Art Basel Paris
This October I’ll once again be heading to Paris to visit Art Basel, the week after Frieze London.
The exciting news is that this year’s Art Basel in Paris has relocated from the Grand Palais Ephemere where it launched two years ago, to the Grand Palais, the site of many show-stopping Chanel runway shows. The Grand Palais reopens after three years of refurb, and to coincide with this , the art fair has renamed the event Art Basel Paris ( which we all colloquially called it anyway) from Paris+ par Art Basel.
The move to the Grand Palais, following 3 years of renovations, marks a significant moment for Art Basel, strengthening its deep connection with Paris and its vibrant cultural scene. By renaming the show to Art Basel Paris in agreement with France’s Ministry of Culture and the City of Paris earlier this year, Art Basel reinforced its commitment to the city and its dynamic cultural ecosystem, leveraging the impact of the global Art Basel brand to further bolster the Parisian fair, underscore its ambition, and amplify its resonance in Paris and the world.
One of the things I love about Art Basel - at all the locations I have visited is the public program, taking art outdoors and using the city as a backdrop to the fair itself. These events and activations are free to visit and accessible for all. The 2024 official program partner is Miu Miu and the program is realized with the support of the City and major institutions including the Louvre, Paris Musees and the Centre for National Monuments, amongst others. More on this in a separate post.
What to expect at Art Basel Paris in 2024
Galleries -
Over 170 of them from around the world presenting 20th and 21st Century artists.
64 of these operate spaces around France and the event expects to showcase the dynamic and varied art scene from across the country.
54 of the 170 galleries will be showing at Art Basel for the first time. These include galleries from Beirut, Tokyo and New York.
From Tokyo, Fergus McCaffrey, will pay tribute to French art dealer Rodolphe Stadler. Stadler and Fergus McCaffrey share a commitment to Japanese avant-garde postwar artists, to which the gallery’s booth will be dedicated. It will include works by masters such as Kazuo Shiraga and Jiro Yoshihara, as well as an installation by video art pioneer Shigeko Kubota, which interrogates Marcel Duchamp’s artistic output
Hauser and Wirth will be showing new and recent paintings by Frank Bowling
Gallerie Continua - one of my favourite galleries - will be showing Anish Kapoor and Ai Wei Wei
Emergence
Emergence, is the fair’s sector dedicated to the radical work of emerging talents and new voices that was previously known as Galeries Émergentes, will showcase 16 solo booth presentations. Fourteen of the Emergence exhibitors are participating in Art Basel’s Paris fair for the first time. The Galeries Lafayette group is the Official Partner of Emergence.
Emergence will unfold across the balconies surrounding the central nave of the Grand Palais – which, prior to the building’s renovation, had been inaccessible for almost two decades – providing a symbolic frame for a show that will bridge the past and the present. Each year, Lafayette Anticipations – Fondation Galeries Lafayette awards an artist from the sector. Chosen by an international jury, the artist will produce a new work to exhibit at Lafayette Anticipations the following year.
ART BASEL SHOP
At the fair in June in Basel, a new initiative called Art Basel Shop was launched and I’m excited to see it appear at the Paris Fair.
The concept store will be showcasing bespoke lifestyle products that celebrate and extend the Art Basel experience. Curated for the second time by Sarah Andelman – co-founder and former creative director of the iconic Parisian concept store Colette, and founder of Just An Idea – the debut Paris edition of The Art Basel Shop will present new, exclusive, and rare and specialedition collectibles across art, design, fashion, and publishing, available to fair visitors only during Art Basel Paris 2024.
It’s no secret I love a good museum shop and this one seems to be offering the same experience. More on this when I get the details in a separate post.
Art Basel Paris - 18-20 October
Purchase tickets here https://www.artbasel.com/paris/tickets
Art Basel, Paris 2023