Basel’s dedicated followers of fashion
One of the most appealing things about Art Basel is the top-notch fashion paraded on the fair floor. The writer Sarah Thornton, author of Tits Up: The Top Half of Women’s Liberation, turned heads in her vintage striped Thom Browne seersucker suit, topped off by her brilliant Tango Adidas sneakers. “I got the Browne outfit from a friend who kept it in his garage,” she said. Also in head-spinning garb was Arjun Verma, Art Basel’s regional head of partnerships for the Americas, who was delighting fairgoers in a twinkly two-piece designed by the brand Orttu. “You’re the most beautiful human being I’ve seen in a long time!” gushed a bystander obviously bowled over by Arjun. But the pièce de résistance came courtesy of the fairgoer known as JingParis Artist, who told us she was wearing a “love church” on her elaborate headgear (we have no clue, tbh).
Get with the (exercise) programme: the joining fee for Ahaad Alamoudi’s lurid gym has not been disclosed
Let’s get physical at Basel Social Club
Visitors to Basel Social Club this week can get fit, thanks to the Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi, who is showing a series of outdated, lurid yellow gym machines, sparking debate about self-improvement and why we feel the need to pump iron. A weighing scale, rowing machine, exercise bicycle, stepper and chest press—all acquired from Haraj, Jeddah’s famed thrift market, in 2018—reflect shifting ideas around health, wellness and progress, according to ATHR Gallery, which represents Alamoudi. Basel Social Club is offering plenty of lifestyle options, such as a hair salon courtesy of the artist Alberto Papparotto and tattoos from Stick n’ Poke (so go get a do and some tats).
Inside move: post-Gogosian, Hilde Lynn Helphenstein covets an Art Basel career
Jerry Gogosian pitches an arty ‘White Lotus’
The legendary Instagram art-world commentator Jerry Gogosian was spotted at Art Basel after (apparently) heading off into the social-media sunset. “I have so loved and enjoyed being Jerry, but it is time to let it go,” its creator, Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, said recently. Formed in 2018, the account amassed more than 152,000 followers. Browsing in the Art Basel Shop, Jerry told us: “I want to write a White Lotus or Succession of the art world.” But she has another objective also, saying: “I’ll tell you the truth. Besides my creative endeavours, I want to work for MCH Group and eventually for Art Basel.” Are you listening, Basel bigwigs?
Roll up! Roll up! Mara Wohnhaas’s performance taps into her inner funfair barker
All the fun of the fair (the non-art kind)
The German artist Mara Wohnhaas took centre stage at Art Basel yesterday with a performance evoking a staple of everyone’s childhood—the funfair. Wohnhaas is intrigued by the “barker”, who controls the rides and entertains the audience, occasionally playing music and dropping corny jokes. For Rekommandeur I (Barker I), she sits in the centre of a glass funfair booth with a parachute draped on top, reciting a poem that turns into a performance. “Excitement and inhibition, thrill and blockade—the tension of her practice rests on these opposing poles,” says her gallery, BQ, which is also offering fairgoers sweets, providing a sugar rush alongside the funfair thrills.
Is Victor Mendes The Art Newspaper's secret weapon?
Go-go dancer go-goes his way over to our stand
Victor Mendes, the go-go dancer from the Felix Gonzalez-Torres work at Art Basel’s Unlimited section, stopped by The Art Newspaper’s stand yesterday to check out our front-page coverage of his performance. Was the attractive Brazilian dancer the reason we ran out of our first issue? Or was it our professional coverage of the fair? We won’t flatter ourselves.