PARIS.- The 37th edition of FIAC takes place from October 21st through October 24th at the Grand Palais, the Cour Carrée du Louvre and the Tuileries Garden.

Located in Paris’ most prestigious and emblematic sites, infused with its history and cultural life, FIAC’s continuous commitment to the highest standards of quality and the synergies it has developed with Paris’ prestigious art institutions, have made it one of the art world’s premier international events of the autumn calendar.

In a spirit of continuity, FIAC reaffirms the grounding principles on which its identity is founded: commitment to a broad focus that leads it to privilege a balanced panorama of modern, contemporary and emerging art; receptivity to a diverse range of artistic practices as demonstrated by the outdoor projects in the Tuileries Garden, an ambitious programme of artists’ performances, and – for the first time this year – a cycle of artists’ films.

FIAC 2010 brings together 195 modern and contemporary art galleries from 24 countries. France is home to 72 galleries (38 percent of the total) followed by Germany with 23 galleries, the United States with 22, Italy with 15, Belgium and Switzerland with 11 each. Countries represented for the first time this year include Japan, Mexico, Korea and Ireland. 63 galleries are taking part for the first time or returning to FIAC in 2010.

A total of 114 galleries are presented at the Grand Palais. 37 galleries are exhibiting for the first time or have returned to FIAC in 2010.

FIAC 2010 is characterized by the presence of an unprecedented number of major international galleries. Galleries showing for the first time at FIAC include, Blum & Poe (Los Angeles), Mehdi Chouakri (Berlin), Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin), Elvira Gonzalez (Madrid), kaufmann repetto (Milan), Gagosian (New York, London, Los Angeles, Athens, Rome and Paris), Bärbel Grässlin (Frankfort), Kukje (Seoul), Kurimanzutto (Mexico), Lehmann Maupin (New York), Max Hetzler (Berlin), Mai. 36 Galerie (Zurich), Metro Pictures (New York), Galerie Peter Kilchmann (Zurich), Regen Projects (Los Angeles), Sophie Scheidecker (Paris), Standard (Oslo), Taka Ishii (Tokyo and Kyoto), Tega (Milan), Tomio Koyama (Tokyo and Kyoto), Tschudi (Glarus), Ubu (New York), Victoria Miro (London) and Galleria Franco Noero (Turin).

Barbara Gladstone (New York), Massimo de Carlo with his London gallery, Carlson, David Zwirner (New York), Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, (Innsbruck), Esther Schipper (Berlin), Eva Presenhuber (Zurich), Gregor Podnar (Berlin and Ljubljana), Hiromi Yoshii (Tokyo), Michael Werner (New York and Berlin), Micheline Szwajcer (Antwerp), Hauser & Wirth (Zurich), Cheim & Read (New York) and Timothy Taylor (London) are returning to FIAC.

They join other outstanding international galleries such as long term exhibitors 1900 2000 (Paris), Air de Paris (Paris), Buchmann (Agra, Lugano and Berlin), Chantal Crousel (Paris), Paula Cooper (New York), Marian Goodman (Paris and New York), Karsten Greve (Paris, Cologne and St. Moritz), Luhring Augustine (New York), Nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder (Vienna), Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris and Salzburg), Xavier Hufkens (Brussels), Yvon Lambert (Paris and New York), Emmanuel Perrotin (Paris), Henze & Ketterer (Wichtrach, Bern; and Riehen, Basel) and 2009 newcomers such as Klosterfelde (Berlin), Mitchell Innes & Nash (New York), Skarstedt (New York) and Sprüth Magers (Berlin and London).

Among the venue’s highlights are solos shows by Adel Abdessemed at David Zwirner (New York); Alighiero e Boetti at Barbara Gladstone (New York); Matthew Day Jackson at Hauser & Wirth (Zürich); Yayoi Kusama at Victoria Miro (London); William Pope L. at Mitchell-Innes & Nash (New York); General Idea presented jointly by Frédéric Giroux (Paris), Mai. 36 (Zurich) and Esther Shipper (Berlin); François Rouan at Ditesheim & Cie. (Neuchâtel); Jean-Pierre Pincemin at Applicat-Prazan (Paris); Tauba Auerbach at Standard (Oslo): Andrew Dadson at Galleria Franco Noero (Turin) together with the focus on Karen Kilimnik at Eva Presenhuber (Zurich) and the joint presentation of Karen Kilimnik and Joseph Cornell at Sprüth Magers (Berlin and London).

Exhibiting for the first time at FIAC, Galerie Peter Kilchmann (Zurich) presents new works by Andro Wekua and Francis Alÿs; Micheline Szwajcer (Antwerp) presents new works by Ann Veronica Janssens, Konrad Dedobbeleer and Heimo Zobernig; Claudine Papillon (Paris) presents a special project by Michael Craig- Martin; for their first year at the fair, Metro Pictures (New York) unveils previously unseen works by Cindy Sherman, Jim Shaw and Robert Longo, along with a new sculpture by Claire Fontaine; Chantal Crousel (Paris) presents a monumental installation by Thomas Hirshhorn who will represent Switzerland at the 2011 Venice Biennale; for their fourth consecutive participation at FIAC, Luhring Augustine (New York) presents new work by Christopher Wool and Johannes Kahrs along with vintage photos by Larry Clark and Daido Moriyama. Daido Moriyama is also exhibited with Nobuyoshi Araki at Taka Ishii, showing for the first time at FIAC alongside fellow Tokyo galleries, Tomio Koyama and Hiromi Yoshii.

Among the thematic exhibitions, Jeanne Bucher/Jaeger-Bucher (Paris) present a tribute to Mark Tobey, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the artist’s birth, in the form of a dialogue between his work and that of Roger Bissière, Jean Dubuffet, Nicolas de Staël, Maria Elena Vieira da Silva, Susumu Shingu, Pat Steir and Fabienne Verdier. At FIAC for the second time, Thomas Zander (Cologne) presents a curated exhibition focusing on light, text and language in contemporary art featuring works by Lewis Baltz, Lothar Baumgarten, Victor Burgin, Peter Downsbrough, Lee Friedlander, Andrea Geyer, Anthony McCall, Roman Opalka and Peter Weibel. At Kewenig (Cologne) the focus is on Arte Povera, with major works by Jannis Kounellis, Giuseppe Penone, Giovanni Anselmo and Mario Merz. Among the exceptional works worthy of a special mention are Mario Merz’s igloo Albero grande solitario (1995) and L’Album photographique de la Famille B. (1991) by Christian Boltanski at Kewenig (Cologne).

Of particular note elsewhere are outstanding works by Max Beckmann, Erich Heckel and Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner presented by Henze & Ketterer (Wichtrach, Bern, and Riehen, Basel); Naum Gabo, Jesús Rafael Soto and Jean Arp at Natalie Seroussi (Paris); Richard Serra and Donald Judd at Elvira Gonzalez (Madrid); Hanne Darboven at Klosterfelde (Berlin), Jonathan Meese at Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin); Carsten Höller at Air de Paris; Sarkis at Nathalie Obadia (Paris); and Pae White at kaufmann repetto (Milan), among many others. William Pope L.’s performance Cusp featuring three characters wearing oversized pyjamas and Obama face masks at Mitchell-Innes & Nash (New York), is not to be missed.