PARIS.- Caroline Clough Lacoste and Alain Lamaignère are launching “Paris Multiples” at the Carreau du Temple in 2014. This new Parisian art fair is planned as an original, highly festive event based on a concept that promotes the democratization of works of art, and the desire to provide a first-class showcase for publishers of paper works and distributors of contemporary artistic objects.

Having observed the disappearance of numbered editions, engravings, lithographs and other techniques used to transcribe works on paper from major events on the international art circuit, these two experts in the organization of artistic and cultural events decided to launch a new fair in Paris to give multiples their rightful place among contemporary art enthusiasts.

For this inaugural year, a prominent place will be given to art publications and to the distribution of contemporary artistic objects in light of the fact that contemporary design in limited, numbered editions often lacks visibility, given that it is usually presented alongside reissued creations or historic pieces.

With Paris Multiples, Caroline Clough Lacoste and Alain Lamaignère, whose professionalism and determination have been proven time and again, are offering an event that will make the pleasure of acquiring a high-quality piece of art accessible to everyone, both collectors and art lovers alike.

Paris Multiples provides a response to the demands of galleries and publishers who have been keenly awaiting the emergence of a new fair that meets both their budgetary constraints and high quality standards.

Paris Multiples will be one of the first events to be held in this renovated Parisian building following an inaugural evening planned for the 2013 Nuit Blanche (culture night).

The Carreau du Temple is steeped in history, and reflects the tradition of Parisian metal-based architecture. Built in 1863 by architect Jules de Mérindol, who also designed the Halle de la Villette, it hosted the first Foire de Paris in 1904, and was listed as a historic monument in 1982. After three years of renovation work, it was redesigned in 2012 by Studio Milou Architecture. Under a vast glass roof that floods the building with light, the colors and materials of the new Carreau du Temple echo the architecture and skyline of Paris.

The number and layout of its glass roof windows lend it exceptional luminosity. Situated between Place de la République and the Centre Pompidou, the Carreau du Temple’s 1,800 m² exhibition hall will house a diverse range of cultural events, starting with Paris Multiples.

Alain Lamaignère has offered unstinting support to artists throughout his highly varied career as an advertising director, Paris gallery owner, co-founder of DECOUVERTES at the Grand Palais, artistic director of numerous events, founder and artistic director of ARTPARIS, and curator of the Salon d'Art Contemporain de Montrouge. For the last three years, he has focused on publishing art books and developing projects intended to establish new international art events. Paris Multiples marks a new stage for him on the road to organizing high-end events.

Caroline Clough Lacoste has helped establish several Parisian fairs, including the FIAC, SAGA and DECOUVERTES, before founding ARTPARIS in 1999. In 2009, she helped set up marrakech artfair, and in 2010 decided to devote herself to her work as a consultant in the creation of international art programs in the Maghreb and Middle East. With Paris Multiples, she continues on this trajectory in 2014 with the creation of a new event that meets both the needs of professionals and the expectations of the general public.

Engravings and lithographs are an important part of the history of art. Multiple editions are an artistic creation in their own right. Limiting the numbers in which they are produced is a relatively new development (20th century) intended to guarantee the control exerted by an artist over his or her own work.

Marcel Duchamp was one of the first artists to offer “multiple artworks”. This experience led him to produce a box containing objects that made reference to his complete works: La boîte-en-valise (Box in a Valise), a kind of retrospective portable museum.

The multiple is a “source of freedom, of radicalization or experimentation with an artistic practice using media that have been reconsidered in accordance with a format that is intended less to be placed in a museum than in a private space”.

“The multiple oscillates between the work of art and the contemporary artistic object, questioning the notion of useful art while paying tribute to it, parodying or pastiching it, pushing it to its logical limits and confronting it with canonical references” 1.


1 From “Le multiple d’artiste, histoire d’une mutation artistique” by Oceane Delleaux.