An American (Cliche) in (Art Basel) Paris
A Peek into Paris Chic
As most non-french speaking would say, pardon my French, but “holy sh*t” what a spectacular place to get lost. From the outsider, Paris is a place of romance, wonderment, with its share of twists and turns, and, well, home of the sea of fake Goyards and pick-pockets. The only way to “know” Paris is to somehow charm a local living in Le Marais who owns the term “Parisian girl chic.”
Although the art world congregates in lumps and sums at Hotel Costes, there is o, so much more. Let me paint the scene, it’s Art Basel Paris week, The masses of the art world from dealers, to artists, to curators, oh my! board the Eurostar from London—fresh off Frieze—half-reading emails about sales and dinners while mentally styling their latest Issey Miyake purchase. Paris is always an active city, but during Art Basel week, it is the jungle on top of the city.
Now that I’ve painted the picture, you get it. Enter the important part, the art. No surprise that Art Basel Paris, new to the Art Basel franchise is the favored fair by European collectors, trust me, Art Basel Basel, is nothing to brag home about, is the latest favorite fair on the art block. I mean…PARIS, Paris has a nice ring to it, Basel less so. Although Basel is the kick-off for the fair giant, it seems Paris has taken its place as the place to see and be seen. This year’s VVIP, that's right, now there’s an extra V for very, had more attendance than VIP the next day; it is the hardest ticket since the beheading of Marie Antoinette. The usual suspects can be found at the fair, but it’s really the network that attends that makes Paris what it is, Paris and its People, a sentence most would next guess goes hand in hand. Let’s just conclude that this fair has everything you always see, Anish Kapoor’s and Olafur Eliasson and little emphasis on much else. The up and coming gallery’s are perched high up the stairs on the side lines, the nosebleeds one could say. For the young collector, it isn’t the place to buy, but the place to be seen….oui, that’s Pa-REE.
