The wide eyes and open mouth of a child are a reminder that, even at art fairs, there is still space for the occasional moment of wonder. A three-dimensional grid of dead flies has been suspended in mid-air on vertical lines of nylon weighted with little pieces of lead.
Around them, similarly hung dandelion heads form a slim, delicate frame. It is a gossamer-light and enchanting piece, whose dark eco-political agenda has been lent new urgency by recent research into insect decline. Animals seem, nonetheless, to be scampering throughout Paris this week. At the last minute, the Centre Pompidou stepped in and the work now stands in the courtyard outside.
But then Van Lieshout says a lot of things. The media controversy surrounding the work points to a comparatively recent development in the history of FIAC, and art fairs more broadly: the expansion from industry event into major public spectacle. As fairs proliferate across the world, each must work harder to distinguish itself. It seems to be working: 72, people attended the fair in FIAC has the advantage of an unusually elegant venue: the Grand Palais although what will happen from , when the building undergoes renovation, is yet to be announced.
Paris is now a destination and FIAC has been an important part of that process. Across the gallery are amorous peacocks, shrieking foxes, a crow, an owl, a finch, and more. A Map of Good Memories consists of carat gold leaf pooled across the raw concrete floor like the silhouette of a beautiful nostalgia. This proliferation of activities points to the increasingly complex interrelationship between different actors in the contemporary art ecosystem: commercial galleries, private collectors, private or corporate foundations, fairs, prizes, publishers, state-funded museums, even last of all the public.
At FIAC, this is clear from the number of galleries using concurrent public exhibitions for commercial leverage. Or perhaps it simply got lost amid the overwhelmingly maximalist installation. The opportunistic displays are a reminder that FIAC is an art fair: for all the attendance figures or media coverage or performances or discussions or exclusive dinners, sales remain a significant arbiter of success. This year, most of the gallerists I spoke to seemed very content but then who would admit otherwise?
