Benoît Maire’s diverse oeuvre, which includes film, performance, writing, installation and painting, is characterized by erudite philosophical and art historical references. Focusing on a series of small sculptures, Maire’s first solo exhibition in Paris presents puzzling, seemingly functional objects in sleek Plexiglas vitrines, on rustic wooden surfaces, and through documentary-style photographs. Ambiguously—or perhaps simultaneously—tools, weapons, and quasi-scientific instruments, these wo... [more]
Similarity and difference seems to be the theme of the current exhibition at Yvon Lambert. In one room we have Joan Jonas, presenting a video installation Reanimation II, a reworking of a piece originally shown at dOCUMENTA (13), and in the other we have a wall piece by Lawrence Weiner. The similarities are that both artists are very well respected (although Jonas isn't celebrated quite as much as Weiner), both came to prominence in the sixties and have something like a forty-year body of work, b... [more]
As is my way, I didn't do any research on Julia Rometti and Victor Costales before I went to see the show. I knew that they'd won a prize at the last edition of ARCO Madrid (the illy SustainArt prize) and I knew they were young and pretty successful. That was it. I'm also a fan of Jousse Entreprise as a gallery; they're definitely one of the most interesting smaller galleries in Paris and they represent a few artists of whom I'm a fan (Superflex, Matthew Derbyshire, and Philippe Meste if you wa... [more]
For the past twenty years, Benoit Huot has worked in virtual obscurity in Montivernage, a tiny village in France’s eastern Franche-Comté region. The artist’s first exhibition came just this past fall when, at the age of forty-six, a sampling of his sculpture—fifteen whimsically festooned taxidermied animals—was shown in Paris at La Maison Rouge (collector Antoine de Galbert’s foundation.) Soon after this high-profile debut, Huot was picked up by Galerie Eva Hober, where seven new scul... [more]
Hypnosis by James Thompson Julio Le Parc at Palais de Tokyo
February 25th - May 13th
Posted
2/28/13
There's part of this job that involves trying to use words to conjure the experience of an artwork or an exhibition for the reader. From the second I entered this show I realised that with the work of Julio le Parc – no chance. There's no way that I can tell you even a fraction of what the experience of being in this show is like. Not least because just finding your way through the first immersive sculpture – a small fully mirrored room full of tightly packed full length hanging mirrors that a... [more]
Shana Moulton’s first Parisian solo show brings a hearty dose of the California-born, NYC-based artist’s signature new agey kitsch aesthetic to the heady gallery scene in Belleville. Known for campy videos and live performances featuring her alter ego Cynthia—a Sky Mall-reading, Antiques Roadshow-watching hypochondriac who sports patterned muumuus, orthopedic sneakers, and an unflattering bobbed wig—Moulton here presents a video relating Cynthia’s latest escapade accompanied by sculptu... [more]
I really like Suzanne Tarasiève's Loft 19 space. Tucked away on a dead-end street behind Belleville it has the feel of a genuinely alternative art space, something different and away from the rest of the galleries. There's nothing like it in Paris. I always look forward to openings there as you get to see some good art and there's normally an interesting crowd and something nice to drink.
This wasn't the case yesterday.
‘Forcément on pense au rouge’ by Chloé Tallot is based around a c... [more]
The International Exhibition of 1867 in Paris was the first time Japanese art had been presented to the French public. This instigated a remarkably fruitful relationship between traditional Japanese landscape etching and the nascent Impressionist movement. Philippe Burty, an art critic at the time, coined the term ‘Japonisme’.
This exhibition at the Pinacothèque was ambitiously conceived, for two reasons. Firstly, it presents for the first time in France an extensive exhibition of Utagawa Hi... [more]
A former olive oil mill in the south of France in December is not exactly where one would expect to pick up good vibes of the Californian surfer variety, but courtesy of Olivier Millagou’s solo exhibition, Le Moulin is currently oozing beachy mellowness. An avid surfer since childhood, Millagou is known for appropriating nostalgic motifs from American surf culture—from palm trees and rip curls, to long boards and station wagons, to bikini-clad babes and the Beach Boys.
Working across a variety of media ov... [more]
A Night Out by James Thompson Alex Cecchetti, Laure Prouvost at Shanaynay
December 3rd, 2012 - December 31st, 2012
Posted
12/17/12
In previous articles I've complained about certain aspects of the Parisian art scene, one of which being that it lacks the spark and energy of new things. It's difficult in a conservative country that holds fine art and culture so close to its sense of identity.
Last night was fortuitous. The PRs all spoke about Miami. It was very cold and grey in Paris. There was nothing to catch the eye. I walked into Shanaynay to find, among other artworks, a bicycle upturned and surrounded by tools. I took... [more]
To mark the 20th anniversary of what is perhaps the defining traumatic moment in Daniel Arsham’s life—Hurricane Andrew as experienced from his Miami home—the artist’s new series of unnerving sculptures and paintings reflect the storm’s devastating aftermath. Reprising themes and materials from previous works, Arsham’s current exhibition features figurative sculptures made from broken glass, trompe l’oeil architectural interventions, and gouache on Mylar moonscapes.
Having just returned from a visit t... [more]
The journey to Gagosian's new Le Bourget gallery made last week’s trip to the suburbs look like child's play. While the Pantin space of Thaddeaus Ropac is conveniently situated a short walk from the metro, this involved travelling to the end of the metro line and then taking a bus for twenty-five minutes to reach the outskirts of the airfield on which it is situated.[1] Not for the first time I rued the absence of a private jet in my life, or a car for that matter. By the time I arrived I was... [more]
In general people who live in Paris, stay in Paris.
And the big news of the moment in the art scene is that we can no longer do this. The reason being that both Galerie Ropac and Gagosian have taken it upon themselves to open new, large-scale, galleries outside the city (although by the standards of anywhere else in the world they are hardly in the nether and beyond, Pantin is still on the Metro, and the Gagosian gallery at Bourget is about twenty minutes from Gare du Nord by RER[1], however, thi... [more]
There are a couple of ways to approach art fairs: one could subscribe to a strict itinerary of events, talks, exhibitions, and parties, planning out every moment in an attempt to experience as much, meet as many people, drink as many free drinks and see as much art as possible during that relatively brief moment in a city when every art space, gallery, and arts organization seems to go into hyperdrive. Or, one could simply let go and go with the flow. There are benefits to both, but I should remind y... [more]
There is a lot of talk that things are changing in Paris, and it seems to be change in both directions. In one way we have big international galleries opening monumental spaces outside of the city, and in the other there's a collection of smaller galleries opening in the eastern arrondissements, centred around Belleville. Both movements seem to indicate an important shift, and will perhaps usher in a new period in the artistic life of the city. Could this be the moment when the East Side of Paris... [more]
Listen, there is no way around it. In the article that follows I'm going to be forced to wield sweeping generalisations, peddle the occasional stereotype, and generally piss off the people of my adopted home. However. It needs to be done. It's like one of those difficult talks that normally take place in the kitchen and are basically painful for one party. Home truths might be what we are dealing with here. I would also like to say that this is not a negative article and I don't want anyone to get n... [more]
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