Grand Palais, courtesy FIAC
FIAC, or the 39th International Contemporary Art Fair, will open tomorrow (Thursday) in Paris, with a VIP preview today, with 184 galleries exhibiting at the Grand Palais, and this year utilizing the restored Salon d’Honneur as well, which lies at the center of the structure. As in past years, galleries will exhibit sculpture at the Tuilieries Garden nearby. Approximately 65,000 visitors are expected to attend.
Tuilieries Garden courtesy FIAC
Matt Mullican, Performance, courtesy Klosterfelde Gallery
FIAC is also hosting a series of related conceptual performance-based events as a compliment to the fair’s main commercial focus. The artist Matt Mullican will discuss his performance art under hypnosis in the Louvre’s auditorium to take place on October 19th at 7pm.
Jürgen Drescher, House of Carpets, 2012 courtesy Klosterfelde Gallery and Rodolphe Janssen
The Swiss conceptual artist, Dieter Meier, will project images of his rock band and have a book signing at David Lynch’s Parisian club, Silencio.
In the Museum of Natural History – Paris, two actors will read off dates from 998,031 B.C. to 1,001,995 A.D., a public reading of On Kawara’s work One Million Years.
On Kawara, One Million Years, 1999 courtesy MoMA
The Marcel Duchamp prize, which promotes the international recognition of artists working in France, will be awarded to one of four nominated artists: Valérie Favre, born in 1959 and represented by Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; Daniel Dewar & Grégory Gicquel, born in 1976 and 1975 and represented by Loevenbruck, Paris; Bertrand Lamarche, born in 1966 and represented by Poggi, Paris; and Franck Scurti, born in 1967 and represented by Michel Rein, Paris.
The selection committee is made up of Fumio Nanjo (Japan), director of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Alfred Pacquement (France), director of the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Beatrix Ruf (Germany), director of the Kunsthalle in Zürich, among others.
Valérie Favre, Balls and Tunnels Ersatz, 2004 courtesy Jocelyn Wolff Paris
Mark Grotjahn, Untitled Mask M3.b 2012,  courtesy Gagosian Gallery
Cory Arcangel, Timeless Standards 2012 courtesy Lisson Gallery
FIAC will also host La Valeur en Question, (A Question of Value), a series of dialogues exploring the art market’s relationship to commercial concerns.
Ellsworth Kelly, Black Bar for a Wall, 2011 Matthew Marks Gallery, Los Angeles. Sculpture by Ellsworth Kelly. Photography by Joshua White, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery.
Iván Navarro, Enterrar y Callar, 2012 courtesy Galerie Templon Paris
Daniel Buren, TII262 Enamel on Cotton Fabric (green bed spread) courtesy Xavier Hufkens
Joana Vasconcelos, Manucure, 2012 courtesy Nathalie Obadia
Several surrounding events will also take place outside of the fair. Parcours V.I.P. is part of an effort by collectors to promote French artists abroad and to exhibit lesser-known contemporary foreign artists in France in both public and private spaces throughout Paris during the fair.
Yto Barrada, Student tables, pedagogical farm, Darna Courtesy Galerie Polaris
Odile Decq, ATOM #1, Courtesy Galerie Polaris
Another contemporary exhibition at the Museum of Natural History – Paris,  Hors les Murs, will consist of installations of new works by Odile Decq and Yto Barrada, presented by Galerie Polaris in collaboration with Galerie of Marseille. Decq’s work will present visitors a range of nesting areas for migratory birds who are directly confronted with the space of the Natural History Museum showcases, and Barrada will present an installation called Studies for an African Dinosaur Museum, exploring the development of exploitation and traffic of fossil evidence from Africa in the 20th century.
Francesco Vezzoli, Laura & Miss Beazley Bush, 2007 courtesy Gagosian Gallery,  Yvon Lambert,  NEU,  Franco Noero
This year, at the Palais de Tokyo, an auction will be held with such items for sale as a night out in Milan with Francesco Vezzoli or a Persian dinner with Iranian artist Shirin Neshat. The proceeds from the auction will benefit the Palais de Tokyo, which exhibits contemporary art.
René Magritte, La Grande Table, ca 1962-3 courtesy Sotheby’s
As no fair week is complete without an auction or two, Sotheby’s will host a concurrent sale of work in the collection of Belgians Zaira and Marsel Mis on October 24th. One highlight is René Magritte’s La Grande Table (circa 1962-63), with a presale estimate of €3 million-€5 million. It will also include works by Picasso, Paul Klee and Alexander Calder.
Thaddeus Ropac’s new Paris Pantin space, courtesy Thaddeus Ropac
Gagosian and Thaddeus Ropac are both inaugurating massive new galleries outside of Paris this week with shows by the artist Anselm Kiefer;Â Ropac is additionally hosting a show of work by Joseph Beuys.
FIAC Hours:
Thursday October 18th to Sunday 21st: 12 – 8 pm
Friday, October 19th: noon – 10pm
Jardin des Tuileries
Every day: 7:30 am – 7:30 pm
Jardin des Plantes
Every day: 7:30 am – 7 pm
Vernissage by invitation only
Wednesday October 17th, 5pm – 10pm
-V. Artzimovich
The Wall Street Journal: [“France’s Contemporary View“]
The New York Times: [“Art You Can Experience, but Not Buy“]
Sotheby’s [“Collection Mis, Art Moderne et Contemporain“]
The New York Times: [“Dynamic Wave of French Collectors“]
