Mircea Cantor’s work in FIAC 2011, image by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed, all photos by Art Observed unless otherwise noted.

By the close of FIAC on Sunday evening, some 68,000+ visitors had come through the fair.  These attendance figures represent a 6% increase from the previous year, reports the New York Times.  Housed this year in the exuberant Grand Palais, the fair showed strong sales from the get go. Despite the global economic downtown of recent years, the atmosphere was effervescent. French, American, and German galleries dominated the space (55, 26, and 21, respectively), but participants from Brazil, Turkey, and South Africa showed a strong presence at the fair for the first time. New York newcomers Matthew Marks, Eleven Rivington, Andrew Kreps, Michele Maccarone and Friedrich Petzel did well, and Pace Gallery made a comeback after a long absence. Compared to Frieze the week before in London, many fair-goers felt that the Parisian fair was riskier in content, creating a more exciting and eclectic display of artworks.

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Anish Kapoor Push – Pull (2008) – All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed

Art Observed begins its onsite coverage with a photoset of the people and works of Art 42 Basel’s Art Unlimited and Art Statement.  Since 2000, Art Unlimited is Art Basel’s exhibition platform for projects that transcend the art booth formats.  It includes video projections, large-scale installations, oversized sculptures and often live performances. Selected by the Art Basel Committee, it has been curated this year and since the beginning by Geneva curator Simon Lamunière.

Art Statements, also at the main fair, consists mainly of emerging artists.  Art Statements features one-artist stands from rising galleries globally and is found in Hall 1.

Gallerist Tony Shafrazi

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Daniel Templon and the artist Jonathan Meese at Daniel Templon Gallery all photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed

Art Observed was on site to meet German artist Jonathan Meese for his opening reception at the Daniel Templon Gallery in Paris. Renowned for his unconventional and at times rebellious behavior in the Berlin art scene, the St. Neutralité exhibition marks the first opening for the artist after a two-year hiatus from gallery shows. Now 40, Meese returns filling two venues of the gallery—the Rue Beaubourg exhibits the artist’s recent paintings, and the Impasse Beaubourg houses an installation of new and old sculptures. Citing Paris as the “City of Love,” Meese chose it as the debut home for his new “lighter,” more humorous works.

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