures by the sharp-witted Irish author.
FIAC Hors les murs, Place Vendôme, Ugo Rondinone. Courtesy FIAC, ©Ugo Rondinone
18. Hors Le Murs and Parades for FIAC
In association with the Domaine National du Louvre et des Tuileries, FIAC will exhibit a series of outdoor works in the world-famous Tuileries Garden, with the 2016 edition featuring sculptural pieces by 18 artists, including Joe Bradley, Jean Prouvé, Julien Tiberi, and Berdaguer & Péjus, among others.
In addition to this presentation, FIAC has implemented a new element to the fair, titled Parades for FIAC, previously reported on in full by artnet News. Billed as a performance festival slated to take place in several locations throughout the city, Parades is produced in conjunction with the Louvre Museum, and will focus on the role that music, dance, performance, and poetry take in contemporary art.
Olafur Eliasson Deep mirror (yellow) and Deep mirror (black) (2016). Photo by Anders Sune Berg. Image: Courtesy of the artist, neugerriemschneider, Berlin, Tanya Bonakdar, New York ©Olafur Eliasson.
19. Olafur Eliasson at the Palace of Versailles, until October 30.
If you haven’t made it to Versailles yet this summer, this is the last chance to see Olafur Eliasson‘s current massive project at Versailles, which, according to Catherine Pégard, president of the estate of Versailles, almost didn’t happen.
But luckily, the artist found the right spots around the palace and its massive gardens for his mind-boggling installations, which meld art and science. His works for this prestigious commission resulted in subtle yet impressive interventions into the baroque monument, and a spectacular water fountain that elevated the symmetry of the gardens to new divine dimensions.
Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Hotel, Paris. Photo Vincent Leroux, Courtesy Ritz Hotel.
20. Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Hotel, Place Vendôme
The opulent luxury hotel Ritz Paris recently reopened its doors following a $400 million, four-year renovation. Located in the heart of the city, at Place Vendôme, the hotel is known for its celebrity clientele, and its Hemingway Bar has been the epicenter of bohemians life in the city for personalities such as Cole Porter, Gary Cooper, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and of course the establishment’s namesake, Ernst Hemingway. A short walking distance from the Grand Palais, it could easily become the week’s hangout of preference for the art world denizens descending on the city. Open daily from 6pm – 2am.
Additional reporting by Caroline von Krockow – Lahame
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