For Corréard, the fair’s unusual presentation and its Ikea-esque floorplan has paintings, sculptures, artists’ editions, prints, videos and photographs stacked in large open spaces that invite visitors to make their way down a pre-defined path. The presentation represents a mixture of office, storage room and gallery space inspired by André Breton’s well-known atelier (also in Paris, at the Centre Pompidou).
With 15 returning galleries and 11 newcomers, the fair succeeds in what is its overriding aim: bringing collectors and gallerists together in a space that certainly feels less saturated than most art fairs. By literally opening up spaces for dialogue, Galeristes establishes itself as an intermediary, almost as a launching platform for relationships that are meant to continue beyond the fair’s 4-day run.
For this reason, galleries tend to show more. Unlike the solo-show format of some of its competitors, Galeristes offers an overview on the work of its eponymous protagonists, giving the public a chance to discover what goes on behind and beyond the whitewashed walls of galleries in Paris and beyond...
True to its premise, Galeristes is still offering a selection of works at less than €1,000, but it seems to have abandoned its ridiculously cheap monthly rates. When it comes to buying, here’s a selection of the most noteworthy pieces in this year’s edition:
Video: Dance Company by Ali Kazma at Analix Forever.
Also on show at Paris’ Jeu de Paume, Ali Kazma’s works capture humanity’s savoir faire through videos, showcasing gestures, movements and moments that hide several hundred years of history behind them. Dance Company attests to Kazma’s interest in the body and its transformation from subject to object.
Ali Kazma, Dance Company from the Obstructions series, 2009. 10 min 17 sec. Courtesy Analix Forever.
Photography: prints from the Beijing Silvermine project by Thomas Sauvin at Galerie Paris-Beijing.
Salvaged from a Beijing recycling zone by French editor and artist Thomas Sauvin, the negatives of the Beijing Silvermine project consist of half a million pictures shot between 1985 and 2005 in and around the Chinese capital. A selection of prints are available at Paris-Beijing’s stand, documenting the life of the city and its inhabitants in the years following the Cultural Revolution.
From the Beijing Silvermine series by Thomas Sauvin. Courtesy Galerie Paris-Beijing.
Sculpture: Rosemarie Castoro at Galerie Lefebvre.
The Parisian gallery is presenting sculptures by the late American Minimalist artist, who passed away in 2015.
Rosemarie Castoro Knee-High Flasher solo, 1979, steel and acrylic, 49 x 21 x 12 cm
Painting: Françoise Pétrovitch at Semiose Galerie
A series of paintings by the French artist are available at Semiose Galerie. Her subjects, often young women, girls or teenagers evoke a dream-like universe, one of contemplation and intimacy.
Françoise Pétrovitch, Sans titre, 2017 Oil on canvas 51.2 x 38,1 in. Courtesy Semiose galerie, Paris.
Mixed media: Sans titre (Paysage #86), Xavier Theunis at Backslash Gallery
Backslash, a newcomer to Galeristes, features works by Xavier Theunis that were also featured during the 2016 exhibition “Half Makeup, Half Lies”, as well as a series of works priced at under €1,000. The works presented at Galeristes attest to Theunis’ multidisciplinary approach to visual arts and his interest in minimalism.
Xavier Theunis, Sans titre (Paysage #86), 2016. Courtesy BACKSLASH gallery.
