contemporary art news

A New Wave of Parisian Salons: Focused, Fresh, and Forward-Thinking

Art Basel’s unexpected entry into the Paris art market in 2022, held at the newly restored Grand Palais, has been a game changer, drawing significant attention to Paris. As a result, there’s a strong sense of FOMO in the crowded European art fair scene, which spans about six weeks, starting with Frieze London, followed by Art Basel Paris, Artissima Torino, and Art Cologne.

Paris Internationale, now in its 10th year, began as an alternative to FIAC and has since become a legitimate part of the Parisian art fair circuit. The fair’s excellent gallery list and its architectural layout disrupts the traditional art fair model by replacing cubic booths with open walls, challenging the standard, enclosed spaces of conventional fairs.

What interests us today is this shift toward more alternative and niche fairs… 

Hatsune Suzuki and Alexandre Zhu presented by Gallery Vacancy, Shanghai © Margot Montigny (Paris Internationale, 2024)

The SalonNADA’s collaborative model merges contemporary art from its gallery network with The Community’s non-profit organizations, culminating in four days of programming at the intersection of art, music, fashion, and publishing during Paris Art Week. This builds on The Community’s Salon de Normandy (2019-2020), solidifying the need for galleries to maintain a presence in Paris.

The Community site of The Salon, Paris

The inaugural edition of The Salon by NADA & The Community, October 17–20, 2024 in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Designed as an alternative cultural experience during Paris Art Week, the collaborative invitational art fair presents over 50 international galleries, art spaces, and non-profit organizations at 30 bis Rue de Paradis, a historic location that once housed the Baccarat crystal factory and museum.

The Salon has a diverse list of participating galleries such as 52 Walker (New York), Aziimut, (Paris & Algiers), Embajada (San Juan), Yutaka Kikutake Gallery (Tokyo), Patel Brown (Toronto), and Margot Samel (New York) among the +50 emerging and established international galleries.

Finally, we have the bespoke gathering of galleries known as PLACE DES VOSGES,’ situated in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower, which

includes galleries such as Chris Sharp (LA), Corbett vs. Dempsey (Chicago); Kate Macgarry (London), Linn Lühn (Düsseldorf), Meyer Kainer, (Vienna), and The Approach (London)

Recently I have seen a lot of these very small niche exhibitions as fair models popping up on my feed which always gives me hope for new fresh alternatives.

For example, PARLOIR which just closed a few weeks ago- is a great example of this ‘salon’ approach occupying a small house in Belgium. The project was organized by Gauli Zitter (Brussels) and included Fanta (Milan), Hot Wheels (Athens), Misako & Rosen (Toyko), Sweetwater (Berlin), KIN (Brussels), and Zero (Milan)…

installation view of Parloir (Belgium)

another example is 74th Arts (Becca Hoffman’s) series of pop-ups in Vienna, Milan, Signapore… the most recent version is INFLUENCERS which focuses on pioneering Women Shaping Contemporary Art and Design curated by Maya Binkin explores the profound impact and artistic legacy of pioneering women artists including Louise Bourgeois, Barbara Hepworth, Carol Rama, and Cindy Sherman and their influence on contemporary art and design practices today. the 10 day show runs from October 22 –31, 2024