Flash News: DRAWING NOW and DDESSIN are coming soon in Paris

[15/03/2019]

DRAWING NOW art fair 2019

28 – 31 March. Le Carreau du Temple, Paris 3rd arrondissement

Drawing Now has been a reference in Contemporary drawings for 12 years. The Fair has successfully resisted intense competitive pressure from newer fairs dedicated to Contemporary drawing such as Art on Paper (Brussels), Paper Positions (Basel, Berlin and Munich) and Draw Art Fair which is scheduled to open in May at London’s Saatchi Gallery. This year, Drawing Now has invited 72 galleries from around the world to exhibit the best of the drawing discipline over the past 50 years. This 13th edition (28 – 31 March at Le Carreau du Temple) is full of surprises which start at the hall’s very entrance with the Loevenbruck Gallery transformed into a pop-up bar, offering beers served on coasters created for the occasion by Philippe MAYAUX (1961)Arnaud LABELLE-ROJOUX (1950), Willem and Philippe VUILLEMIN in front of the exhibited drawings. In search of originality, Drawing Now will also focus on the great classics of Contemporary drawing with, for example, a signposted route called Master Now leading the visitor to works by major Contemporary artists, based on a selection by Philippe Piguet. Among other treasures, the route will lead to Ha! by Antoni TAPIES (1923-2012) (Galerie Lelong & Co.) whose prices have been rocketing since his death…

Growing steadily for 10 years, the drawing market offers tremendous diversity in terms of aesthetics, prices and materials, and today it appeals to a much wider audience. Far from the sky high prices commanded by great masters like Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) (one of whose drawings was acquired for $8.2 million at Sotheby’s New York on 30 January), the average price range at the Drawing Now fair is between $2,500 and $3,500. There are of course more expensive works (some by very well-known artists at over $100,000), but one can discover emerging artists for less than $1,000 or invest in one of the artists selected for the Drawing Now Prize. The five artists in the running this year are Io Burgard, Friedrich Kunath (1974), Lucie Picandet (1982), Nazanin Pouyandeh (1981) and the very promising Damien DEROUBAIX (1972) who has two works coming up for sale on 20 March at Sotheby’s Paris including a watercolor measuring 151 x 198 cm estimated between $4,500 and $6,500.

Compared with the prestigious Salon du Dessin at the Palais Brongniart (27 March – 1 April), Drawing Now is resolutely Contemporary with 90% of the artists still active and works often produced specifically for the event… an appealing element for collectors looking for new discoveries.

 

DDESSIN {2019}

29 – 31 March, Atelier Richelieu, Paris 2nd arrondissement

DDessin {19}will once again be held in the luminous Atelier Richelieu. With seven years under its belt, this specialised drawing fair – at the cutting edge of graphic creation – has found its identity with a relatively small format (20 or so French and foreign galleries) that is ideal for presentations of artists and their works. This 7th edition confirms the fair’s importance in Paris Drawing Week, with certain specificities that distinguish it from the other events devoted to drawing in all its forms during March. For Ève de Meideros, founder and director of DDESSINPARIS, the aim is to create a dedicated network around the ‘young art scene’, and so far she has succeeded, with the fair proving to be an excellent springboard for several artists, including MASSI and Nidhal CHAMEKH (both present at the 2015 Venice Biennale) and Lucie Picandet, winner of the Emerige Revelations scholarship in 2015 and a finalist in this year’s Drawing Now Art Fair Award.

This year a number of new exhibitors and galleries have been awarded stands under the glass roof of the Atelier Richelieu: Art Gamma Gallery (Saint-Cloud), Fondation Duhem – La Pommeraie (Ellignies-Sainte-Anne, Belgium), Galerie Antonine Catzéflis (Paris), Maria Lund Gallery (Paris), Pol Lemétais Gallery (Saint-Sauveur du Moustier), Polaris Gallery (Paris), Galerie Vallois (Paris), Sulger-Buel Gallery (London, United Kingdom), Sydney College of the Arts (Sydney, Australia), Moving Art (Nice), Salon H (Paris), Galerie Ségolène Brossette (Paris).

A number of others have returned to the DDESSIN fair: Art Absolument (Paris), Galerie Céline Moine (Lyon), H Gallery (Paris), Galerie Polysémie (Marseille), Galerie Marie Jaouen (Paris), Galerie Benjamin Leymarie (Bordeaux), Rizomi Gallery (Parma, Italy), Sitor Senghor Gallery (Paris).

The fair is also unique by its commitment to a specific project to support ocean protection “to participate in awareness-raising actions currently being conducted throughout France and internationally. The fair will present a charity exhibition on the theme of oceans and their protection, with the proceeds going to CETASEA, an association for the protection of marine mammals sponsored by Jean-Marc Barr, the emblematic actor of the film The Big Blue that made a lasting impression on a whole generation”.

Solo shows… an emerging artists section… a special focus on young Australian artists at the University of Sydney stand… conferences… book signings… a favourites section (coups de coeur) featuring work by Michel Soudée and Emilie Sévère… the small format of this “cabinet of drawings” evinces real dynamism and a veritable commitment to the medium and its artists. The fair’s programme is rounded off with a prize awarded by DDESSIN and the French Institute of Saint-Louis of Senegal, a partnership that will no doubt boost the visibility of the artists shortlisted for the prize including François Réau (Absolute Art), Caroline Denervaud (Double V Gallery) and Jeremy GOBE (Céline Moine Gallery).