It was supposed to be scheduled for the 27–29th of March next year at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown LA, but now we hear that FIAC, the French fair, has cancelled plans for its first ever Los Angeles satellite fair. News comes only weeks after the closure of FIAC in Paris and right on the heels of the application deadline for the new fair, which closed September 30. This suggests that the fair didn’t get the volume or kind of gallery support it was banking on. The 40 year old French fair promised “to establish a new paradigm for the international art fair” to be “set against the backdrop of one of America’s fastest growing neighborhoods.” Not to be, it seems, or at least not this year.

Calls and emails to FIAC representatives in Paris went unanswered, though artnet News understands that a formal announcement about the cancellation of the fair is imminent. People familiar with the proposed fair and its organization have suggested that part of the problem in Los Angeles was that FIAC had not engaged the right staff on the ground to pull off such an ambitious fair in a short period of time.

UPDATE

This afternoon, we received a press release from FIAC organizers Reed Expositions announing “new timing for the inauguration of FIAC LA.”

According to the statement: “In order to satisfy the requirement level of the galleries, FIAC has listened to the recommendations of its participants to modify the launch of its Los Angeles endeavor to provide both organizers and galleries sufficient time for optimal preparation. The first edition of FIAC LA will now take place at the beginning of 2016.”