Everything You Need to Know About the 2018 Paris Fairs

Here, Whitewaller is giving you everything you need to know about the fairs happening in Paris this week.

FIAC
October 18–21
Now in its 45th iteration, Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) sheds light on the richness and range of artistic creation in 20th- and 21st-century art and design. Running from October 18 to 21, 2018, at the prestigious Grand Palais, FIAC exhibits an extraordinary variety of artwork and programming, with special emphasis on supporting new talent.

FIAC perennially marries modern masterpieces with emerging trends, attracting seasoned collectors and international art professionals. This year’s selection welcomes exhibitors from 27 countries including Germany, Austria, Brazil, China, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, the United States, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Greece, the United Kingdom, England, Switzerland, Tunisia, and three entering countries: Greece, Peru, and Ireland.

FIAC veterans will recognize returning galleries Gmurzynska (Zürich, St. Moritz), Ghebaly Gallery (Los Angeles), High Art (Paris), Rodolphe Janssen (Brussels), and Modern Art (London). FIAC 2018 will be the inaugural edition for Gerhardsen Gerner (Oslo, Berlin), Magician Space (Beijing), Arcadia Missa (London), Sandy Brown (Berlin), Document Space (Chicago), Edouard Montassut (Paris), and Bonny Poon (Paris), among others.

New to the fair this year is Kasmin Gallery (New York), 80M2 Livia Benavides (Lima), Antenna Space (Shanghai), Bergamin & Gomide (São Paulo), Gerhardsen Gerner (Oslo, Berlin), Magician Space (Beijing), and more.

ASIA NOW
October 17–21
Taking place October 17 to 21, ASIA NOW immerses itself in the contemporary Asian art scene, showcasing 40 Asian and Western galleries dedicated to promoting Asian artists. In its fourth edition, ASIA NOW welcomes galleries from over 10 countries, providing insight into the development of the region’s art market and its expanding dynamism.

This year ASIA NOW spotlights the Japanese art scene, with a Japanese Platform featuring many artists whosevwork is being shown in Europe for the first time. The Japanese Platform’s curator, Emmanuelle de Montgazon, says that she chose “projects which would provide the keys to understanding the scene over thevlast twenty years, a scene which I saw evolve under renewed cultural, artistic, and political influences.” ASIA NOW also notably presents galleries from over 10 countries within Asia, including several Chinese, Korean, and Filipino galleries. The Conversation Platform comprises leading voices from the art world, including speakers from the Centre Pompidou; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris; and MAXXI, Rome.

Participating galleries will include A2Z Art Gallery (Hong Kong, Paris), A3 (Berlin, Singapore), GalerievMaria Lund (Paris), The Columns Gallery (Seoul), MORI YU GALLERY (Kyoto, Tokyo), The Drawing Room (Makati City), and Tong Gallery+Projects (Beijing).

Paris Photo
November 8–11
The 22nd edition of Paris Photo takes place at the Grand Palais this November 8 to November 11, 2018. As the foremost international fair for photography, Paris Photo boasts a diverse, growing audience of curators, collectors, museum directors, artists, and amateurs, collectively discovering extraordinary photography from the 19th century to the present. For its 2018 edition, Paris Photo will host over 200 exhibitors across five sectors, 149 for its main gallery sector and 31 exhibitors for its book sector, representing 28 countries.

New to the fair is the Curiosa sector, which will be organized by independent curator and writer Martha Kriszenbaum (curator of the French Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale). The new sector will present a selection of images exploring the representation of the body, curated to challenge our understanding of power, eroticism, objectification, and gender relations. The fair welcomes first-time galleries, too, including Marc Selwyn (Los Angeles), Enrico Astuni (Bologna), In Situ (Paris), Anahava (Helsinki), Art+Text (Budapest), Fisheye (Paris), and Galerie 127, representing specializations from conceptual photography to virtual reality projects.

Outsider Art Fair
October 19–21
In 1947, the French artist and curator Jean Dubuffet described art brut (raw art) as “works produced by persons unscathed by artistic culture, where mimicry plays little or no part (contrary to the activities of intellectuals).” Advocating for work stemming from personal depths, unconditioned by art history and art world trends, Dubuffet effectively laid the foundations for the Outsider Art Fair (OAF).

Now in its sixth edition, OAF is the premier fair dedicated to self-taught art and art brut. This year, OAF will move to Atelier Richelieu, and will run from October 18 to 21, 2018, showcasing the art of 37 exhibitors, from 18 cities across 10 countries. The roster features several new exhibitors, such as Galerie Atelier Herenplaats (Rotterdam), Galerie LJ (Paris), Gliacrobati (Turin), Le Moineau Écarlate (Paris), Morrelandmore (Paris), and Tak Gallery (Poznan, Poland). The 2018 fair will also feature a new project with Lamyland—Michèle Lamy’s creative practice that combines cultural engagement with social and urban change.