Art Basel Paris, which runs from October 24 to 26 (with VIP preview days from October 22 to 23), returns with a strong public program, including free exhibitions, installations and talks across nine venues. One notable omission this year, however, is the Tuileries Garden – a surprising change for regulars. Director Clément Delépine, who announced his departure from Art Basel in September to join Lafayette Anticipations, explained that the logistical framework would not accommodate the scale of the anticipated project, so it was better to wait.
Like last year, Miu Miu, the sponsor of this event, once again occupied the ground floor of the Palais Jena and launched a new store called “30 blizzard“. The fashion house’s renewed support embodies the interdisciplinary spirit embodied in the “+” in the name of Art Basel’s original Paris edition, “Paris+ by Art Basel,” a vision further reinforced this year by Art Basel, curated by French fashion documentarian and filmmaker Loïc Prigent. Oh la la Department and fashion editor Edward Enninful participates in the dialogue programme.
In front of the Collège de France stands a totemic stone and concrete sculpture by Ugo Rondinone that blends into the urban landscape. The Musée Eugène Delacroix houses the work of Nate Lowman, who drew inspiration from the Romantic painter, while Harry Nuriev took over the Chapelle des Petits-Augustins.
The Hotel de la Marine houses a poetic textile installation by Malagasy artist Joël Andrianomearisoa, and the Cité de l’Architecture is hosting an exhibition of 40 large-format abstract paintings by Fabienne Verdier. Both were new venues for public programming at the Paris Exposition.
From 21 to 26 October, students from the prestigious Louvre Academy will be stationed in the venues from 2 to 5:30 p.m. to provide information about the works on display. But if you prefer to explore the city on your own or visit in the morning, here are seven locations on the program.
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Harry Nuriev in the Little Augustinian Chapel
Image source: Courtesy of Art Basel
Rows of supermarket boxes line the floor of the Little Augustinian Chapel, each filled with a variety of items — forgotten toys, tattered books, clothes — ready for the public to pick up. These projects are Special exhibition of objects (Found Objects) is a collaborative installation by Harry Nuriev in Paris that transforms a historic church into a space for circulation, exchange and shared authorship.
Upon arrival, visitors contribute items they no longer need and receive a coupon allowing them to select items others have left behind. The installation, presented by Galerie Sultana, is reminiscent of the work of Arman things of change “Swap Pile” is a 1965 participatory work that invites the public to exchange personal belongings with a pile of objects originally created by the artist himself. exist Special exhibition of objectseach contribution can be considered a certified work of art. Three windows showcase Nureyev’s own selection of items – each available for purchase. You can’t pick up the lamp that’s fixed in the light box, nor can you pick up the artist’s dog, Mishka, who can be seen trotting around during the preview.
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Alex Da Corte at Place Vendôme
Image credit: Courtesy of the artist and Sadie Coles Headquarters, London
The Sadie Coles headquarters is on display at Place Vendôme, the focal point of Art Basel’s public program Kermit the Frog, even (2018), an inflatable sculpture by American artist Alex Da Corte that features The Muppet Show Host, he appears to be doing downward dog here. Inspired by the infamous Kermit balloon collapse during New York’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1991, the piece appears semi-deflated but remains buoyant, hovering in a delicate state of suspended fragility. Once a symbol of childhood joy, the sagging figure now evokes themes of vulnerability and resilience.
At a press lunch for Art Basel in Paris, outgoing fair director Delepin quipped that he hoped the sculpture would not suffer the same fate as Yayoi Kusama. Pumpkin recited throughout his life, expressing his greatest love for the people (2019). The giant inflatable pumpkin installed in Place Vendôme during the last edition of FIAC, the predecessor of Art Basel in Paris, had to be dismantled early due to high winds and heavy rain, posing a safety risk to both the public and the artwork.
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Joël Andrianomearisoa at Hotel Ocean
Image credit: Courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech
Here, Almine Rech presents Joël Andrianomearisoa’s ancient herbs “Weeds from Home” is a massive textile work measuring over 20 x 23 feet. Made from richly textured and colorful fabric panels, the installation presents viewers with an imaginary landscape that evokes the vitality of nature and the enduring power of craftsmanship. The title commemorates the Malagasy poet Maurice Ramarozaca and reflects Andreano Marisol’s ongoing dialogue with language, memory and cultural heritage.
The Malagasy artist, who lives between Paris and Madagascar and was recently awarded a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, uses textiles, paper, wood and unexpected materials to express intangible emotions such as love or loss. “The idea is to imagine yourself in a garden,” Andreano Marisol told art news. “A garden of sensuality. A garden without geography – except our imagination, shaped by our desires and emotions. The textiles reveal their own colors – the colors roar, in dialogue with the local history, allowing the eternal unfolding of time.”
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Julius von Bismarck at the Petit Palais
Image credits: Courtesy of the artist; Alexander Levy, Berlin; and Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
German artist Julius von Bismarck (represented by Sies + Höke and The Ranch) imagined a life-size taxidermy giraffe standing next to a replica of the equestrian statue of Otto von Bismarck, the Reich’s first chancellor. This installation is called The elephant in the room. Both numbers are programmed to repeatedly fall and rise in sequence.
By pairing an exotic animal with a political monument, von Bismarck evokes the intertwined histories of colonial exploitation and imperial power. Their endless cycles of collapse and recovery become metaphors for the fragility of cultural heritage and the contested narratives they uphold. A series of iconic wood panel works and a video extend thoughts on how humans protect and manipulate nature.
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Vojtěch Kovařík on Winston Churchill Street
Image credit: Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Derouillon
As last year, Winston Churchill Avenue, which connects the Petit Palais to the Grand Palais, has been converted into a pedestrian street with six large sculptures. Among them are works by Czech artist Vojtěch Kovařík Atlas brings calm to a turbulent world (2025), available via Galerie Derouillon, depicts the Greek Titan Atlas embracing the Earth rather than being crushed by it. Kovarik’s atlas May be cast in bronze, a material long associated with authority, eternity and strength, but there is a sense of lightness to the artist’s sculptures. It urges empathy in the face of a divided society.
also conveys a sense of hope and comfort dawn Created by Arlene Shechet and presented by Pace Gallery as part of its Girl Group series, originally commissioned by Storm King Art Center in 2024. Composed of multiple aluminum panels that appear to ripple in the wind like fabric, the sculpture is part of Shechet’s transition to large-scale outdoor works. Through her use of colors such as matte peach and glossy lilac, she subverts traditional notions of masculinity associated with monumental sculpture.
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Fabienne Verdier at the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine
Photo credit: Courtesy of Waddington Custot and Galerie Lelong & Co.
The City of Architecture and Heritage debuts as a public program at Art Basel in Paris with a large-scale painting by French artist Fabienne Verdier, who blends Western abstract art with calligraphy techniques she learned in China in the 1980s. Curator Matthieu Poirier suggested the title “Mute” for the presentation, a pun on the English word for “silence” and the French verb meaning “mutation.”
Some of the canvases are predominantly navy blue, with titles evoking the transition from light to dark, day to night. Other patterns suggest waves, vortices and vibrations. Others have religious resonance. 2011 paintings suffering christ The Man of Sorrow hangs next to the central mullion of the north entrance door of Amiens Cathedral.
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Helen Marten at the Palais Jena
Photo credit: Sarah Belmont/ARTnews
Miu Miu has given British artist Helen Marten carte blanche to stage a performance at this Parisian landmark. The piece was created in collaboration with theater director Fabio Cherstich and composer Beatrice Dillon and is titled 30 blizzardrefers to the 30 characters and their accompanying performers who interact here with Marten’s five sculptures and five videos.
Wall text details the performers’ characters (wind, snow, sun, dog), movements (motivation, shame, pride), techniques (illusion, color enhancement, inspection), attributes (paper, white pillowcases, Zippo lighters) and costumes (naivet uniforms, sparkly clothes, plaid overalls). Some danced, others sang or shouted questions like “Who are you?” “Why are you wet?” “What does sex smell like?” “Do you take a shower?” They kept gathering and scattering, running around the first floor of the Jena Palace. Don’t worry about getting in their way – they’ll keep going no matter what.
