Paris+ Art Basel’s Rainy Day Alchemy: Where Old Masters Meet New Mischief
Beneath the Eiffel Tower’s brooding clouds, Paris+ par Art Basel 2023 transformed the Grand Palais Éphémère into a crossroads of artistic energy and global tension. While heightened security echoed world events, the fair’s real drama unfolded in the aisles, where established giants and emerging voices mingled in curated harmony.
Galleries like Michael Werner and Esther Schipper played with time, pairing cross-generational artists to spark fresh dialogues—Peter Saul’s postwar satire met Issy Wood’s chained domesticity, while Ann Veronica Janssens’s glass monolith anchored a booth buzzing with experimental verve. Templon and Magnin-A spotlighted Paris’s cosmopolitan pulse, blending French icons with rising international stars and threading together themes of intimacy, heroism, and mysticism.
From Simphiwe Buthelezi’s Zulu reed mat sculptures to Lonnie Holley’s quilted tributes to Black American history, the fair blurred boundaries between craft, ritual, and contemporary art. Even Rothko’s legacy took center stage, refracted through new generations at Pace Gallery. In Paris, art’s old guard and bold newcomers shared the rain-soaked spotlight, proving that creative crosscurrents thrive—even under stormy skies.
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