Tag Archive "stephane-thidet"

Letter From Paris: Everything & Nothing At The FIAC

Does contemporary art swing from one pole of “everything” to its opposite of “nothing”?  This very casual notion stems from two French artists, Yves Klein and Arman.  In the late 1950s Klein famously exhibited “Le Vide” (The Void), an empty space “sensitized” by the artist, at Iris Clert’s gallery in Paris. About a year later, Arman countered with “Le Plein (The Full-Up), filling the gallery with a ton of garbage. (Arman’s sardine can souvenir multiples from the show can be seen here). This year’s Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) (October 21 -24) dances around this idea in ways probably unknown ... More » »

Letter From Paris: The FIAC – The Hunger, The Hype & The Hysteria

Perhaps the perfect metaphor for the contemporary art fair is the media-fattened story of the Balloon Boy (in the US), which swept across the airwaves on a gust of excitement only to be lanced by the truth.  It was for the money, after all, and the 10 year-old boy (Little Falcon) supposedly trapped in the Warhol-like silver balloon was safe on the ground busy in makeup getting ready for his star turn. It was, of course, a hoax. “They put on a very good show for us, and we bought it,” said local sheriff, Jim Alderden.