China, the guest of honour, shines

Art Paris Art Fair 2014

Art Paris Art Fair 2014

At a walking distance from The Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the Seine river, in a quiet and prestige area, the Art Paris Art Fair opened its doors to the public from the 27th to 30th March 2014.
One day before the opening, dozens of artists, collectors, art gallery managers and journalists flocked to Le Grand Palais (The Great Palace in English) exhibition hall and museum, holding their invitations for this special event, and waiting to get access and enjoy the masterpieces inside.

Iron Fist sculpture by the famous Chinese artist Liu Bolin

140 international galleries from 20 countries were combined under the glass-domed roof of the Grand Palais.A huge hand of steel welcomes the visitors at the entrance.

It is the “Iron Fist” sculpture by the famous Chinese artist Liu Bolin, who is known as “The Invisible Man” for his “Hiding in the City” popular works series.

Inside the hall, you can see a lot of signs that show the presence of China as this year’s guest of honour, coinciding with celebrations for the 50th anniversary of relations between France and the People’s Republic of China.

TATTOO, II, 1997 by Qiu Zhijie

This event was seeking to highlight the dynamism of the modern and contemporary art scene of this Asian country, by presenting artwork from 90 artists of different generations, and hosting more than 20 galleries from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and other Chinese cities. Art Paris Art Fair also presented this year, several thematic sections to encourage discovery, like “Promises,” where 20 new galleries had the chance to present their new talents.

The Art Design platform was to explore the relationship between contemporary art and design.

Pink Man Opera by Manit Sriwanichpoom

Art Design Lab is where eight designers have been given “Carte Blanche” to undertake experimental research into what lies at the borderline between art and design.

Other thematic sections include “Art Books Flammarion Bookshop,” “The Contemporary Art Book Binding Space,” and the annual “The Canson® Fund for the Art and Paper.” And last but not least, there was “Springtime in Paris,” which focused on the wealth of artistic activity in Paris.

The fair presented a lot of great artworks from all over the world and as an Arab artist from Lebanon, I had the pleasure of visiting the “Claude Lemand” gallery, where the works of some famous Arab artists like the Syrian Youssef Abdelke, the Iraqi Dia El-Azzawi, the Lebanese Shafic Abboud, and the young Palestine Zoulikha Bouabdellah, and many others, were presented.

The Art Paris Art Fair is an important annual event for the followers of the contemporary art movement worldwide.

It is very rich visually, and you can communicate directly with the artwork, and discover its beauty and importance.

You cannot enjoy this experience through videos or photos.

Even the new communication tools over the Internet and mobile cannot deliver the same emotional experience.