VINGT Paris News

Jeune Creation

  IMG_0015 

  Originally uploaded by ivyparis.
Some kind of reflection of the futility of life?  The paper aeroplanes that were chucked at the target. And missed.

Saturday night's alright for dancing?

The best shoe shop for a Saturday afternoon's whim-ery is in Barbes.  KATA is at 34/36 Bd Barbes (Metro Barbes or Chateau Rouge) with another entrance on rue des Poissonniers leading to the section housed in an old-time music hall. There are tacky/cool sneakers, pimp-tastic men's shoes and if you are prepared to really surf around, some gems from 5-10 euros a pair. Not the best quality, heavy on the man-made materials but cheap and cheerful. Shoes are eveywhere in big pens and they are piled up in left sizes only.

Or at least I though they were great until my feet started bleeding in my new winklepickers. I stuffed them with those insoles (nearly the same price as the shoes and are probably more durable) but it hasn't made much difference - hobbling is the new, err..............? 

 

Kustaa Saksi updates

I V Y paris' logo is a thing of beauty I never grow tired off. It was all thanks to Finland's finest, Kustaa Saksi. He's just published some updates to his online portfolio which is gorgeous.

FIAC-ing hell

Summer seems to go on forever but Paris' art scene jerks back into life in early September. I'm already exhausted. Sometimes it can feel that too much is stuffed into the time between the first week in September and Christmas but the frenzy is fun. I guess it just takes a few year's getting used to - crushing all work, social,and cultural life into the gaps remaining between holidays and long weekends.

As well as Show Off there are more events than you can shake a stick at coming over the next month:

Right now until October 8th we have Jeune Creation. I feel the group is lacking in any concept or direction but I'll go and see what it's like anyway. A more determined stance is taken by the organisers of Slick held like Jeune Creation in La Bellevilloise.  This community-driven atelier/cinema/cafe "espace" in Gambetta is exactly the type of venue Paris excels at.  Besides the 1000 m² of stands there will also be lounges for  viewing video works and resting during the visit.  Aiming to resucitate Paris' flagging reputation as incubator for contemporary art it's got off to a good start.

At the end of the month, coinciding with grand-daddy FIAC is the video art fairDIVA,(Digital and Video Art Fair) in the Kube Hotel, La Chapelle, (I told you it would get hip).

So far, amongst artists, DIVA seems to be attracing some adverse comment because of the entry fee, it's a bit expensive at 40 euros. Face it. They don't want you bringing down the tone of the place in the super slick ice bar at the Kube Hotel and you couldn't afford a drink anyway.  I guess the organisers don't care as long as the buyers come. This year they are to be shipped from venue to venue in a little bus running under the name Fiac-Off.

M'as-tu-vu?

Paris is revving up for the 33rd FIAC but this year there's a young pretender. Show Off at Espace Pierre Cardin looks interesting with participation from a number of innovative galleries such as Magda Danz and Patricia Dorfmann from Paris,  Stephan Ropke from Koln and Habana from Cuba.

It's predictably labelled cutting-edge. If the restaurants they recommend are anything to go by, (Buddha Bar) it's not a good sign.

Nuite Blanche

The 5th Nuite Blanche is coming up on 7th October. NB marks my anniversary of deciding to live in Paris so it always resonates with me.  It's getting bigger and more popular each year and now it even has it's own blog.

The artistic directors are Jerome Sans and Nicolas Bourriaud lately of Palais de Tokyo - the lieu which breathed life into the stagnant Paris contemporary art scene when it opened in January 2024. I'm not a big fan of the venue because I can't feel any soul in there but I did discover some cool artists through the expos they curated.

Miss Tic in Paris

I love these hire vans decorated with graffiti artist and Parisienne sex-bomb Miss Tic.

("Louer c'est rester libre")

Prix Goncourt premiére sélection 2024

Great discussion forum

Stéphane Audeguy : "Fils unique" (Gallimard)
Antoine Audouard : "Un pont d'oiseaux" (Gallimard)
Christophe Bataille : "Quartier général du bruit" (Grasset)
Jean-Eric Boulin : "Supplément au roman national" (Stock)
Alain Fleischer : "L'Amant en culottes courtes" (Seuil)
Nancy Huston : "Lignes de faille" (Actes Sud)
Gilles Lapouge : "Le Bois des amoureux" (Albin Michel)
Camille Laurens : "Ni toi ni moi" (P.O.L.)
Jonathan Littell : "Les Bienveillantes" (Gallimard)
Léonora Miano : "Contour du jour qui vient" (Plon)
Amélie Nothomb : "Journal d'hirondelle" (Albin Michel)
Olivier et Patrick Poivre d'Arvor : "Disparaître" (Gallimard)
Michel Schneider : "Marilyn dernières séances" (Grasset)
François Vallejo : "Ouest" (Vivianne Hamy)