Paris+ par Art Basel 2023: what you need to know

Paris+ par Art Basel returns to the city following last year’s inaugural edition, highlighting the French capital’s rise to prominence in Europe’s contemporary-art scene as London teeters.

October 20-22, parisplus.artbasel.com

PARIS+ PAR ART BASEL

Free-to-see

Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel’s director of fairs and exhibition platforms, is presiding over the second edition of Paris+ and says his job is “to remember that artists are the core of what we do and letting them lead is always beneficial to everyone”. One of his highlights this year is the public programme of free-to-see events outside of the fair’s walls. “In Paris, we really insert ourselves into the institutional fabric,” he says, such as the outdoor sculptures that extend through the Jardin des Tuileries during the fair. Read our full interview with Vincenzo de Bellis here

Haut art

Showing at Paris+ this year is French gallery High Art, founded by three friends in 2013 and now resident in the Pigalle building where Georges Bizet wrote his 1875 opera Carmen. Founder Romain Chenais believes the “Parisian art scene has become much more effervescent,” with more private collectors and foundations, whch changes the way people look at young artists and galleries.” Read more on High Art here

Gilding the Lili

Artist Lili Reynaud-Dewar, whose work will be on Emanuel Layr gallery’s stand at Paris+, has been using her body — including in life-size silvery sculptures — to undermine and overturn art history’s ideas about women. But she almost never became an artist, despite her creative family. Our interview with her is here

FAIRS

Florida x France

Last year was supposed to be the debut of not one but two fairs in Paris: Art Basel’s went ahead, but Design Miami found itself without a venue. That’s been rectified this year as, for its first edition, it takes over a gilded residence formerly occupied by Karl Lagerfeld. Find out more here

Crafty

Central Asia has not attracted much attention in the art world despite its vast size and creative practitioners who blend art and craft, often with nomadic influences and spiritual potency. Artist collective Slavs and Tatars are working to change that at this year’s Asia Now fair. See the artists’ work here

Ring ring!

Speaking of wandering, “Nomadism is part of our identity and we love the adventure,” says Silvia Ammon, director of contemporary art fair Paris Internationale, which frequently changes venues as it shows less established artists. This year’s host is a former telephone exchange. We spoke to the fair’s director here

AROUND TOWN

Touchdown

With its 16th gallery, Hauser & Wirth touches down in Paris with a show by US artist Henry Taylor. The choice of the city has played into the big debate about whether Paris is overtaking London. “We don’t favour one capital over the other,” says gallery president Marc Payot. “Of course there is competition, but Paris is important for its layers of history, and a longer engagement with contemporary art.” You can find out more about the new space here

Parisian Pride

The Centre Pompidou traces LGBT+ resistance through art of the 20th century, from erotic interwar photography and 1960s leather culture to today’s reflections on how sexuality intersects with gender, class and ethnicity. Scroll down here to see more must-visit shows

Amber alert

Although — or perhaps because — amber is a rare, fragile and precious material, craftspeople have been turning it into stunning objects for centuries now. Some of the best examples (including a charming sea monster) are on show at Galerie Kugel. Explore further treasures here