APAA’s Top Picks from Art Basel Paris 2024
Art Basel Paris 2024 has arrived, and eight APAA advisors have highlighted their must-see works on view. The fair opens with VIP Preview Days on Wednesday, October 16th and Thursday, October 17th, with public opening hours Friday, October 18th through Sunday, October 20th. Learn more here.
Thank you to our advisors for sharing their top picks from this year’s Art Basel Paris!
Lily Stockman, Pale Yellow Shade, 2024
"Lily Stockman is one of the young, hot, female artists from the Glover Group, which is named for the studio complex they all share in Los Angeles: Stockman, Megan Reed. Ruby Neri, Austyn Weiner and Hilary Pecsis comprise the group. Stockman’s lyrical, magically colored abstract paintings emerge from a wide range of references, from the prosaic — seed catalogues, topographic maps, a frozen pond –– to the elevated— Renaissance altarpieces, poetry, Albers paintings. She had a summer show at La Maison Roche-the Courbusier museum in Paris. Her work looks so fresh and rigorous when seen in context of much of today’s brightly colored figurative painting. I think she will prove to be a good investment.”
Oil on linen
121.9 × 91.5 cm / 48 × 36 inches 48 × 36 inches
Presented by Massimo de Carlo Gallery
Duke Riley, Greasy Luck, 2024
“I have been familiar with Duke Riley’s work for many years. His contemporary and humorous twist on mosaics broadcasts an exquisitely powerful message of how commercial plastics are causing an environmental catastrophe. Duke’s work, often described as maritime folk art, uses the medium of shells and found ocean plastics, which mesmerize you with their deceiving beauty. Using dental floss picks in analogous shades of mint green, Duke creates textural waves where ebony comb whales frolic. Interspersed with limpet shells, the waves support a cargo ship full of containers of multi-colored disposable lighters floating below the cloudy mist of bottle caps and cockle and cowrie shells. Duke displays Greasy Luck in tandem with his contemporary maritime scrimshaw on single-use plastics calling out his mantra of the irresponsibility of corporate pollution.”
34” x 66” x 4" (86,4 x 167,6 x 10,2 cm)
Reclaimed ocean plastic, shells
Presented by Galerie Vallois
Lee Ufan, Response, 2024
“I am particularly interested in the offerings from Paris stalwart Kamel Mennour, who is bringing some very high-quality blue-chip works to the fair, including this new, minimal painting by Lee Ufan. Ufan is now 88 years old and an original member of the 1960s Korean/Japanese Mono-ha movement, and known for quiet paintings focused on material and gesture. The ‘Response’ series is defined by strong sweeps of color in contained movements on white backgrounds. It is difficult to appreciate the beauty of the brushstrokes without standing in front of them.”
Acrylic on canvas
162 x 130 cm (63 3/4 x 51 1/8 in.)
Signed and dated on the side
Presented by Kamel Mennour
Daniel Dewar & Grégory Gicquel, Oak Cabinet with giant Flanders Rabbit and Feet, 2022
“Daniel Dewar and Grégory Gicquel, a collaborative duo with Dewar born in the UK and Gicquel in France, met while studying at the École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Since 1998, they have worked together, blending fine art with craft practices in a unique, tactile way.
When I first encountered their work around seven years ago, it didn’t immediately resonate with me, but over time, the mix of humor and their tactile craftsmanship really grew on me. This playfulness, often referencing popular culture and daily life, is a signature of their practice, which I’ve come to admire, especially the absurd connections and imagery that they incorporate—it might be a Belgian thing, but I’ve always been drawn to that kind of absurdity.
Another aspect I admire is their deep personal involvement in executing their works. They blur the lines between art and craft, often working with clay, ceramics, stone, wood and textiles. Their practice transcends the traditional boundaries of functionality and decoration, creating autonomous artworks that evoke the aura of classical sculpture while engaging with increasingly forgotten manufacturing processes in today’s automated world.
In 2012, Dewar and Gicquel won the Prix Marcel Duchamp. They have had solo exhibitions in prestigious venues like the Centre Pompidou and Kunsthalle Basel.”
103 x 120 x 60 cm (40 ½ x 47 ¼ x 23 5/8 inches)
oak wood
Presented by Clearing
Pablo Picasso, Femme nue sur fond bleu, 1949
“This 1949 Picasso has an impeccable Provenance and illustrious exhibition history - most recently shown in New York at Gogosian's epic show, "A Foreigner Called Picasso". A striking grisaille surrealist portrait of Francoise Gilot pregnant is set against a palette pulled right from the sea and sky of the south of France. The painting is masterfully composed and full of art history. This is no doubt a very special work to have at an art fair, and Paris is the perfect fair for it to be presented.”
51 3/16 x 38 3/16 inches canvas
60 x 47 x 4 inches framed
Oil on canvas
Presented by Gagosian
Gerhard Richter, Familie im Schnee (Family in the Snow), 1966. Oil on canvas, 20 7/8 x 27 1/2 inches.
Gerhard Richter, Familie Liechti (The Liechti Family), 1966. Oil on canvas, 26 3/4 x 33 1/2 inches.
“For my top picks at this year’s Art Basel Paris, two works that really stood out to me were Gerhard Richter’s Familie im Schnee (Family in the Snow), 1966, and Familie Liechti (The Liechti Family), 1966, at the David Zwirner booth. This body of Richter’s work is really special. His black and white figurative paintings, which utilize his unique blending techniques to blur and distort reality, are highly sought after and rare to come to market. Richter was preoccupied with group portraits in his early oeuvre, 1964-1966, being the first and most concentrated period in which he produced these works. Familie im Schnee (Family in the Snow) is based directly on a black-and-white photograph of an unknown couple and their two children posing in front of a snowy landscape. The soft snow further obfuscates the already hazily-portrayed family; the trifecta of nature, the camera, and the brush working to “undo representation and unravel the past” as art historian Robert Storr states. Familie Liechti (The Liechti Family) is based on a family photograph of the Liechtis posing in front of what can be assumed to be their home in Switzerland.”
Presented by David Zwirner
Hugh Hayden, Fusion, 2024
“Hugh Hayden transforms familiar objects, often anthropomorphizing them, to challenge our perceptions of ourselves, others and the environment. Referencing the metaphor of America as a “melting pot”, Hayden’s sculpture Fusion is a highlight for its witty celebration of cultural diversity. I appreciate Hayden’s ability to combine playful visuals with deep, thought-provoking reflections on society.”
Cast aluminum, found galvanized steel rack
22" x 28" x 11 1/2"
Presented by Lisson Gallery
