Art Basel Paris Closes for Protest Weekend; Satellite Fairs Stay Open

Art Basel Paris will close for the weekend ahead of Saturday's planned protests, but the city's satellite fairs plan to keep their doors open, in whole or in part.

As of Thursday night, Asia NOW and Paris Internationale confirmed they will stay open as planned through October 24, according to statements to ARTnews. Exhibitors at OFFSCREEN said they received official confirmation that the fair will remain open through Sunday, October 25, though organizers did not respond to a request for confirmation by press time. Outsider Paris also plans to stay open through Sunday while responding to circumstances as they evolve.

Post-Fair, located in two neighboring buildings in the Marais, will open an hour earlier on Saturday — at 10 a.m. — and close at 1 p.m. instead of that evening. Other fairs had not responded to requests for confirmation at the time of writing.

Why close a few hours early?

"I think that closing a few hours early is the right decision given the uncertainty," said Robert Heald, of the eponymous gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, showing at Post-Fair. "I am very happy with how the fair has gone, and safety must come first," he added.

Heald is showing contemporary and historic works on paper by the acclaimed outsider artist Susan Te Kahurangi King. The New Yorker recently wrote that King, "at 75, may be New Zealand's greatest living artist."

"The works have this quite strong, visceral, bodily energy to them, which is quite interesting given the fact that she stopped speaking at the age of five," said Heald. Her works on paper range from $8,000 to $16,000.

What is Post-Fair?

This inaugural Paris edition follows the fair's 2025 founding in Los Angeles by Chris Sharp. It features 35 galleries from 15 countries and bills itself as "a carefully crafted, boutique, and invitation-only alternative to the conventional art-fair model." Galleries forgo separate booths and exhibit one or two artists in open-plan layouts, with project spaces taking up as little as one wall.

The two venues include a 17th-century hôtel particulier with vaulted stone ceilings on the bottom floor and an Art Deco building across the Rue du Temple.

Sharp told ARTnews the first preview day, on Monday, was "bonkers; we had almost 1,000 people." He added, "It totally exceeded my expectations" — despite last weekend's protests. "I think people in general are just so excited to be in Paris."

He also found that collectors generally "take it slower. They want to learn more about the work, the CV, no matter what the price point, which I really appreciate, because I think they're serious, and you know they're not going to turn around and flip it. Take it slower, be more deliberate," Sharp said.

Los Angeles gallery Nonaka-Hill is presenting a standout group of works by Japanese artist Sawako Goda (1940–2016), including airbrushy Pop paintings and delicate Xerox photocopy prints of fish with long-lashed eyeballs. These are shown alongside ceramic hanging sculptures by Japanese artist Kentoro Kawabata (born 1976), with skeletal and invertebrate components rendered in intricately crafted clay.

"We met amazing people who don't regularly pass through Los Angeles and Kyoto, so it was beautifully connective," Rodney Nonaka-Hill told ARTnews. "Sales were sufficient, and the spirit was good, despite the distraction. Art people proved intrepid."

How are sales holding up at Paris Internationale?

At Paris Internationale, some dealers said clients had promised to visit this edition's new venue in the northeast of the city but struggled to find the time. Most still reported good sales for the first part of the fair.

Parker Gallery showed assembled paintings by Thornton Dial (1928–2016) alongside ceramic and collage crown sculptures by Bay Area artist Sahar Khoury, at prices from $8,000 to $75,000.

New works by UK artist Aimée Parrot at Kate MacGarry gallery offer another discovery. Parrot paints onto glass or metal, transfers the prints onto cotton canvas, and often stitches the pieces together and paints over them. She is currently also showing at the Cample Line art space in Scotland. Prices range from £4,500 to £12,500.

Though protests are not expected near the Paris Internationale venue on Saturday, Galerie Derouillon chose to close early on Friday night to protect staff and artworks. Gallery director Marion Coindeau said the fair had gone well, with sales of paintings and sculptures by Alex Foxton and Mathilde Albouy.

"We feel the majority of collectors that we'd have seen have already come by, and with Saturday's protests, as well as the fear instilled by Art Basel closing, we don't think many people will want to come by," said Coindeau. She was stuck inside the centrally located gallery last Saturday due to tear gas and clashes with police nearby, and said staff living far from the fair risked being unable to leave by day's end.

What is on view at OFFSCREEN?

OFFSCREEN returns to the expansive, 17th-century Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière on the Left Bank, near the Seine — a location not near the planned protests, set on hospital grounds and removed from the street.

The fair, dedicated to fixed and moving images, honors Ana Mendieta with a special presentation of her films under the grand cupola. Galerie Max Hetzler brings Rinus Van de Velde's "fictional autobiographical" film A Life in a Day (2021–23) and a handmade mask, in which the artist imagines himself traveling the world to meet artistic heroes. Van de Velde's largest US institutional exhibition to date, The Dinner, remains on view in Marfa, Texas, through December 6.

On Thursday evening, Max Hetzler was awarded the Cultish x OFFSCREEN prize for the best artistic presentation. "It's been really exciting being in such an incredible setting, and having this more tightly curated focus," said a gallery representative, noting that many international curators and museums had already visited.

Paris Internationale, with 54 international galleries and a strong Hispanic and South Korean contingent this year, also aims for a curated, smaller-scale setting. "We intentionally condensed this year. It's something we always aim for, because we think a tighter format is best — it's not for lack of demand," said fair director Silvia Ammon. "It's a choice."

As Saturday approaches, the satellite fairs' staggered schedules — open, shortened or closed early — will test whether Paris's art week can weather a weekend of unrest on its own terms.