The 11th edition of the Slick Art Fair in Paris will not take place. Initially scheduled to run 19 to 23 October, on the banks of the Seine near the Pont Alexandre III, it has been added to the list of Fiac satellites that have been cancelled in recent months. Its co-founders Johan Tamer Morael and Aude de Bourbon Parme cited “the current economic situation” in France as a reason for the decision.
Launched in 2006, the Slick fair focused on emerging artists. At the start of this year, it named Julie Crenn as artistic director, a curator known for her research on feminist and post-colonial practices. The appointment positioned Slick as “the” contemporary art fair dedicated to the French art scene and could have given a renewed character to the event, which suffered from the unevenness of its artistic offerings.
Earlier this year, the Fiac organised satellite Officielle shut up shop because of the “perceived remoteness” of its venue and the high cost of the stands. And in July, CPCT Arts&Events suddenly put a halt to the pop-up art fair Alternative, also mentioning a “morose context”. One fair to stick around is Paris Internationale (19-23 October), whose entry on the scene last year in a disused mansion in the 16th arrondissement made a splash.
