The Paris International Contemporary Art Fair (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain or FIAC) is a

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

event that occurs in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

History

FIAC was started by gallery owne
Daniel Gervis
together with artis
Bengt Olson
and was usually held in October in the

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

. In 2019, the fair announced that it would move to a temporary venue on the

Champ de Mars Champ, CHAMP or The Champ may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Champ (cartoon character), an animated dog introduced in 1960 * The Champ, played on radio and created by Jake Edwards (radio personality), Jake Edwards * Champ ...

, by the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

, for at least two years and to move back to the Grand Palais by 2024. In 2022, however,

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

surprisingly ousted FIAC from the Grand Palais. From 2006 to 2019, as part of the fair’s outdoor program ''Hors les Murs'', well-known venues across the city – the

Tuileries Garden The Tuileries Garden (, ) is a public garden between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public in ...

, the

Musée national Eugène Delacroix The Musée national Eugène Delacroix (; ), also simply the Musée Delacroix, is an art museum dedicated to painter Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) and located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, 6th arrondissement at 6, rue de Furstemberg, Paris, ...

, the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

and

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as the Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as the Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madelein ...

– featured temporary installations of

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

George Condo George Condo (born 1957) is an American visual artist who works in painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. He lives and works in New York City. Early life Condo was born in Concord, New Hampshire. He studied art history and musi ...

, Thomas Houseago,

Robert Indiana Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark; September 13, 1928 – May 19, 2018) was an American artist associated with the pop art movement. Indiana is mostly known for his iconic image LOVE which was first created in 1964 in the form of a card. India ...

Per Kirkeby Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish Painting, painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. His works have been exhibited worldwide and are represented in many important public collections, including the Tate, Metropolitan Museum ...

Alicja Kwade Alicja Kwade (born 1979) is a Polish-German contemporary visual artist. Her sculptures and installations focus on the subjectivity of time and space. Kwade lives and works in Berlin. Early life and education Kwade was born in the industrial cit ...

, Richard Long and

Oscar Tuazon Oscar Tuazon (née Hansen) is an American artist based in Los Angeles who works in sculpture, architecture, and mixed media. Early life Oscar Tuazon was born Oscar Hansen on July 9, 1975, in a geodesic dome his parents built in the woods at India ...

, among others. From 2018, the venues also included

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

, with architectural works by

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and emeritus professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolif ...

Claude Parent Claude Parent (26 February 1923 – 27 February 2016), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, was a French architect. Architect, polemicist and theoretician, Claude Parent was the first person in France to make a sharp epistemological break with Mod ...

and

Jean Prouvé Jean Prouvé (; 8 April 1901 – 23 March 1984) was a French metal worker, self-taught architect and designer. Le Corbusier designated Prouvé a constructeur, blending architecture and engineering. Prouvé's main achievement was transferring m ...

, among others.

Milestones

* 1974 – The first edition is held in the

Gare de la Bastille The Gare de la Bastille was a railway station on the Place de la Bastille in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. The station was opened in 1859 and served as the terminus of the -long line to Vincennes and Verneuil-l'Étang. The line was ...

* 1975 – The fair moves to the

* 1982 – FIAC welcomes photography for the first time * 2001 – The fair welcomes

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...

for the first time * 2007 – FIAC and Artprice issue the first Annual Report on the Contemporary Art Market'', analyzing the sales of 500 artists * 2011 – FIAC starts to have an ''outside the walls'' part, in the

Jardin des Plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

and the

Jardin des Tuileries The Tuileries Garden (, ) is a public garden between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public i ...

* 2014 – In parallel of FIAC, the first Foire OFF(ICIELLE) is launched with 68 emerging galleries at the City of Fashion and Design

Directors

* 2003–present:

Jennifer Flay Jennifer Flay is the director of the Fiac ( Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain). Early life Flay was born in Auckland in 1959. She came to France in 1980 to study art history at the University of Nice. Career Flay opened a gallery in 1 ...

Marcel Duchamp Prize

The

Marcel Duchamp Prize The Marcel Duchamp Prize (in French : ''Prix Marcel Duchamp'') is an annual award given to a young artist by the Association pour la Diffusion Internationale de l'Art Français (ADIAF). The winner receives €35,000 personally and up to €30,000 ...

(in French : ''Prix Marcel Duchamp'') is an annual award given to a young artist by the Association pour la Diffusion Internationale de l'Art Français (ADIAF) since 2001 at the FIAC. The winner receives €35,000 personally and up to €30,000 in order to produce an exhibition of their work in the

Modern Art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

museum (

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

Controversy

In 2014, a ''Hors Les Murs'' feature, the 80-meter-high inflatable sculpture ''Tree'' by Paul McCarthy in the Place Vendôme was deflated by vandals. McCarthy and local authorities decided not to re-inflate it. The lime green sculpture was described by the artist as a Christmas tree, but critics said it looked like a

butt plug A butt plug is a sex toy that is designed to be inserted into the rectum for sexual pleasure. They often have a flanged end to prevent the device from being lost inside the rectum. History Rectal dilators were originally designed for therapeut ...

.Tara Mulholland (23 October 2014)
Paris Art Fair Strives for Bigger and Bolder
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

References

External links

* Contemporary art fairs Contemporary art awards October 1974 establishments in France Festivals established in 1974 {{art-stub