PARIS-PHOTO 2011 in Grand-Palais until nov 13th

Yesterday I was invited at the opening of this great event in worlwide photography circles : ParisPhoto, that takes place in Grand Palais until sunday nov 13th.

The manifestation celebrates its 15th birthday and gets bigger, that’s why the galleries are now in Grand Palais and not in Louvre Carrousel anymore. Success and recognition on the art market -photography as a prestigious medium-  explain this move and impressive growth. 117 galleries this year (French and international), + 15 publishers + a private collection (Arthur Walther’s), curated by Okwui Enwezor , called “Portraiture and social identity”, with J.D ‘Okhai Ojeikere below (untitled 1970-courtesy Walther collection), and  Bernd and Hilla Becher , Gas Tanks (spheric), 1963-1983,courtesy Walther Colletion).

            

African photographers, from Bamako to Cape town, are the honnor guests this year. You will admire  among other, the famous Malik Sidibé, Seydou Keita, JD Okhaï Ojeikere and David Goldblatt.

I’ve got the feeling that this year Paris Photo is more  focus on pure photography, with many portraits and lansdscape, and a great technical quality, rather than contemporary art using photography.

But you will find of course the hevy weight of contemporary art using this medium (sometimes linked with actions and performances) such as Marina Abramovic,Dieter Appelt (below) with Krone, aktion, 1976 (Françoise Paviot gallery) and Arnulf -Reiner, a tribute to french trans-gender and performer Pierre Molinier (Pierre Molinier Übermalung, 2008, gallery Christophe Gaillard)

         

A very intriguing series by Christian Tagliavini stroke very much the attention on the gallery Esther Woerdehoff booth, influenced by Nothern Renaissance portraits. Beauty, simplicity and strict geometrical construction through outfits and gesture, with a little bit of strangeness in proportions appeal the gaze. Here is a “Ritratto di giovane dona, 2010” :

I can’t resist to show you two jewels of perfection and esthetic : Sugimoto’s seascapes.They are in Armani ‘s exhibition devoted to water (Acqua). He’s an official sponsor on the fair and developped recently a project around the water as a social cause. He was given on loan works by the Tate Modern, Musée de l’Elysées (Switzerland), ICP.

To conclude this post, the  work of a young artist from Anne de Villepoix gallery : Marc Turlan, who had recently his first solo show  this fall in the gallery : image from the series “Exo star”2011 (magazine picture, chain, 31x27cm). A work based on our fascination for glamour, glossy perfect faces and bodies, turned already  into new icons, in a religious sense I could add : just think about the worship of “believers” for fashion models (or just fashionistas). I like this series with chains on picture magazine, evoking these miraculous icons, on which a madona would cry golden beads…