An Inside Scoop on Art Week
Art week took place in the great city of Paris last week. Le Carreau du Temple in Le Marais, housed the Paris Contemporary Art Show which hosted 65 international art galleries from all around the world. The presenters came and displayed their finest pieces they have at their galleries. Many of the gallery owners were actually the ones presenting at the event and the Peacock Plume had the chance to meet them and to learn a little bit more about art, their countries and the artists they carry.
All of the gallery stands were fascinating. They told a story of where they were from and with the added fact that they had so many artists with similar traits. Galerie Dock Sud, located in Sète, France, carried only the paintings of David Nicolas Djoedjevic, a young Franco-Serb artist who mostly does paintings related to taboos of African and Mexican imagery, and is highly influenced by Basquiat. The medium he uses is oil on canvas, putting the oil directly on the canvas to create sculpture and richness on his colorful paintings.
David Nicolas Djordjevic's Mexican imagery related to Dia de los Muertos (right). Image Credit: Alejandra Lopez
The art gallery AC Contemporary is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The owners of the gallery were present in the event and told the Peacock how they were a very "proud Latino gallery that only carried works from South American artists." With works from Argentinian, Colombian, Chilean and Uruguayan artists, this duo of Argentinians travel all around the world and attend major art fairs to show the beauty and uniqueness of South American art.
Works from AC Contemporary's Gallery, Piedad Tarazona's "Magnolias" (left). Image Credit: Alejandra Lopez
Some galleries even brought in the artists they house as guests so curious art lovers and buyers could get the chance to have a more present and multidimensional experience. To be able to participate in this weekend event, the gallery must submit an application with months in advance. The curators who house this fair decide on the best galleries internationally and then, if they are accepted, they must pay a fee depending on the size of their space.
In the Parisian Galerie Victor Sfez, a big representative mural with a sound device was displayed, and the author was present to give the audience an inside scoop on it. Ricardo Nillni, the artist of this piece and musical composer, explained that he took representative texts from Franz Kafka, the Czech writer, and mixed them in small booklets with his own musical compositions. These booklets formed a type of butterfly stated in the title and ran along the mural as the music of his composition played in the background.
Ricardo Nillni next to his piece Les Papillions de Kafka. Image Credit: Alejandra Lopez
The Barrou Planquart Gallery from Paris displayed works of the French artist Stéphane Gautier who uses toys and many common symbols to create art. The gallery representative told the Peacock that he "re-injects the stereotyped symbols of childhood into an adult environment" which generate an emotional attachment to his works. His piece 'Playful' is a mixed media piece made of a toy collection with a neon sign, with the title representing what the elements transmit.
"Playful" by Stéphane Gautier displayed in the Barrou Planquart Gallery stand surrounded by other creations of this artist and other artists. Image Credit: Alejandra Lopez
Annie Gabrielli, the owner of a gallery located in Montpellier, was present to talk about her gallery which is mostly photography. She talked about the photographer Muriel Bordier and the process of her pieces. She develops singular photographs of people in her studio in random positions and then inserts them in a space where there seems to be interaction. Even though they are together, they have never met. This type of photography fascinated the art week crowds.
Muriel Bordier's "Côté Nord" and "La Salle des pas perdus" displayed on the left. Image Credit: Alejandra Lopez
The Miaz Brothers Gallery is an Italian gallery in Milan that only houses paintings by these siblings. They have one of the most unique styles of contemporary art seen today in the art world. They use airbrushing techniques in their abstract and figurative works to activate memory and associate their works with more former portraits.
Untitled works by the Miaz brothers. Image Credit: Alejandra Lopez
In a more general retrospective, art fairs around the world move masses and are one of the most important events for people in the art world. The biggest art fair is Art Basel and is considers the mother of all the fairs. It takes place once a year in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Since this is the most important one, all other art fairs look up to it, and in big cities all around the world, there is usually a yearly art fair that presents and sells work by established and emerging artists.
