Art Paris 2019, Grand Palais © Marc Domage
April 2—5, 2020, Grand Palais
Opening Preview: Wednesday, April 1 | 6—10 PM
December 16, 2019 (Paris) – A R T Communication + Brand Consultancy is pleased to announce its international PR representation of Art Paris, as the fair returns to the Grand Palais from April 2—5, 2020. In the 20 years since its founding, Art Paris has established itself as Paris’s major spring fair for modern and contemporary art. Bringing together more than 150 galleries from over 20 countries – from the post-war to the contemporary period, Art Paris is a place for discovery, placing special emphasis on the European scene, whilst exploring the new horizons of international creative hubs, whether in Asia, Africa, the Middle East or Latin America.
For its 22nd edition, the fair will showcase a two-fold “Focus” – turning to both the French contemporary art scene and the emerging Iberian art hubs, specifically Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid and Porto. In parallel, the “Solo Show” sector will be dedicated to monographic exhibitions, while “Promises” pursues its support to young and emerging galleries.
A Overview of the French Art Scene | Common and Uncommon Stories
Each year, Art Paris invites a curator to engage critically with a selection of projects by French artists presented by participating galleries. In Common and Uncommon Stories, director of the Bourse Révélations Emerige and guest curator Gaël Charbau brings together the work of 21 artists, most of which were born in the 1980s, responding to the notion of the narrative and the ambiguous interplay between singularity and universality in storytelling.
The selection highlights notably artists including Abdelkader Benchamma (Galerie Templon), Anita Molinero (Galerie Thomas Bernard), Elsa & Johanna (Galerie La Forest Divonne), Louis-Cyprien Rials (Galerie Eric Mouchet), Jennyfer Grassi (Galerie Eva Hober), Baptiste Rabichon (Galerie Paris-Beijing) and Ugo Schiavi (Double V Gallery), among others.
Focus | Southern Stars: An Exploration of the Iberian Peninsula
Following its extensive survey of the Latin American scene in 2019, the “Focus” sector turns to the Iberian Peninsula, bringing light to Spanish and Portuguese art from the 1950s to the present day. Some 24 galleries will be presenting works by a selection of 74 artists – from modern masters (Manuel Cargaleiro, Joan Miró, Antonio Saura, Antoni Tàpies, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva) to contemporary artists (Miguel Branco, Jorge Queiroz, Cristina Lucas, Jaume Plensa, Rui Toscano, and more). In parallel, projects including a video programme, installations, and conferences at the Instituto Cervantes and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Paris will highlight the creative effervescence flourishing in this part of Southern Europe.
Southern Stars: An Exploration of the Iberian Peninsula is curated by Barcelona-based independent curator Carolina Grau.
Solo Show
Since 2015, Art Paris has encouraged the presentation of monographic exhibitions – a key moment in artists’ careers – by inciting galleries to present specific single artist-focused projects. The 2020 edition will feature around 20 solo shows distributed throughout the fair. Highlights will include a site-specific project by South African artist Roger Ballen (Galerie Caroline Smulders in association with Galerie Karsten Greve); a mini-retrospective of British artist – best known for his colourful “puddle” paintings – Ian Davenport (Galleria Luca Tommasi - Arte Contemporanea); and a rare ensemble of works by Jesse A. Fernández at Galerie Orbis Pictus that will reveal the versatile talent of this major Cuban artist.
Promises | A Section for Young Galleries and Emerging Talents
Purposefully placed at the very heart of the Grand Palais, “Promises” will host 14 young galleries from Abidjan, Brussels, Lima, Lisbon, Rome, Sofia, Marseille and Paris, many of which will be making their international debut at Art Paris this year. Founded in the last six years, the galleries will each be presenting between one and three emerging artists – and benefit from financial sponsorship from the fair.
The 2020 list of exhibitors and program will be released in January 2020.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Gaël Charbau | Guest Curator | Common and Uncommon Stories
An independent curator and art critic, Gaël Charbau founded the contemporary art journal Particules in 2003. Artistic director of the Universcience (Palais de la Découverte and Cité des Sciences, Paris) and the director of the Bourse Révélations Emerige – supporting emerging artists working in France and which he co-founded in 2014 – he also acted as artistic director for the Nuit Blanche 2018. He regularly organizes exhibitions throughout Europe and Asia and works with a wide range of institutions, programs and patrons including the Palais de Tokyo, La Friche Belle de Mai, the Audi talents program and the Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès.
About Carolina Grau | Guest Curator | Southern Stars: An Exploration of the Iberian Peninsula
Carolina Grau has been working as an independent curator specializing in contemporary art for the past two decades. She has produced exhibitions for a wide range of institutions in France, Portugal, Brazil, Italy and Spain, working both with established and emerging artists. Grau was the co-founder and co-curator of the Bienal de Jafre (Spain, 2003—2015) and associate curator at the Arquipélago Centro de Artes Contemporáneas (Azores) in 2017. In 2019, she curated the mid-career retrospective of Spanish artist Angela de la Cruz at CGAC Santiago de Compostela (Spain), and is currently working on the solo exhibition of Portuguese artist Vasco Barata for the MAAT (Lisbon).
About Art Paris 2020
Grand Palais, Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris
www.artparis.com
Opening Preview (by invitation only)
Wednesday, April 1 | 6PM–10PM
Opening hours
Thursday, April 2 | 11.30AM—8PM
Friday, April 3 | 11.30AM—9PM
Saturday, April 4 | 11.30AM—8PM
Sunday, April 5 | 11.30AM—7PM