Bertrand Lavier, Dino (1984), Yvon Lambert, all photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Contemporary and conceptual art spring forth once again within the Grand Palais in Paris yesterday for the first day of the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain, or FIAC. Starting off as the Frieze Art Fair in London ends, it is the 40th year that FIAC has been held in France.   Below is a photoset from the fair.

Ai Weiwei, Iron Tree (2013), neugerriemschneider, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.
As is to be expected, FIAC launched its VIP day on Wednesday to strong initial sales. The 1993 sculpture “Dino” by Bertrand Lavier sold for $250,000 at the Yvon Lambert Gallery booth. “Dino” is a found-object art piece that consists of a crashed and wrecked Ferrari Dino GT4, costing about six times as much as a drivable Ferrari Dino GT4. Another notable sale was of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “O.M.R.A.V.S.” Unable to find a buyer during last year’s FIAC did not keep the Vedovi Gallery from finding an anonymous one to purchase it for just under $5 million this year.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, O.M.R.A.V.S. (1984), FIAC 2012, photo by Aurora Aspen

Other favorites coming to the fore include Ai Weiwei’s “Iron Tree” and James Lee Byars’s “The Golden Sphere,” represented by neugeriemschneider and the Michael Werner Gallery, respectively. While altogether different at first glance, both were created out of humankind’s fascination with nature. With crews, nuts, and bolts holding 99 pieces of cast iron together, “Iron Tree” is an everlasting imperfect replica. While the FIAC statement on Byrars and “The Golden Sphere” summarizes it as “a reflection of his lifelong pursuit of the transient nature of beauty, perfection, and life.”

As the fair continues into the rest of the week, gallerists will continue to push for strong sales, hoping that the high-spectacle works and more classical canvases continue to appeal to collectors even after a full week of art fairs on European soil.

Damien Hirst, Kolic Acid (2011-2012) White Cube, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Yvon Lambert, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

David Adamo, Untitled (The Rite of Spring) (2008) Peter Freeman, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

 

Yue Minjun, The Tao Laughter No 1 (2012) Galerie Daniel Templon, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Yue Minjun, Free Sky No 1 (2012) Galerie Daniel Templon, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Pierre et Gilles, Le Désespéré (2013) Galerie Daniel Templon, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Wim Delvoye, Shahreza (2012) Galerie Perrotin, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Artist Wim Delvoye and art critic Judith Benhamou, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Thomas Houseago, Yet to be titled (angular head on plinth) (2013) at Xavier Hufkens, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Simon Lee booth, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Dan Colen at Gagosian, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Edward Ruscha and Giuseppe Penone at Gagosian, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

 

Darren Lago, Mickey de Balzac (grand) (2009-2011) Annely Juda, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

David Altmejd at Andrea Rosen, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

David Altmejd, Untitled 5 (Puddles) (2013) Andrea Rosen, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Doug Aitken, Art (2012) Eva Presenhuber, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Kamel Mennour booth, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Kamel Mennour, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

 

Paul McCarthy, White Snow Tree Forest Monochrome 4 (2012) Hauser & Wirth, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Marina Abramovic, Holding the Lamb, (2010) and Chair for Human Use with Chair for Sprit Use (2012) Galerie Krinzinger, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Lucio Fontana, Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso at Van de Weghe Fine Art, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Lucia Koch, Galeria Nara Roesler, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Lehmann Maupin, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Laura Owens, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Kaws, Better Knowing (2013) at Galerie Perrotin, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Pierre Joseph, Football Player (2012) Air de Paris, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Juan Munoz, 2 Seated on the Wall with Big Chairs (2000) Skarstedt, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

John De Andrea, Lisa (2006) Sophie Scheidecker, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Jeppe Hein, Vertical Cut (2011) 303 Gallery, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Jean Dubuffet and Barry Flanagan at Waddington Custot, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Anish Kapoor, Untiltled (2013) Gladstone Gallery, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Elmgreen & Dragset, Grown Up Rocking Horse (2010) Victoria Miro, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Erwin Wurm, Obama and Putin (2013) Thaddaeus Ropac, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Nam June Paik, Diamond Sat (1998) and Heinz Mack, Untitled (1960) Galerie Hans Mayer, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Galerie Hans Mayer, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Thomas Schütte at David Zwirner, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Two Anish Kapoor at Lisson Gallery, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (You drive a hard bargain) (2011) at Sprüth Magers, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Darren Almond and Mona Hatoum at Galerie Max Hetzler, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Alex Israel, Almine Rech, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Almine Rech booth, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Barthélémy Toguo, talking to the moon II (2013) Galerie Lelong, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

Jaume Plensa, Marianna W (2013) Galerie Lelong, photo by Caroline Claisse for Artobserved.

—B. Richards

Read More:
“Wrecked Ferrari Sells for $250,000, Basquiat $5 Million” [Bloomberg]
“FIAC Sales & Commentary” [Art Market Monitor]
Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain, Official Website [FIAC]
Follow Us on Instagram and Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and photos on FIAC and other stories as the fair continues [Instagram] [Twitter]

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 24th, 2013 at 9:03 pm and is filed under Art News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.