Following VIP preview days on October 16 and 17, Art Basel Paris 2024 is ready to stage its public return to the French capital for a third edition, where it is expected to welcome some 40,000 international visitors between today and Sunday, October 20. Leaving its original moniker, Paris+, behind to become an integral extension of Art Basel's global network of art fairs, this year's event gathers 194 galleries from 42 countries, including 51 newcomers, in a multidisciplinary exploration of contemporary and modern creative landscapes.
Hosted within the breathtaking, freshly revamped Grand Palais, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées landmark built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 and designated a historic monument in 2000, Art Basel Paris 2024 will feature three sections: the Galeries, dedicated to affirmed art institutions; Emergence, platforming rising talents; and Premise, presenting nine curatorial projects that take a revisionist approach to the historical art canon, integrating voices who have been previously excluded from, or overlooked within, the dominant aesthetic discourse.
Serving you the perfect occasion to savor the multisensory journey of design-forward décor and moreish flavors that are the most beautiful Paris restaurants, and to unveil the many hidden trails making the City of Light an endless discovery, the showcase boasts a dense program of public events co-authored by leading art names such as Petit Palais and Centre Pompidou. Capturing the converging of art, fashion, design, and lifestyle that's reshaping today's creative scene, Art Basel Paris 2024 also lends its stage to the launch of numerous product-based artist collaborations — catch three projects we'd love you to see below.
1. Frank Gehry's Monumental Fish Sculptures, Marking the Launch of Louis Vuitton x Frank Gehry Limited-Edition Handbag Collection
To celebrate the unveiling of the Louis Vuitton x Frank Gehry Limited-Edition Handbag Collection, the latest in a series of collaborations between the Canadian-American architecture and design disruptor and the storied French Maison, the brand has turned their Art Basel Paris 2024 presentation into a theater for Gehry's surreally otherworldly, colossal fish sculptures and whimsical accessories. The mind behind the post-industrial masterpiece of craft that is Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum — a 24,000-square-meter, undulating structure that appears to have been cast in a utopian future — Gehry is known for having breathed movement, playfulness, and sheer imagination into the architectural world, birthing landmarks whose contortedly awe-inspiring silhouettes look straight out of a dream. Marking 10 years from the inauguration of the designer's gravity-defying, ship-inspired building for the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the launch of this new collection and accompanying exhibition at Art Basel Paris 2024 solidifies the long-term bond between two pioneering forces of contemporary culture in a tangible manifestation of their creative genius.
Floating mid-air under an equally striking, arched wooden sculpture, the centerpiece of the presentation — a 4.5-meter-long sculpture of a fish — fills passersby with a sense of wonder. Simultaneously, Gehry's artistic process is fragmented into a curated selection of architectural studies, models, and drawings the artist conceived for the Parisian house. On display alongside these fascinating studio materials are fanciful trunks, handbags, and Murano glass perfume bottle designs co-authored by Gehry and Louis Vuitton and juxtaposed with their preparatory sketches. Finally, and most importantly, a handful of pieces from the Louis Vuitton x Frank Gehry Limited-Edition Handbag Collection, also on view and carrying direct references to some of the architect's most famous buildings, will grant visitors the opportunity to confront themselves with his ever-evolving, revolutionary contribution to the field, immersing viewers in a three-dimensional journey.
Grand Palais. October 18-20. Find more information at artbasel.com
2. The Art Basel Edition by Guerlain, Making Julie Beaufils' Art Sprayable and Collectible
With origins stretching back to 3,300 BC, perfumery is one of the world's longest-standing arts, but Guerlain's Art Basel Edition, a 2,000-bottle run of the label's coveted Œillet Pourpre fragrance, produced by Art Basel Paris and exclusively available via the Art Basel Shop, elevates its tradition to brand new heights. As the world's first perfume of this kind, packaged in a collector-worth flask and box designed by painter Julie Beaufils, enriched with one of her evocative, abstract canvases, the Art Basel Edition by Guerlain embodies the narrowing of the gap between the creative and lifestyle industries, and the refreshing dose of inspiration that stems from their encounter.
Priced €390 for 100ml and gender-neutral, the fragrance makes the perfect souvenir for every Art Basel Paris 2024 visitor keen to revive the fair's buzzy atmosphere and memories past its three-day run.
Coincidentally, Guerlain, one of the earliest partners to support the show since its debut edition in 2022, will also be hosting Good Morning Korea, Au pays du matin calme, a new contemporary art exhibition curated by Hervé Mikaeloff and celebrating the plethora of perspectives represented by multigenerational South Korean creatives. Looking at the country's soil through their unique perspectives, it reveals a complex tapestry of stories that conjure urgent environmental and societal challenges — all accompanied by an absorbing olfactory journey courtesy of the Parisian perfumery legend.
The Art Basel Edition launches on October 18 and is available exclusively at the Art Basel Shop. Find more information at artbasel.com
Good Morning Korea, Au pays du matin calme is open at La Maison Guerlain, Paris, through November 12. Find more information at artbasel.com
3. The Art Basel Shop Debuts in Paris, with "playable Tom Wesselmann and wearable Claire Fontaine"
Following the success of its Basel debut last June, the Art Basel Shop is making its Paris debut during the third edition of the fair, promising to bring a tastemaker-approved mixture of one-of-a-kind art, fashion, design, and publishing products to the City of Light. The brainchild of acclaimed Parisian store Colette co-founder Sarah Andelman, who oversaw its conception, this exclusive retail point will allow visitors to shop limited-edition items and collectibles by trailblazing labels such as Guerlain, Uniqlo, and Paris Saint-Germain. Long story short, whether you are looking to take home a new, trendy tote bag, hoodie, or T-shirt, or grab a copy of your favorite artist books and zines, at the Art Basel Shop you'll have options to spare.
Reinterpreting Art 6’75, the heritage logo of Art Basel's sixth edition catalog, as a bespoke streetwear and accessories line, the AB by Art Basel capsule collection is as timeless and iconic as poignantly nostalgic. But it doesn't end there: the AB by Artist drop, realized in partnership with Paris-based artist collective Claire Fontaine — coiner of the Foreigners Everywhere expression adopted by Venice Biennale director Adriano Pedrosa as the title of the 60th International Art Exhibition — offers a thought-provoking look at today's identity, belonging, and environment dilemmas in the form of exclusive, wearable products with a fun twist. Other notable personalities, like French artist Nina Childress and Italian-French singer and actress Dalida, or American Pop Art artist Tom Wesselmann, are referenced too, as their aura and artworks are brought to life in other custom pieces from the collection.
The Art Basel Shop is open at Art Basel Paris 2024 through October 20. Find more information at artbasel.com
