It's hard to say exactly why so much influential creative work came out of Paris in the 1920s, but what is certain is that its originators were mostly white and male. For a while, it seemed enough, as Ernest Hemingway writes in A Moveable Feast, just to be back in our part of Paris and away from the track and to bet on our own life and work. When the sun came up the next day, some would seek solitude, but others would head to a favorite cafe to discuss their lives and what they had or didn't have to do with the other.
On the visual art side of things, the general sense of freedom was also informed by a move toward practitioners pursuing their own ideas in lieu of taking commissions from patrons, one driven by a new group of dealers looking to invest in young talent. Paul Guillaume represented Amedeo Modigliani, just as Paul Durand-Ruel did.
Sign Up for the T List Newsletter A weekly roundup of what the editors of T Magazine are noticing and coveting right now.The particular brand of bohemianism is well-trod and no doubt heavily romanticized territory, but it still holds power because it didn't last when World War II broke out. When Robert Rauschenberg won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1964, it was seen as proof that the American art world was done with France. It seemed that Paris' light had gone out.
The impression of Paris as a place with excellent museums but sleepy galleries has persisted for decades. Over the last three or four years, the city's art scene has made a surprising comeback thanks to a new wave of international galleries and art fairs. The city has been christened the new art capital of Europe. London has seen a decrease in activity since the UK's decision to leave the EU, and Berlin is no longer an appealing place for young artists. It is where everyone wants to be once a few key players choose a place. Still, some people who have been in Paris for a while still don't like the idea of a shift.
The Chinese word for crisis is wei, which means "opportunity" and "danger." When the flu hit, the former director of Hauser & Wirth Asia was in Paris, where he was an independent dealer of photography and art books. As was the case for so many around the world, the ensuing pause gave rise to a kind of purpose in them. In a few months, Guo decided to leave her job, stay on in Paris and make her romantic partnership a business. Galerie Marguo is located in a former military complex in the heart of the Marais, but it focuses on work by lesser-known international artists.
The Hearing Trumpet is a recent group show of theirs inspired by the hopeful and radical world building in the artist and writer Leonora Carrington. It's a statement show, which is great, but nothing like this for Asian diaspora artists, whose stories can also be uniquely told and united under a common context.
The success of the show is attributed to a larger shift away from stuffiness and localism and toward dealers and viewers who are curious about contemporary makers from other parts of the world. When the restrictions were lifted, the dealers said that they became curious about what else was out there, which led to increased foot traffic.
Kamel Mennour, the Algerian-born French dealer who started out selling minor works door-to-door in order to pay his university fees at the Sorbonne, opened his eponymous gallery which represents celebrated talents as the British Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor, the Swiss artist Ugo Ron. He believes that Paris is a true and worthy place for contemporary art, and has decided to open four spaces there in order to help expand the city's gallery scene. He feels that the capital has regained the sort of dynamism it once had thanks to the new foundations, museums and galleries that have opened. It was unimaginable a few years ago that it would grow to be what it is today. Paris is booming and moving, it is the place to be. The artists want to be around this energy.
In the last few years, Mariane Ibrahim, who is based in Chicago, has shown artists including Amoako Boafo, Ayana V. Jackson and Clotilde Jim. Larry Gagosian opened a space just off the street in 2010, and while he may have a shop (or three or six), it's worth noting that this is only Ibrahim.
The former Freedman Fitzpatrick gallery in Los Angeles was founded in order to introduce European artists to the U.S. market. They opened a second location in Paris five years later. Fitzpatrick realized he wasn't done with art or Paris after it closed. In October of 2021, he reopened the space on the Rue de Turenne as Fitzpatrick Gallery with a show featuring the work of artists from all over the world.
Alexander Hertling says that the city has become a much more international place and that there will be two spaces in the Marais. I'm not going to say everything is perfect but, right now, at least, things feel sort of modern and welcoming, and people, especially younger people, feel close to that.
Smaller, more casual spaces seem to be popping up at a rapid rate in the city. Sainte Anne Gallery is located on the narrow, Japanese restaurant-lined Rue Sainte-Anne. The friends, who moved to Paris at the same time roughly 15 years ago, opened the space to showcase the work of their female artist friends. They want to be as sustainable as possible. Novoselova says they don't buy work from overseas and travel to studio to work on it. They are showing Off Water II with work by 12 female artists, most of whom live in or around Paris, including Mirsini Artakianou.
We Do Not Work Alone is an exhibition space on the Rue du Vertbois, which was founded by Louise, Anna, and Charlotte Morel, who met as students at the Sorbonne. The venture started as a way for the women to show off their work to their friends in the art world, but they became more interested in the functional objects that their friends were making for their homes and studios. The trio started focusing more on these design-leaning works, such as a lamp base mimicking the female form by the feminist artist, or an aluminum pencil sharpener sculpted to resemble Ren. In June of 2020 she, Klossowski and Morel opened their first permanent space on the Rue du Vertbois and are currently showing ceramic vases and plates by Matthieu Cosse. They will help to produce a presentation of hand-poured candles by the France-based Korean artist Seulgi Lee in partnership with the Villa Noailles in the fall.
As Mennour says, Paris is once again popular with artists. It is still a relatively expensive city, but studio space is becoming more readily available. Digne and the curator Laure Confavreux-Colliex are the co-owners of Poush, a nine-story artist incubator that offers affordable studio and exhibition space. A group show featuring the work of 18 artists, including sculptures by Guillaume Bouisset and installations by Bianca Bondi, attracted over 1,000 people. The roster grew to 220 with 30 different nationalities represented and an average age of 33. In June, Poush will move into a former perfumery in Aubervilliers, another neighborhood northeast of Paris, in order to reconfigure its program and expand its offerings for still other kinds of creatives, including performance artists, dancers and musicians. The success of the venture has only been possible because young artists from across Europe and around the world are returning to the city in droves.
The TREND is limited to the French capital. In response to an urge to return to Europe after feeling overwhelmed by both the Trump presidency and the UK's decision to leave the EU, Lucy Chadwick, the British-born former senior director of the enterprise in New York decided to leave. The first exhibition showcased works by Anne Collier, Arthur Jafa, Adrian Piper, Martine Syms, and Mark Leckey. The city was already a home away from home for her, as she had visited with friends and family every year for three decades. She says that opening a new company in a different country with a second language has been a challenge. Locals have become familiar with the gallery, as Chadwick has organized several community-focused events in the hope of making it as open and accessible as possible. She goes to Paris often to see what's new and then return to Basque Country.
Ibrahim sees her move to France as a kind of return to her hometown. She opened her space with a group show featuring the work of her entire roster of artists that was a tribute to the performer Josephine Baker. I played the title for my husband and he said, "This is the title for my first Paris show." Positive energy and love is what I need. I'm taking Josephine with me.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
