10 EXHIBITIONS TO SEE OUTSIDE FIAC

By Crash redaction

AN ALTERNATIVE TO FIAC: PARIS’ TEN BEST EXHIBITIONS FROM THE CONTEMPORARY ART SCENE

As FIAC approaches and as Paris is soon going to vibrate to the rhythm of the internationally renowned art fair, Crash wants its readers to enjoy a full immersion into the sharpest and undiscovered contemporary art scene projects. With this selection of Paris’ ten best exhibitions and projects, it is all about an in-depth discovery of what contemporary art is today. From emerging talents to iconic galleries celebrating their long-lasting pioneering status with always challenging propositions to unexpected venues and group shows, there is still something to learn from the margins. Discover our selection of Paris’ ten best exhibitions of this fall below.

Image credit (above): Exhibition view, Christian Boltanski In the Blink of an Eye, Cricoteka, Krakow, Poland. Photo credit: Studio FilmLOVE

Sterling Ruby at the Gagosian Gallery

It’s the event of the fall in Paris. The Gagosian Gallery dedicates his first solo exhibition to Sterling Ruby. As from October 18, the artist will be exhibiting his work in the two spaces of the gallery, on Rue de Ponthieu and in Le Bourget. The Le Bourget space will gather hybrid sculptures made of industrial remains the artist found in the area near his Los Angeles atelier. Steel pipes, parts of engines, or pieces taken from old submarines, Sterling Ruby goes for the unconventional. The exhibition also features large tapestries which textures and layers resonate with the artist’s architectural work. On Rue de Ponthieu, Ruby presents new paintings that explore a soft palette of colors with incidental debris appearing with the process of frottage. With his search for fabrics and materials, Sterling Ruby pushes the boundaries of creation and injects a melancholic vision of life into his work.

Sterling Ruby at the Gagosian Gallery, Le Bourget, from October 18 to December 19 / Rue de Ponthieu, from October 21 to December 19. www.gagosian.com

Galerie Laurent Godin 10th anniversary

The Galerie Laurent Godin celebrates this fall its 10th anniversary with an exclusive exhibition and the opening of a brand new additional show space on Rue Eugène Oudiné in Paris’ 13th arrondissement. The exhibition will take place from October 21 to 25 and will feature works by a wide range of international artists like Scoli Acosta, Liz Cohen, Marc Couturier, David Kramer, Marlène Mocquet, Henrik Samuelsson, and more. The new space will expand on 500 square meters and the exhibition will present both new and previous works from all the artists of the gallery.

Galerie Laurent Godin, 5, rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare 75003 Paris / New space 36, rue Eugène Oudiné 75013 Paris, exhibition from October 21 to 25 / www.laurengodin.com

YIA Art Fair #05

The YIA Art Fair is the event that every contemporary art enthusiast has to attend. As everyone who is anyone will be dazzled by the FIAC magnificence, the YIA Art Fair represents one of the best alternatives for an in-depth experience of today’s contemporary art scene. This year’s will be the fifth edition of YIA (Young International Artists). Located at the Carreau du Temple in the heart of Paris, the fair will concentrate on showcasing emerging artists and young galleries, making it the most valid satellite to the FIAC behemoth. For four days, over 200 artists selected from 65 French and international galleries will be represented, taking the pulse of young creation and great talents of tomorrow.

YIA Art Fair #05, Le Carreau du Temple, 4 rue Eugène Spuller 75003 Paris, from October 23 to 25 / www.yia-artfair.com

Timeless, a proposition by Laurence Dreyfus

The esteemed art expert and advisor Laurence Dreyfus is celebrating the 10th edition of her once-in-a-year exhibition, Chambres à part. After previous editions called Voir est une fable, Lines and figures: conversations, Mascarade, or Neuf last year, the 10th-anniversary edition has found resonance in the name Timeless. For the first time, the exhibition will comprise two show spaces: La Réserve on Place du Trocadéro and on Avenue Gabriel, where an exclusive selection of works and sculptures will be presented, just a few steps away from the Grand Palais, where the FIAC will be installed. This 10th edition of Chambres à Part will take on the question of time in regards of reality and surreality, technology, and the discontinuity of time as we live it. With works by Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Jon Raman, Tomas Saraceno, David Altmejd, Ai Weiwei, and many others, Timeless is the reflection of Laurence Dreyfus’ great expertise in understanding the ins and outs of contemporary art.

Chambres à Part X, Timeless, La Réserve, 10 place du Trocadéro 75016 Paris, from October 19 to 25 / 4 avenue Gabriel 75008 Paris (upon appointment) / www.laurencedreyfus.com

Frank Perrin and others at the Musée Cognacq-Jay

As part of YIA Art Fair, the Musée Cognacq-Jay organizes an exhibition called Dédicaces et déclarations. Curated by David Rosenberg in collaboration with Marie Gayet, the exhibition will gather the works of 21 artists of different generations, origins and cultural backgrounds and with common thread their reflection on the artistic expression of the 18th century in France. With this exhibition, the museum’s permanent collection serves as a contemporary source of inspiration and the majority of the artists selected have been commissioned to create exclusive pieces inspired by a place, its history, and its role as part of the French heritage. Among the 21 artists commissioned for this exhibition are the likes of Frank Perrin, Céline Cléron, Satoshi Saïkusa, Lidia Kostanek, or Markus Akesson.

Dédicaces et déclarations, Musée Cognacq-Jay, 8 rue Elzevir, 75003 Paris, from October 20 to November 20, 2015 / www.museecognacqjay.paris.fr

Christian Boltanski at Marian Goodman

The Marian Goodman Parisian space celebrates this year its 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the gallery invited Christian Boltanski to show his latest work, as part of an exhibition called Faire-part. As one of the most renowned French contemporary artists, Boltanski has been exhibited over the world since the 1970s and represented France at the 2011 Venice Biennal. Faire-part will be his first solo exhibition in Paris since Monumenta at the Grand Palais in 2010. At the Marian Goodman Gallery, the artist invests the space with two huge installations that grasp the theme of deletion, one of them being a big screen projecting the image of flowers in a field, while the entire floor in front of it is covered in flowers destined to slowly wither for the duration of the exhibition.

Faire-part, Marian Goodman Gallery, 79 rue du Temple 75003 Paris, October 22 to December 19, 2015 / www.mariangoodman.com

Rashid Johnson and Matthew Day Jackson at Studio des Acacias

The Studio des Acacias is a legendary place where photographers such as Guy Bourdin, Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon have all worked and created the iconic photography they are known and respected for. Today, the studio works as a space of artistic experimentation and welcomes any kind of contemporary art expression from photography to video to installations, and organizes unique exhibitions. At the occasion of this year’s FIAC, the studio welcomes American talents Rashid Johnson and Matthew Day Jacskon and offers to discover some of their unseen work in collaboration with Hauser & Wirth New York.

Rashid Johnson and Matthew Day Jackson exhibition , Studio des Acacias, from October 21 to 31, 30 rue des Acacias 75017 Paris / www.studiodesacacias.com

Gianni Motti at Galerie Perrotin

Gianni Motti is one of the most unexpected artists of his time. Known for his works, performances and happenings that always take the audience by surprise, sometimes creating a feeling of uneasiness, the Swiss artist will show his second solo exhibition at the Galerie Perrotin, Draft, in Paris. A title that encapsulates Motti’s vision of the unexpected, of a work that isn’t just put on walls, fixated on the floor. Motti’s work is moving and living, and puts the audience at the forefront of the art, making it part of the actual piece. Who doesn’t remember Blitz, 2003, when during the Prague Biennal inauguration, the artist asked a detachment of American servicemen to come and keep the security of the place? There is also his infamous Big Crunch Clock, 1999, a literal countdown to the explosion of the sun and the end of time. Few artists challenge the audiences like Gianni Motti does, so his exhibition at the Galerie Perrotin is a must-see.

Draft, Gianni Motti, Galerie Perrotin, 76 rue de Turenne 75003 Paris, from October 22 to December 19, 2015 / www.perrotin.com

Pierre Paulin at Galerie Perrotin

Pierre Paulin is undeniably one of the most respected and visionary furniture designers of the past decades. His modular work is the reflection of the social, economic and technological mutations of the early 60s. Renowned for the unique structure of his furniture, Paulin left behind him a remarkable heritage that still resonates with our current society in the research put into the technicality, the fabrics, the innovation of the shapes, their modularity, and the use of space. The principle of the Paulin, Paulin, Paulin exhibition, which name refers to the family company created in 2008 in order to promote Pierre Paulin’s work, is to put some of the designer’s greatest creations – produced in limited edition – in perspective with the works of contemporary artists like Mike Bouchet, César, John De Andrea, Tara Donovan and many others. Some of these artists actually incorporated Pierre Paulin’s objects into their art, while others took inspiration from them. A demonstration of the longevity of his work, and endless influence on both the arts and society in general.

Paulin, Paulin Paulin, Galerie Perrotin, 76 rue de Turenne 75003 Paris, from October 22 to December 19, 2015 / www.perrotin.com

C’est la vie? by Neil Beloufa at Occidental Temporary

C’est la vie? is a group exhibition unlike any other. Organized in a temporary, improvised gallery that used to serve as Neil Beloufa’s atelier – and according to the official announcement, many other purposes – the exhibition will gather a great load of contemporary artists like Boris Achour, Neil Beloufa, or Mohamed Bourouissa who will all invest the 530 square-meter space with one motto: « the most important thing is to keep on doing. » The exhibition surely won’t go unnoticed as its initiator, Neil Beloufa, is considered by many as the new Marcel Duchamp Prize recipient. The laureate will be announced on October 24th during the FIAC.

C’est la vie? at Occidental Temporary, 64 rue Pasteur 94800 Villejuif, as from October 18, 2015 / More information