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Zesty Art Fairs in Paris and Cologne
Art in America, Dec, 2004 by David Ebony
FIAC: This year, organizers of Paris's Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain (FIAC) hired a new creative director, Jennifer Flay, to spice up the 31st installment of the venerable annual event. A New Zealand native and former Paris gallery owner, Flay worked with the fair's trustees to bring together 215 galleries from 21 countries, about one third of which were making their FIAC debut, including U.S. galleries such as Luxe, Florence Lynch, Priska C. Juschka and Parker's Box. More than 81,000 visited the fair, held Oct. 21-25 on the heels of London's Frieze Fair [see p. 37]. FIAC featured new sections such as "Youthquake," an area devoted to galleries under three years old, and "Perspectives," featuring 33 dealers who specialize in emerging artists. Another of Flay's innovations was to invite several design galleries, including Paris's Galerie Italienne, which presented a striking solo exhibition of recent works by Ettore Sottsass, and Eric Philippe, showing furniture and objects by Frank Lloyd Wright, George Nakashima and Hans Wegner.
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Italy's Galleria Continua presented a tongue-in-cheek neon sign piece by Pascale Marthine Tayou, whose cursive yellow letters spelling "Young Collector" seemed emblematic of FIAC's theme this year. An unapologetically trendy display at Paris's Praz-Delavallade paired large homoerotic photos by Adi Nes with major recent paintings by Jim Shaw, overshadowed by a monumental painted-resin sculpture of an abstracted eagle perched on a pile of rocks, by Swiss sculptor Valentin Carron. Sculptures by Jota Castro at Kamel Mennour had an acerbic edge. His slick lightbox Samo (2004) appropriates Basquiat's tag name, while politics is the theme of Oil Shame II (2003), showing George W. Bush poking his head out of an American-flag-draped oil drum. Prague's Gandy Gallery featured self-portrait photos by Sejla Kameric and lightboxes with intricate abstract designs by German artist Yves Netzhammer. Also striking was Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac's booth featuring enormous recent paintings by Fabian Marcaccio and Jason Martin. Screened in a darkened room at Paris's Galerie Zurcher was an exceptional video projection, Lake (2004) by Mathilde Rosier, whose dreamlike pastoral scenes are a combination of live action and digital manipulation. New art from China was offered in a number of booths. Paris's Galerie Loft placed a stainless-steel "scholar's rock" by Zhan Wang on a pedestal next to a tribute to Yves Klein by Wang Gyangyi, who emblazoned his painting with block letters of the French artist's name above an image of a couple borrowed from a Cultural Revolution-period poster.
Counterpointing the emphasis on new faces and youth, FIAC regulars Yvon Lambert, Karsten Greve, Emmanuel Perrotin, Nathalie Obadia and Denise Rene lent the proceedings a sense of authority. Paris's Malinque showed a spectacular Ozenfant abstract still-life, Large Purist Composition (1926), along with a group of evocative Ernst paintings from the late 1920s. At Louis Carre & Cie, also from Paris, classic 1950s abstractions by Georges Mathieu and Alan Davie complemented a solo show of works on paper from the period by Dutch abstractionist Geer van Velde. Daniel Templon presented large canvases by Valerio Adami along with Jan Fabre's eye-catching, lifesize astronaut, Old Spiritual Traveler (2001), covered in gold sequins and nails. Marlborough devoted its booth to a strong solo show of realist paintings by Avigdor Arikha, while Claude Bernard focused on Gao Xingjian's ethereal abstract ink paintings. Jean Fournier's elegant display of large abstract canvases by James Bishop, Joan Mitchell and Simon Hantai was another high point.
Art Cologne: This year's Art Cologne, held Oct. 28-Nov. 1, was also guided by a new director, the 39-year-old U.S.-born, Cologne-based art historian Gerard A. Goodrow. A former director of contemporary art at Christie's London, Goodrow was assigned the task of reinvigorating the 38-year-old fair, which is Europe's oldest for modern and contemporary works. More than 70,000 attended the fair this year, and over $75 million in sales were reported. Cologne, too, set aside special areas for "New Talents" and "New Contemporaries" among the 220 international participating galleries. In an effort to unite the German art community in support of the event, Goodrow reserved a large section on the ground floor of the vast Kolnmesse exhibition hall for new art institutions in the Rhine area. One outstanding booth was occupied by the Langen Foundation for classic Japanese and international modern and contemporary art, which distributed information about its programs and its new building in Neuss, designed by Tadao Ando.
Among the highlights of Art Cologne's gallery presentations, Galerie Haas (Zurich) had an impressive display of late Picasso paintings and drawings, as well as works by Warhol and Tony Bevan. Hans Mayer from Dusseldorf presented a large Joseph Kosuth neon-and-text wall piece, along with a mural-size Lichtenstein painting from his architectural-details series. Baukunst Galerie (Cologne) showed austere minimalist abstract paintings by Phil Sims, beside large, more textural abstractions by Joan Hernandez Pijuan. Michael Sturm from Stuttgart featured a large dark stripe painting by Max Cole, as well as spare sculptures by Werner Haypeter; Frankfurt's Barbel Grasslin showed new sculptures by Tobias Rehberger along with paintings by Imi Knoebel and Thomas Werner. Heinz Holtmann of Cologne presented sculptures and works on paper by Dieter Roth, important Tapies paintings, and photo-based abstract wall reliefs with Op-art-like effects by Michael Burges. Beck and Eggeling of Dusseldorf presented an engaging solo show of major sculptures and paintings by Manolo Valdes.
