Paris+ 2022: 10 Gallery Directors Introduce Their Booths
The first ever Paris+ par Art Basel takes place from 20 to 23 October. Founders and directors at Esther Schipper, LGDR, Galerie Anne Barrault, Galleria Continua, Karsten Greve, Kukje, Galeria Plan B, kamel mennour, Barbara Wien, and White Cube shared highlights of their presentations.
Simon Fujiwara, Liberté for Who? (2022). Acrylic, charcoal, inkjet print, and pastel on canvas. 200 x 250 x 2.5 cm (unframed). © Simon Fujiwara. Courtesy the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin.
Esther Schipper, Founder of Esther Schipper, Berlin
Two of our highlights come from Simon Fujiwara's Who the Bær project, in which he recreates iconic artworks by famous artists through the perspective of a cartoon figure. One draws on Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830). The other, Execution of Who?, references three historic paintings – Francisco Goya's The Third of May (1808), Édouard Manet's The Execution of Emperor Maximilian (1868-69) and Massacre in Korea (1951) by Pablo Picasso.
We're also showing a new work from Philippe Parreno's series of marquees. Four glass modules, each held by a glass chain, encompass four LED light bulbs that flicker softly according to a light choreography conceived by the artist.
Amalia Dayan, Co-Founder of LGDR, New York
Our presentation balances contemporary and historical works on the axis of sculpture.
By placing magnificent examples of the medium from different periods and in a range of materials, into dialogue with great paintings and works on paper, we hope to invite new perspectives on the ideas and achievements of these artists.
Our booth has been designed by acclaimed Belgian architect and designer Olivier Dwek with curved walls that create a shell-like interior to encompass the works on view.
Highlights include Alexander Calder's Black Disc with Flags (c. 1939), the largest of the renowned artist's 'Tuning Forks' series, and Fausto Melotti's La zingara (1971), an example of the rhythmic compositions that characterised the Italian artist's iconic brass works from the 1960s.
Manon Haize, Gallery Manager at Galerie Anne Barrault, Paris
Liv Schulman will present three ceramic sculptures and the second season of her iconic miniseries Brown, Yellow, White and Dead to the public for the first time, which she says, 'addresses the fantasy of DIY entrepreneurialism and the frustration for the broken and lost land.'
Two producers, an artist, and an unemployed curator are shooting a horror film. The quartet imagines a scenario in which a group of neighbours retreat to the basement of their building. Determined to become pros at making craft beer and kombucha, they accidentally bring to life a giant leech that will seduce the women and cause the men to question their sexuality.
Lorenzo Fiaschi, Founder, Galleria Continua, Paris
We are really proud to present Adel Abdessemed's work Le Vase abominable (2013) in our booth at Paris+. Abdessemed's work, both political and mesmerising, introduces new languages and means of expression that suggest different ways of looking at reality.
Le Vase abominable consists of two parts that flaunt their difference: the upper part is a large vase with a smooth surface, while the lower part is a base made up of wires, circuits, and explosive charges. Both are the products of human ingenuity but they point towards the opposite poles of artistic creation and wilful destruction.
Karsten Greve, Founder of Karsten Greve, Paris
Masters of the international avant-garde take pride of place in our presentation, with a focus on works by Cy Twombly, Louise Bourgeois, Pierre Soulages, and Lucio Fontana.
One of the highlights of our booth at Paris+ is Wols' Le Tourbillon (1947), Twombly's Study for the Birth of Venus (1963), and Pierrette Bloch's Untitled (1971).
In parallel with the fair, we will open a solo exhibition dedicated to John Chamberlain titled Sculpture, which opens on Thursday 20 October from 5pm to 8pm.
Bo Young Song, Vice President of Kukje Gallery, Seoul
We are especially excited to show works by Park Seo-Bo and Ha Chong-Hyun, not only because they are two of the most important artists in Korean modern and contemporary art history, but also because works by these two artists were acquired by the Centre Pompidou just last year.
We're also showcasing new works by Jean-Michel Othoniel. We've always shown Othoniel in Paris as he is one of the most recognised contemporary artists in the country.
Along with the artist's paintings that are permanently on view beneath the iconic Pyramid of the Louvre, Othoniel is currently the subject of a solo exhibition titled The Dream of Water at the Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval in Hauterives, Drôme, which further engenders local context for the fair visitors.
Sorana Serban-Chiorean, Associate Director at Galeria Plan B, Berlin
One of the highlights of our presentation is a new painting by Adrian Ghenie. Inspired by the Berlin landscape, it is also a study of the dynamics of the body and their significance in present times. The work is part of a series that we will present in a solo exhibition at our new gallery space in Berlin-Mitte at Strausberger Platz.
A second highlight is a group of alien-like bronze sculptures by Mircea Spataru (1937–2011) that were moulded in the 1970s and cast in the 2000s. Spataru is among the most prominent Romanian artists. He participated in the Paris Biennial of Young Artists in 1971, and in 1990 he represented Romania at the Venice Biennial.
The new paintings of French-Moroccan artist Achraf Touloub are another highlight of our presentation. Touloub's textures and compositions are connected to a primordial time, an essential beginning when the reality, dreams, and feelings were unified.
Kamel Mennour, Founder of kamel mennour, Paris
I am very excited to show a body of works by Alberto Giacometti representing two significant periods. He created Composition (1927–1928) early in his career, when he was very much inspired by late cubism.
From his post-war period, when he started to develop his personal style, I will show Figurine (1953–1954) and the painting Dark Head (1957–1962). Dark Head is exceptional as far as it embodies Giacometti's shift from portraying individuals to a more generic approach to representing human beings.
I also want the booth to reflect our artists' great activity in Paris and abroad.
We will show: Daniel Buren, who is currently exhibiting at Daegu Art Museum in South Korea; Alicja Kwade, who created her biggest installation to date on Paris's emblematic Place Vendôme; Lee Ufan, who is currently on show at the National Art Center in Tokyo; and Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, whose solo-show will be presented in one of our four gallery spaces alongside Paris+; among others.
Barbara Wien, Owner of Barbara Wien, Berlin
One of the works we're presenting at Paris+ is Four Guardians in Crimson Mesh (2022), a hanging lantern sculpture by Haegue Yang. The work is made of hanji, a traditional Korean paper, and bells which have been woven into ropes.
The installation of this piece has proven quite interesting because fairs – with their ceiling-less booths – don't necessarily lend themselves to suspending objects. But it was important for us to display the work in this way, since we felt that the placement of the work and the light it emits create such a special atmosphere in the space.
We are also thrilled to present Parent, oblique (pink) (2022) by British artist Ian Kiaer. The painting responds to the architectural ideas of philosopher Paul Virilio and architect Claude Parent, who created spaces which blur the distinction between floor and wall.
Another highlight is Childlike Uses of Warlike Material (1971), a work by French Fluxus artist Robert Filliou, which consists of seven colour screen prints in a cardboard folder. Filliou himself called this work a 'contribution to the art of peace', a political statement which couldn't be more relevant in our current times.
Mathieu Paris, Senior Director at White Cube, London
We will be presenting two extraordinary paintings by Tracey Emin at Paris+. Emin, who has created some of the most powerful images of the female nude in recent years, was invited in 2020 to curate a selection of drawings from Musée d'Orsay's collection in conversation with her own work.
Shown in Paris, the painting You Were Part of me (2022) joins the canon of female nudes represented in the history of painting, from Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres' Orientalist La Grande Odalisque (1814) to Édouard Manet's Impressionist masterpiece Olympia (1863).
We will also be exhibiting recent paintings by the German artist Georg Baselitz, who was the subject of a major retrospective at Centre Pompidou last year. It is around this conversation between two outstanding painters of the human form that the White Cube presentation begins. —[O]
