Art Paris 2024: avant-garde, inclusion, sustainability and human fragility

Art Paris 26^th edition saw the debut of the BNP Paribas Banque Privée Prize, which was awarded to Nathalie Du Pasquier for her multidisciplinary practice as illustrative of an era

Art Paris 2024: an overview of the 26th edition

Art Paris 26^th edition took place from 4 to 7 April 2024 at the Grand Palais Éphémère. The fair welcomed one hundred and thirty-six modern and contemporary art galleries from twenty-five different countries. Among them, the sixty percent was represented by French galleries, while the remaining forty percent included international guests such as Bienvenu Steinberg & J from New York, Circle Art Agency from Kenya, Etemad from Iran and Soho Revue from London. The galleries were spread over three sections and two thematic paths.

Founded in 1999, Art Paris is organized by France Conventions and directed by Guilliaume Piens. The 26^th edition was the last held at the Grand Palais Éphémère, the Champ De Mars gardens exhibition hall, located at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. In Spring 2025 Art Paris will go back to its historical venue, the Grand Palais, currently under renovation.

Fragile Utopias: a portrait of human fragility by Éric de Chassey

The General Section was divided into two thematic paths in order to offer visitors both a cultural and commercial approach. One was Fragile Utopias. A focus on the French Scene by Éric de Chassey, director of the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA), teacher at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, former director of Villa Médici and exhibition curator. De Chassey chose twenty-one artists from among the exhibiting galleries to share his perspective on the French artistic panorama, which he described as «a new, albeit discontinuous genealogy that is nonetheless full of life».

These included both historical artists – Veira Da Silva, Juliette Roche and Sonia Delaunay – and contemporary ones, such as Yto Barrada, Nathalie du Pasquier and Raphael Zarka. Through their art De Chassey attempted to portray an era characterized by an increasing human fragility. He exposed the utopian elements and poetic expressions of doubt that vibrate within each of the creations he selected. Such utopias mirror the precariousness and mutability of contemporary society and the people who inhabit it.

«The sole function of the visual arts is not one of representation or decoration, they also provide models that can guide our perception, thoughts and actions, in other words they contribute to constructing possible utopias. These utopias may be embodied in any form and with every medium, however in these uncertain times marked by major changes in society and the way we understand the world, they are often of a temporary and precarious nature and as such they are ‘fragile utopias’» explained De Chassey.

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Art and craft: a blend of art and artisanship by Nicolas Trembley

The other thematic path of Art Paris General Section was Art and craft by guest independent exhibition curator, art critic and contemporary art advisor Nicolas Trembley. The theme was inspired by the pioneering Arts and Crafts movement developed in Great Britain at the end of the Nineteenth century. Trembley chose twenty international artists from among the exhibiting galleries to explore the link between art and artisanship.

The thematic path led visitors across a multidisciplinary tour that touched a variety of crafts: ceramics, glass, tapestry… Trembley’s aim was to show and analyze how modern and contemporary artists made and continue to make the world of artisanship their own, thus combining thought and gesture. The selection included pioneers of the Sixties, such as Magdalena Abakanowicz and Barbara Levittoux-Swiderska from the Polish school and Catalan artist Josep Grau-Garriga. Alongside them were contemporary artists who produced works especially for the fair. For instance, Joël Andrianomearisoa and Jeanne Vicerial, who work with textiles; Jérôme Hirson and Dewar & Gicquel, who work with ceramics; Jean-Marie Appriou and Michele Ciacciofera, who work with blown glass.

«Although it is true that the visual arts at the beginning of the Twentieth century incorporated practices more often associated with the applied arts, the emergence of a more conceptual form of contemporary art put an end to this historical way of doing things. Since the beginning of the Twenty-first century and the development of a globalized art market that pushes minority practices and groups to the fore, we are witnessing the emergence of artworks whose techniques are traditionally related to artisanship. Furthermore, we are rediscovering works by historical and contemporary artists whose approach borrows from the world of craft» declared Trembley.

Nathalie Du Pasquier won the first BNP Paribas Banque Privée Prize

Art Paris 2024 witnessed the first edition of the BNP Paribas Banque Privée Prize, which was won by Nathalie Du Pasquier. A jury selected her among the artists featured in Éric de Chassey’s Fragile Utopias. A focus on the French Scene and awarded her a money prize during the fair’s opening ceremony on April 3. The jury’s verdict was explained with the wish to reward the career of «a woman artist who has still not received the recognition she deserves in France and whose hybrid multidisciplinary practice currently resonates with a new generation of contemporary artists».

Nathalie Du Pasquier is a French Milan-based artist and designer mostly known for being the youngest founding member of the Memphis Group. Born in 1957, she began her career by working on furniture, textiles, clothing design, jewelry, decoration and patterns. Since 1987, she made painting her primary art. In her work she mixes classical aesthetics with influences she derives from heterogeneous fields, such as African art and music.

The Memphis Group was an Italian design and architecture group founded in Milan by designer and architect Ettore Sottsass together with Du Pasquier and British designer George Sowden. Also known as Memphis Milano, the group was active from 1980 to 1987 and designed postmodern furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass and metal objects. Their signature elements were solid colors, geometric shapes and a non-conformist style.

Promesses: young galleries, diversity and inclusion

Promesses is a section dedicated to young galleries, which have been in business for less than six years. Young galleries can present up to three emerging artists and Art Paris finances the forty-five percent of their exhibitor fees. Promesses’ aim is to support the growth of the contemporary art panorama while promoting diversity and inclusion. At the same time, this section provides an analysis of present avant-garde art around the world.

For the 2024 edition Art Paris selected nine international galleries: Galerie Felix Frachon (Brussels), Gaep Gallery (Bucharest), Hors- Cadre (Paris), Hunna Art Gallery (Sharjah, UAE), Labs Contemporary Art (Bologna), Maāt Gallery (Paris), MOLSKI gallery (Poznań), She BAM! Galerie Laetitia Gorsy (Leipzig) and Soho Revue (London).

Solo Show: modern, contemporary and emerging artists

Solo Show is a section that invites visitors to discover or rediscover the work of modern, contemporary and emerging artists. Through the format of the monographic exhibition Art Paris wishes to promote an in-depth study of each selected artist’s vision, contents, style and techniques.

The 2024 fair featured eighteen solo shows by the following artists: André Masson (Jacques Bailly), Jean Hélion (Trigano), Katia Kameli (Galerie 110 Véronique Rieffel), Leyla Cardenas (Dix9–Hélène Lacharmoise), Lucia Hierro (Fabienne Levy), Pauline-Rose Dumas (Anne-Laure Buffar) and Samantha McEwen (Modesti Perdriolle).

Art Paris: inclusive and sustainable art

Art Paris’ mission consists in making contemporary art sustainable and accessible to the widest audience. This is why guided tours and specific tools are arranged, such as the possibility to visit the fair virtually on its website.

Moreover, Art Paris was the first art fair to adopt, in 2022, a sustainable approach based on Life cycle assessment (LCA). This method makes it possible to analyze the environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a product, process or service. In the case of a fair, for example, it studies the materials used and quantifies the amount of energy consumed. Art Paris developed LCA in collaboration with Karbone Prod, a cultural engineering agency based in the French Capital. According to director Guilliaume Piens, with this method the fair reduced by almost half the quantity of waste produced.

Art Paris

Art Paris is a modern and contemporary art fair annually held in Spring in the French Capital. The last edition took place from 4 to 7 April 2024 at the Grand Palais Éphémère with one hundred and thirty-six galleries French and international galleries divided over three sections and two thematic paths.