BASEL—Going to Art Basel is always a unique experience. For the majority, the art on display is merely entertainment; after all, any work, whether mighty or small, might rack up thousands of dollars. Influencers, celebrities, collectors, and industry professionals alike flock to the center of the contemporary art universe for the summer to socialize, party, and do business. The rest of us enjoy what Basel has to offer, as the...
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BASEL—Going to Art Basel is always a unique experience. For the majority, the art on display is merely entertainment; after all, any work, whether mighty or small, might rack up thousands of dollars. Influencers, celebrities, collectors, and industry professionals alike flock to the center of the contemporary art universe for the summer to socialize, party, and do business. The rest of us enjoy what Basel has to offer, as the Kunstmuseum and most other cultural institutions remain open for all. Fondation Beyeler offers modern takes on exhibition walks with its DJ programs in the park.
Located in the stunning, spaceship-like expo of Messeplatz, Art Basel faces Design Miami, another expo for the rich and curious, displaying furniture and aesthetic products for living.
Personally, Design Miami is always a good way to start the day’s journey as it’s small enough to not be overwhelming — you’ll get plenty of that once you enter Art Basel.
This is the first year the fair is led by Maike Cruse, and you can feel a breath of fresh air. Compared to previous events, it’s more engaging, fun, and much younger. Most importantly, it finally feels somewhat accessible. No longer an insiders’ club, anyone can join in on the fun. Even those distant from art can participate in near-entrance pop-ups by Samsung, Turkish Airlines and UBS, as well as choose from an array of conversations ranging from politics in art to technological advancements in the creative process. The younger crowd walks away with hoodies and merch created in collaboration with Sarah Andelman, creative director of Colette, while seasoned collectors head inside the gallery offices for further discussions. Basel itself feels revived with new energy, following the introduction of another idea by Cruse, the Hotel Merian program, which transforms the hotel into an ambitious venue for performances, conversations, and installations by artists from all over the world.
Painting by Geoffrey Holder
Yet, every visit to Art Basel poses the question of how much art has become a symbol of social climbing, status, and a mere backdrop for the setting where one wants to be seen. Is art even important anymore, or is hanging out at select booths on the first floor the main attraction? Champagne and mindless chatter about millions spent and millions to be spent serve as a twisted preview of what it would be like to have the LinkedIn Premium Premium version. For the regular observer, coming to Art Basel to see art is as curious as people-watching.
Now, only a one-hour flight away from Basel, different conversations are happening at the Venice Biennale. We’d be curious to hear what they are.
Lady Writing a Letter... by Johannes Vermeer (detail)
As of today, there's ten authenticated Johannes Vermeer paintings on public view in New York, the most of anywhere outside of the Netherlands. All of... Text by Marguerite de Ponty. Read More
Jeannie Four Roses (detail) Oil on linen 45 x 30 in. by Jamie Adams
UPTOWN—The show blends historic Surrealist masters—Carrington, Fini, Tanguy, De Chirico—with seventeen contemporary artists. But it doesn’t attempt the impossible comparison. As Kuspit points out, the... Text by dannik. Read More
TRIBECA—British artist Louise Giovanelli is currently presenting a new body of work at Grimm 54 in New York. The exhibition, titled Still Moving, runs through... Text by Dalia Morgan. Read More
In 2022, the city of Rome hosted a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Francesco Messina at Villa Torlonia. Titled Francesco Messina. Novecento Contemporaneo, the show brought... Text by dannik. Read More
Slip House, the brand new gallery opened at the base of a 19th-century, three-story former carriage house at 246 East 5th Street.
EAST VILLAGE—Every two decades is a response to the previous two. After decades of irony, the purposeful ugliness of the 80s and 90s (“Anything that’s... Text by Cici Thompson. Read More
Richard Hawkins. New Paintings at Greene Naftali in New York
NEW YORK—Between fairs and the official listings and the soft-launches in someone’s cousin’s Chinatown loft, May represents an upward swing. Skip the overload and go... Text by Marguerite de Ponty. Read More
MILAN—Italy’s long affection for bamboo can be glimpsed beyond fashion and design. Franco Maria Ricci’s Labirinto della Masone, the sprawling bamboo maze outside Parma, stands... Text by Cici Thompson. Read More
Pol Taburet, Desire and Stones (detail), 2025. Acrylics, alcohol-based paint, and oil pastel on canvas, 250 × 190 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM. Photo: Romain Darnaud.
MADRID—French-Guadeloupean artist Pol Taburet makes his Spanish debut in Oh, If Only I Could Listen, a site-specific exhibition staged inside Madrid’s historic Pabellón de los... Text by Edward Bellow. Read More
Photograph by Erich Höhne. Courtesy of Deutsche Fotothek.
The Geometry of Motion and Zadie Smith. Wassily Kandinsky, a painter of color and form, once envisioned a future where dance would shed its ornamental... Text by Marguerite de Ponty. Read More
VENICE—The Biennale, Stranieri ovunque, is a mirror this year. "You judge, you gossip, you wash it all down with Prosecco. Have you seen the Uzbekistan... Text by Simona Alberi. Read More
Textile art, or as Anni Albers said, "the poetry of materials," has had many lives. In the 40s, we loved fabric. 24 foot stage curtains.... Text by Pina Lomb. Read More
Franco Maria Ricci in 1984, at the launch of FMR U.S.A. at the New York Public Library.
Caverns were probably the first labyrinthine structures human beings came into contact with, in a distant past. And I, too, rummaged through my own past,... Text by fmr. Read More
