Sadie Benning, Blow Up #26 (2018), via Kaufman Repetto
Returning to the French capital for another year of exhibitions inside the iconic expanses of the Grand Palais, the Foire International Art Contemporain, or FIAC, opens its doors today in Paris. The fair, which has operated for over 45 years in the city, has undergone several facelifts over the course of its lifetime, with its most recent editions courting a healthy mix of contemporary and modern works alongside more classical and historical modes, making it one of the world’s more ambitiously curated programs.
Austin Lee, With Birds (2019), via Peres Projects
At the core of the fair is its selection of exhibiting galleries, a group of 199 guests from around the globe that will set up their booths along the hallways of the Grand Palais, bringing with them a range of works that underscores the fair’s wide-ranging perspective. David Zwirner will be on hand, bringing with it a range of works by Sherrie Levine, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Lucas Arruda, while Paula Cooper Gallery will show a selection of works by Claes Oldenburg, Cecily Brown, and more. Gagosian flexes its muscle this week, presenting Artists on the French Riviera, a special project that explores twentieth-century artistic life on the Côte d’Azur, including pieces by Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, and Yves Klein, among many more.
Sherrie Levine, Meiji Tiger and Alligator (2019), via David Zwirner
Alexander Calder, Janey Waney (1969), via Van de Weghe
The fair also returns its popular Hors les Murs programmes, freely accessible exhibitions with no admission fees spread out throughout the city of Paris, centered around the exhibition of sculptures spread along the pathways and lawns of the Jardin de Tuileries, as well as a show of sculpture in the famed Place Vendôme. The Jardin will feature a range of works, culling together a broad selection of the fair’s exhibiting gallery rosters to present a dynamic exhibition resonating with this heritage setting in the heart of Paris and responding to its scale, perspectives and history. Expect works by the French artist Jean-Marie Appriou, John Armleder, Ida Ekblad, and more.
Ida Ekblad, Turn Your Eyes to Sleep (2019), via Max Hetzler
During the month of October, a large-scale sculpture conceived by Yayoi Kusama for the Place Vendôme will also be installed as part of the fair’s Hors les Murs. Installed near the Column Vendôme, Life of the Pumpkin Recites, All About the Biggest Love for the People (2019) is a giant inflatable pumpkin sculpture covered with Kusama’s signature polka-dot pattern. The work is presented in part by David Zwirner, which will open its Paris gallery this week.
Sue Williams, via Regen Projects
Mimmo Rotella, Blank demi frame (1980-1981), via Cardi
Gagosian Gallery will also be opening a new show this week in Paris, including a striking new candle sculpture by Urs Fischer. Fischer’s newest candle portrait, Leo (George & Irmelin) (2019), depicts Leonardo DiCaprio with his parents, George DiCaprio and Irmelin Indenbirken. Cast entirely in wax, the family is posed in mid-action: George gestures while conversing with Leo, as Irmelin holds Leo in her loving embrace, and will slowly burn down over the course of the exhibition.
The fair opens October 17th.
Cosima von Bonin, SMOKE (2008), via GAGA
Cy Gavin, Untitled (Four Trees) (2019), via Gavin Brown’s Enterprise
Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, Above The Gate (2019), via Freedman Fitzpatrick
Martial Raysse, Tableau CasseÌ (1964), via LeÌvy Gorvy
Ida Tursic & Wilfried Mille, Silver landscape, three multicolored (2018), via Almine Rech
Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen, Preliminary Model for the Crusoe Umbrella (1979), via Paula Cooper
— D. Creahan
Read more:
FIAC Art Fair [Exhibition Site]
