Art Paris returns to the Grand Palais, an architectural gem dating back to the Belle Époque that has been returned to its former glory

For its 27^th edition from 3 to 6 April 2025, Art Paris is returning to the Grand Palais. After four years’ restoration work, this emblematic construction built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition has been restored to its former glory. The splendour of this location makes it one of the most beautiful exhibition venues in the world.

A strong line-up of 170 galleries for the Nave at the Grand Palais

Art Paris is the leading spring event for modern and contemporary art. Its return to the Grand Palais in the entirely renovated nave and its balcony spaces means it can play host to some 170 French and international galleries (35 more than in 2024). Without compromising on its dual regional and cosmopolitan identity and, as ever, a place of artistic discovery in the very heart of Paris, a city that is undergoing a veritable artistic renaissance, Art Paris will be presenting an ambitious programme of the highest quality.

The 2025 edition will be exploring two themes.

Out of bounds by Simon Lamunière

In Out of Bounds, independent exhibition curator Simon Lamunière will be exploring contemporary creation seen through a prism of multiethnicity and the hybridisation of forms and cultures. His selection of works by some twenty international artists chosen from the exhibiting galleries will address questions such as origins, gender, kinship, history and geography. His reflections will give rise to a themed visit and a catalogue presenting the work of each selected artist.

“The current art scene, or rather scenes are made up in more or less equal parts of unique individuals and cultural communities that meet in a permanent, confrontational exchange. These confrontations currently relate to origins, gender, kinship, history and geography. Countries are being redefined. Conflicts are shifting, criss-crossing and moving following clearly defined patterns that are at times visible and at others invisible. Multiethnicity, diversity and difference are omnipresent: artists come from a multitude of different backgrounds and express their preoccupations with questions such as the sense of belonging, differentiation and limits. Speech has been freed giving rise to a collective debate that allows everyone to find their place in a space that, rather that restricting itself and dividing up into even smaller parts, must on the contrary open out more. The same goes for the mediums used as artists no longer limit themselves to one medium or field of investigation and their creative expression sometimes goes beyond the borders of the arts. At a time when geographic super entities are endeavouring to establish their hegemony, other smaller entities draw attention and resonate with the zeitgeist. The minority can become the majority and the art scene continues to evolve as does the world itself.” Simon Lamunière.

^{Simon Lamunière is an independent exhibition curator based in Geneva. After training as an artist, he worked as an exhibition curator for the Centre pour l’image contemporaine in Geneva from 1996 to 2003, Documenta X website (1997), Art/Unlimited and the monumental art section at Art Basel (2000-2011). He was director of the 11th Swiss Sculpture Exhibition (2009) and Neon Parallax, a public art project for a series of neon signs around a square in Geneva. He was also curator at Domaine du Muy (2014-2016) and the Triennale du Valais (2017). He devised and directed the art, design and architecture exhibition Open House from 2018 to 2023.}

Immortal: A Focus on Figurative Painting in France by Amélie Adamo et Numa Hambursin

Convinced of the impact of Immortal, their jointly curated exhibition that provided an ambitious and groundbreaking panorama of young French figurative painting, writer and independent curator Amélie Adamo and Numa Hambursin, general director of MO.CO. (Montpellier Contemporain) wanted to further explore their commitment to the French figurative scene at Art Paris 2025.

Thanks to a selection of thirty artists chosen from the exhibiting galleries, the guest curator duo will present a new analysis that will take into account the historical context and compare artists from different generations. The themed visit aims to underline, irrespective of fads and fashions, the permanent nature of figurative painting in France, while highlighting the influence of the painters of the past. It will show how figurative painting - at a time when a global art form focusing on abstraction and new mediums has become predominant - is a dynamic, Europe-wide movement.

The idea is also to present the similarities between works that already have their place in history and those of younger artists who have emerged since the beginning of the 2000s. By mapping out this genealogy, the curators have put the spotlight on the pictorial and philosophical issues common to the work of artists of different generations and different practices. Painters are part of the long march of history and, as such, must come to terms with the paradoxes of their condition. They are the heirs to an age-old practice handed down from the old masters, but also have to reflect upon the revolutionary evolution of the image. They must find inspiration in tradition and accept their heritage, while looking to popular culture and new ideas and immersing themselves in the hybrid practice of contemporary art, without forgetting to insist upon the importance of accepted forms. From the banal reality of everyday life to political and historical upheaval, from poetic flights of fancy to conceptual and societal debates and from art to commitment, the selection will bear witness to the destiny of painters from the French scene over the last fifty or so years and highlight their ambiguous status that sees them kept at arm’s length, while being, at times, praised for their exploits.

A catalogue presenting the work of each selected artist will accompany this themed visit and a series of conferences will be held at the Grand Palais during the fair.

<sup>Amélie Adamo is a writer, art historian and independent curator. Her history of contemporary art thesis focussing on figurative art in France in the 1980s was published by Éditions Klincksieck in 2010 and led to an essay published by Éditions Galilée and two exhibitions at the Musée des Sables d’Olonne, Passages and Aux sources des années 1980. Since 2008, she has regularly contributed to numerous exhibition catalogues and written articles in specialised magazines, including L'Œil and Le Journal des Arts. In 2023, she co-curated Immortal at MO.CO. in Montpellier together with Numa Hambursin. In February 2025, she will curate Luxe Calme et Volupté to mark the reopening of the Centre d’Art La Malmaison in Cannes. The exhibition will look at the painters who travelled to the South of France, while considering hedonism and the way in which it creates parallels between modern and contemporary artists.

Numa Hambursin (b. 1979) is an art critic, exhibition curator and general director of MO.CO. (Montpellier Contemporain). After a foundation degree in literature, he studied law (specialising in African cultural heritage law), before opening a contemporary art gallery in Avignon at the age of 23, followed by a second in Montpellier. In 2009, he was appointed director of the Carré Sainte Anne and then Espace Dominique Bagouet in Montpellier, where he organised numerous contemporary art exhibitions. Between 2018 and 2021, he founded and directed the Pôle Art Moderne et Contemporain de la Ville de Cannes, which is composed of three art centres: La Malmaison, Le Suquet des Artistes and Villa Domergue. In parallel, from 2013 to 2021, he managed the corporate contemporary art programme for Hélénis, before creating and launching the Fondation GGL-Hélénis for contemporary art, which was inaugurated in June 2021. Since 2021, he has been general director of MO.CO., a public cultural body comprising two art centres (MO.CO. and La Panacée) and an art school (Esba). Numa Hambursin has written extensively about art, notably contemporary painting. In 2018, he was awarded the AICA France art critics prize.</sup>

The second edition of the BNP Paribas Banque Privée Prize in support of the French art scene

In 2024, Art Paris joined forces with BNP Paribas Banque Privée to launch the BNP Paribas Banque Privée Prize, A Focus on the French Scene to reinforce its support of the French art scene. The prize, worth €40,000, will be awarded to an artist living and working in France from among those selected by guest curators Amélie Adamo and Numa Hambursin as part of Immortal: A Focus on French Figurative Painting. There are no criteria of age and the prize will reward the artist’s for their career so far.

Promises, the sector for young galleries and emerging artists increases in size and takes up residence on the balconies around the central nave at the Grand Palais

New for the 2025 edition, the Promises sector for young galleries created less than ten years ago is taking up residence on the balconies around the central nave at the Grand Palais. The space will play host to more than twenty galleries (compared to just 9 in 2024) and provide a forward-looking analysis of cutting-edge contemporary art. Participating galleries can present up to three emerging artists and will be sponsored by the fair so that the exhibitor fees will be reduced to an all-inclusive price of 10,000 euros (VAT not included) for a 20 m² booth. Also new this year, Marc Donnadieu, Art Paris selection committee member and an independent exhibition curator, will be in charge of the curation for the Promises sector. The sector is also highlighted in the fair’s communication and various promotional materials.

Solo Show promotes monographic exhibitions

Art Paris encourages the presentation of monographic exhibitions spread throughout the fair. These solo shows allow visitors to discover or rediscover in depth the work of modern, contemporary, or emerging artists. The Solo Show sector is specifically highlighted in the fair’s communication and promotional materials.

Art Paris: a sustainably designed art fair

Art Paris is a regional art fair that gives pride of place to proximity, drawing local visitors and favouring local transport solutions. Since 2022, the fair has undertaken to develop a sustainable approach to organising an art fair based on a life cycle analysis (LCA). This pioneering approach entrusted to Karbone Prod will be continued in 2025.

Paris: the world art capital this spring

Paris is in the midst of an exceptional period of cultural and artistic renaissance illustrated by the opening of new galleries and venues, the renovation of existing cultural institutions and the inauguration of new ones. The activities on offer as part of the VIP programme “In Paris during Art Paris”, devised in partnership with Parisian cultural institutions and reserved for collectors and art professionals, bear witness to the effervescent art scene in the City of Light this spring.

Making contemporary art accessible to all

Art Paris is dedicated to making contemporary art accessible to the widest audience, offering some 135 guided tours of the fair as well as a number of specific tools, in particular its elaborate yet eminently practical website which presents a virtual visit of the fair and filters allowing visitors to search for works by artist, price, geographical provenance and technique...