From April 7 to 10, Modemonline, partner of ArtParis 2022, will publish every day on its Instagram Account @modemolnline the "Parcours Modemonline", a selection of works carefully chosen by our team.

@Modemonline launched previously a contest to win free entries to the art salon.

The following reports what emerged from our meeting with Guillaume Piens, general curator of ArtParis.

Art Paris 2022
Guillaume Piens, general curator of Art Paris 2022, baptizes this 2022 edition under the sign of eco-sustainability and eco-design. He delves into the ecological crisis in the art sector by drawing inspiration from the words of philosopher and historian Estelle Zhong-Mengual: "the ecological crisis is not only about the crisis of the living but is rather based on the relationships in the world of the living."

From this starting point, Guillaume Piens, makes ArtParis the first eco-sustainable art fair and invites two curators who, with different approaches, have orchestrated these topics.

Alice Audouin, an independent exhibition curator specializing in the environment and founder of the Art of Change 21 association, has selected seventeen French and international artists, from the participating galleries, whose practices address environmental issues such as the climate crisis or the destruction of biodiversity.

For Alfred Pacquement, his gaze is on the French scene and his vision is directed at Natural History, living at the crossroads of natural history and art history by identifying twenty artists who, in part, have been able to reveal the wonder that springs from the living world that must be protected and others, in the minority, who have made nature an exclusive practice.

For Guillaume Piens, ArtParis is not so much a Fair but more a Salon, "I have always worked with the concept that the salon, which I prefer to the definition of fair, is not only a place of sale but above all a place of trend. Art Paris today has become a 'Manifesto' exhibition. A combination of commercial event and entertainment.

During Art Paris, themes that are "dans l'air du temps » (''in our Zeitgeist''), are explored. Concepts are developed with curators who are given “carte blanche” in choosing the artists who best represent the topic. From the beginning until today, many galleries have aligned themselves with the different themes, allowing the show to grow along an uniform path, to have an atmosphere that differs from other events, so I try to give ArtParis a more singular tone in which there is a diversity, a divergence."

Also, for this edition great space have been given to the new generation, to the emerging, whether it’s galleries or artists. In the construction of the fair, there aren’t grouped any galleries that present modern, contemporary or emerging, but everything is mixed. Juxtaposing the different proposals creates an energy of encounters, a rhythmic and stimulating path for the visitor. Discovery, surprise and accessibility remain the priorities of ArtParis. The monographic exhibitions, seventeen in all, are increasingly present and certainly represent a practical and direct way of making an artist's work better known without forgetting the considerable risk for the galleries.

In 2020, ArtParis was the only art fair that was able to adapt in a very particular period and this decision was certainly beneficial to it and today, in addition to being a regional fair, with a close look on supporting the French scene, it shines in an international panorama.

For 2023 ArtParis will address the following topics: “The Commitment” and “The Exile”.

Article and interview by Roberta Molin Corvo @Modemonline.com