Art Basel 2024 fall exhibition - where is art hidden then?

Art today is extremely public. It seems that gatekeepers have hidden the best for later...

195 galleries from 42 countries and territories, including 53 first-time participants (marked with an asterisk) and 64 galleries operating spaces in France, presented the best of their programs at Art Basel’s inaugural edition at the newly renovated venue.?

Art Basel Paris 2024 was structured across three exhibition sectors:

Galleries, in which exhibitors presented the full breadth of their program; Emergence, formerly known as Galeries émergentes, dedicated to emerging galleries and artists and the newly introduced Premise sector, featured nine galleries presenting highly singular curatorial proposals.

In addition, the new Oh La La! initiative invited exhibitors to present rarely seen work in their booth for 48 hours, on Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19 2024.

As I reviewed an hour long silent video on the entire exhibition, I could not stop wondering where is the real art?

My observation lead me to several conclusions which I think we all need to think and develop for 2025:

New galleries this year have demonstrated that they follow the 300 year trend of selecting Artists that know how to study and follow previous painters and "forefathers" of the art industry. I saw many experimental art that was raw and still lacked representation, and global message. Where we as humanity are at the moment, how scared are artists to stand for one specific message, despite the fact that mainstream is cruel and ultra sensitive to everything at the moment. Everything I saw was about personal trauma. Even brightest works were self consuming thus, public was passing buy with cold phones and pictures taken.

Old timers were shining brighter than before, Picasso, Dali's were speaking to us more, grabbing our attention. Another lack of representation was obvious. I haven seen gallery Reps. to be active in speaking about their artists, luring in curious crowds and spreading the message. Art curators need to be more vocal about their artists that was for sure. Side meetings and short sessions need to be implemented.

Another mainstream, but successful stands were LV Art stand and Lee Ufan's & Guerlain's stands. Louis Viutton never ever dissapoints. I could look to into it for an hour and still found it more vocal, even though it was commercial art, not public. Materials and installations were magnificent and they matched the general aura of the exhibition. You could simply ask for a price and install the commercial art in your private setting or house somewhere in your country house, which still would speak more volumes in my opinion then some of the public art showings.

Some new items from sculptures were more mesmerizing, in their simplicity than painting surrounding them. Ancient Turkic symbol of Wolf Mother was certainly impressive to see in Paris at Art Basel.

In general I would very much anticipate more "new blood" from Saudi Arabia, Caucasus (Georgia), and China as well. There is much energy flown into Asian galleries these days including China and Korea (South).

The Art Investment Group distinguishes itself as a unique coalition of specialists in the Art investment arena. Our Group boasts an exceptional portfolio of masterpieces especially from the 17th to the 20th century.

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Leyla Rasulzade

Strategic Business Development | B2B | Building High-Value Partnerships | Consultant on Mid -Eurasian & Asian Art Markets | Consulting on Building Personal Brands