FIAC 08

Texte par NoéMie Schwaller
Zürich, Suisse
29.10.08

At this time of the year nature reveals itself in a variety of colours and the world of design seems to have adapted itself to the season, dazzling and disturbing us with the kind of forms and structures we become familiar with when we walk in the October forests.

At this time of the year nature reveals itself in a variety of colours and the world of design seems to have adapted itself to the season, dazzling and disturbing us with the kind of forms and structures we become familiar with when we walk in the October forests.

Karin Roche. Gallery Catherine et andre Hug (Paris)

The FIAC exhibition hall at the Grand Palais with light design by Zumtobel

A fresh autumn wind was also blowing this year at FIAC (Foire internationale d'art contemporain) in Paris, which makes modern and contemporary art and design accessible to the public. Gone are the days when «La Fiac» was regarded as an exhibition for the French elite. Ever since Jennifer Flay and Martin Béthenod took control Fiac has explored a range of countries and has become truly international, as we would expect in an exhibition of this size in an age of globalisation.

Structure like that of nature in autumn: Giuseppe Penone - Lo spazio della scultura corteccia, 2005. Bronze, leather. 100 x 230 x 10 cm

None of the 34 previous exhibitions have featured so many foreign exhibitors, in particular American ones, and as the present one: a total of 189 galleries presented 450 foreign exhibits (more than 62%), compared to less than 45% five years ago. The newcomers include Gary Hill, Donald Young from Chicago, the gallery of Bruce Naumann and White Cube and the London gallery of Damien Hirst.

Gianni Caravaggio - Lo stupore è nuovo ogni giorno, 2008. Vetro soffiato, borotalco. 64 x 87 cm / Atelier Van Lieshout - The Mall, 2008. Ink on canvas. 151 x 179 cm

A further strength of FIAC 2008 is its external presence, which this year featured a performance programme in cooperation with Jeu de paume and the Louvre, as well as the sculpture, installation and outdoor project park with 17 works in the Tuileries.

Like a customs barricade at the border, overgrown by grass: Mona Htoum - Jardin suspendu, 2008. Gallery Chantal Crousel (Paris). Sacks of jute filled with earth

Conception and realisation of architectural model with sensory experience factor: pavilion made of glass by Dan Graham - Seurat, No Monet, 2008. Glass, Steel. 230 x 525 x 525 cm. Gallery Hauser & Wirth (Zürich, London)

Tadashi Kawamata - Tree Huts, 2008. Seven tree huts made of scrap wood and window glass in various sizes. Gallery Kamel Meenour (Paris) and Annely Juda Fine Arts (London). Exhibited work and model.

Game with space: Gary Hill - Loop Through, 2005. 2 LCD monitors, 2 DVD players, 2 DVDs. In Situ / Fabienne Leclerc (Paris)

Jeppe Hein - Modified Social Bench U, M (2008) and 10 (2005). Made available by Johann König, Berlin

Framing the frame of the frame: KOLKOZ – Without title, 2008. Wood and gold leaf, 121 x 180 x 8 cm. Gallery Emmanuel Perrotin (Miami, Paris)

Kader Attia - Halam tawaaf, 2008. Beer cans. 5 m diameter. Gallery Christian Nagel (Köln, Berlin)

Franz West - Woody at home, 2004. Metal, cable, fabric (polyester), wooden base. 195 x 200 x 156 cm / Thomas Bayrle - Motorway Bag, 2008. plaited cardboard, plastic cars. 100 x 50 x 15 cm. Gallery Air de Paris

Pablo Reinoso - Banc Spaghetti, 2008. Aluminium. 140 x 75 x 80 cm. Mouvements Modernes (Paris)

Rudolf Stingel – Without title, 2005, 1992. Polycarbonate moulding, acrylic paint. 41,9 x 21,6 x 89,5 cm. Edition of 2. Gallery Paula Cooper (New York). 278 000 euros.

Ron Arad. Gallery DOWNTOWN François Laffanour (Paris) / Rainier Lericolais. Gallery Frank Elbaz (Paris)

A pictorial view of the disintegration of architecture: Sirous Namazi - Disaster, 2008. Acrylic on acetate

Structural picture detail: Lara Baladi - Roba Veccia, 2007. 300 x 153 cm. Lift on steel 3 / 6

One of four works nominated for the Prix Marcel Duchamp: Michel Blazy, known for his work with unusual materials and the strangeness of the continuous changes in nature. Gallery Art:Concept (Paris). Nominated by Marc-Olivier Walher, Director of the Palais de Tokyo.

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