History
In 1990 Air de Paris was established in Nice by Bonnefous and Merino, who had attended the École du Magasin in Grenoble together. In 1994, the gallery relocated to Paris, first at a location on rue des Haudriettes. Alongside other galleries including Almine Rech and Galerie Perrotin, Air de Paris moved to spaces on Rue Louise Weiss in the 13th arrondissement in 1997, as part a city-sponsored initiative. In 2019, Air de Paris joined forces with three other galleries (Jocelyn Wolff, In Situ Fabienne Leclerc and Sator), a public institution Le Plateau frac île de france and Fiminco Foundation to open spaces in Komunuma, an 11,000 m2 (120,000 sq ft) four-building arts complex in Romainville. Together with In Situ Fabienne Leclerc, the gallery occupied a four-storey space and a shared roof terrace.
The name "Air de Paris" was a tribute to Marcel Duchamp and his "ready-made" 50cc of Paris Air. At the beginning, there was Les Ateliers du Paradise with Philippe Perrin, Pierre Joseph and Philippe Parreno. Paul McCarthy, Lily van der Stokker and Jean-Luc Verna, among others, participated to the reputation of the Nicean formula.
Air de Paris represented established practicing artists such as Liam Gillick, Claire Fontaine, and Trisha Donnelly, historically important artists such as Guy de Cointet, Dorothy Iannone and Allen Ruppersberg, and emerging artists such as Eliza Douglas and Aaron Flint Jamison. Air de Paris also represented the photographic work of Michel Houellebecq following his large survey exhibition at Palais de Tokyo in 2016.
In 2026, Air de Paris declared bankruptcy and ceased operations.
