Art Basel Subtracts a Plus Sign for Its French Fair, Now Titled Art Basel Paris

Art Basel’s Paris fair will have several notable changes when it opens its third edition this coming October.

The first is the fair’s expected relocation to the Grand Palais, which had closed for renovations ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics; the first two editions were staged at the Grand Palais Éphémère in the Champ de Mars. That relocation has made it possible for the fair to expand, growing from 154 galleries last year to 194 this year. (The new site means the fair now has the same locations and scale as FIAC, which used to be Paris’s main fair.)

But perhaps the biggest news is that the fair has a new name. The cumbersome Paris+ par Art Basel is no more. Long live the newly christened Art Basel Paris.

According to a release, the name change was done “in agreement with Rachida Dati, France’s Minister of Culture, and follows extensive consultations with Art Basel’s local partners and interlocutors.”

When Art Basel announced the fair’s former peculiar name, it said the event would highlight “the dynamic dialogue between its cultural industries—from fashion and design to film and music,” hence the plus. The past two editions, however, mainly featured art.

Art Basel Paris’s 194 exhibitors for 2024, which runs October 18–20 with VIP days on October 16–17, are drawn from 42 countries and territories, with 64 galleries, or about 33 percent of the participants, operating spaces in France. (That figure includes several international operations who are not headquartered in the country.) In this cohort, there will also be 51 first-time exhibitors at Art Basel’s Paris edition.

The 2024 fair will be divided into three sections: Galeries, the main sector with 169 exhibitors; Emergence, for 16 solo booths of emerging artists; and Premise, a new section featuring 9 galleries presenting “highly singular projects” that “challenge the conventional art historical canon, with a particular focus on compelling yet little-known artistic practices,” per a release.

Galeries will include several blue-chip dealers, such as Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, Gagosian, High Art, Mennour, Galerie Lelong & Co., Marian Goodman Gallery, Michael Werner Gallery, Sadie Coles HQ, Sprüth Magers, Templon, and White Cube. First-time participants in the section are Casey Kaplan, Goodman Gallery, Standard (Oslo), and Labor.  

As part of the programming for this edition, Galeries exhibitors will take part in what the fair is calling Oh La La!, a new initiative for they can “present rarely seen work in their booth” as way to “energize” the Friday and Saturday dates of the fairs, when VIPs have long departed.

In the Emergence section, galleries include Exo Exo, ROH Projects, What Pipeline, Whatiftheworld, and VI, VII, while Nara Roesler, Parker Gallery, and the Pill will show in Premise.

In a statement, Art Basel Paris director Clément Delépine said, “The impressive list of exhibitors participating in our 2024 show highlights the fair’s leading role as a dynamic platform for galleries, as well as Paris’ position as cornerstone of the global art market, bolstered by the city’s unparalleled offerings across the broader cultural field. Galleries are evidently prepared to bring exceptional works to the fair, and we look forward to creating the best possible environment for them, their clients, and our visitors.”

Galeries

Emergence

Premise