In a normal year, the second half of October sees Paris bustling with gallerists, collectors, and art lovers from all corners of the world, gathered for FIAC and the accompanying Paris Art Week of exhibitions, auctions, satellite fairs, and more. Of course, this year is anything but normal. Last month, FIAC’s organizers announced the fair’s 2020 edition would be canceled due to COVID-19—a sage decision given the alarming rise of infections throughout Europe in the weeks since. Not content to let the season’s momentum slip away, Paris’s resilient art community was quick to come up with a solution.
The result is
LE PARI(S), a hybrid art week organized by the French gallery association Comité Professionel des Galeries d’Art (CPGA) and whose name is a play on the French word for a bet (
un pari). That said, LE PARI(S) seems like a pretty sure bet: It includes hundreds of in-person exhibitions and events at galleries throughout the city with accompanying online presentations for those who are only able to attend virtually. In order to keep track of all of that’s going on, CPGA has developed both
an interactive map in addition to a
complete online platform (hosted, for full disclosure, on Artsy) for those browsing online. Whether viewing the works in person or at home, we’ve selected 10 essential exhibitions on view during LE PARI(S).