Art Basel is no longer just Art Basel anymore. The well-established fair has come to represent much more than those carefully selected 267 galleries it presents under one roof; the name is now synonymous for a week-long sensory overload of 22 satellite art fairs, countless (sponsored) parties, and an endless feed of filtered Instagram pics, hashtags, and captions. Wading through the chaos, we managed to scale it down to five of our favorite artists from fairs other than Art Basel.
Dominique Pétrin
To put it plainly, the Montreal-based artist’s ephemeral, site-specific works of stark, multi-directional graphics were pretty much destined for Instagram stardom. Glancing at an image of the exhibit, it almost appears to be a digitally-rendered optical illusion but alas, it’s Dominique’s aim to purposely alter the perception and conscience of the viewer. Her works are generally conceived for their environment, decorating everything from buildings to metro stations but her piece at Untitled Art Fair was hard to miss. Check out her post-fair crumpled-up work to appreciate her creative capacity of building impermanent pieces, which in various ways makes us appreciate them all the more because of their fleeting nature.
Aidan Koch
Unassuming and quite wholesome in person, Aidan Koch creates emotive comic books, drawings, ceramics, and textiles. She also recently illustrated the cover for the summer issue of the Paris Review, which is no small business. Hidden in the last row of exhibitors at NADA (a hotspot for emerging dealers where one can navigate the works more casually and run into the curated artists), Signal gallery was representing some of her naive drawings (which she explained as being “things you’d say or remember when waking up from a dream”). Hailing from Olympia, Washington and now rooted in Bushwick, New York, Aidan is a walking canvas herself, flossing stick-and-poke tattoos she transposes onto her skin (often herself) from her diary of doodles.
Felipe Pantone
Echoing a similar visual language to Dominique Pétrin, Felipe Pantone fuses bold elements of graphic design interrupted with prisms of contrasting light. Choosing to present the work using a more museum-like installation aesthetic, San Francisco’s Mirus Gallery incorporated murals and sculptural elements to bring Felipe’s work to life. It was a rare moment for him to bring his street art indoors showcasing his electrifying craft of “ultradynanism”.
CJ Hendry
After deciding to leave university while studying architecture, artist CJ Hendry embarked on a journey to sell at least one piece of work (if she failed, her compromise was to re-enroll after a year of trying). Not too long after that she was creating custom artwork for people like Kanye West. Her hyper-realistic pen and ink drawings take around 200 painstaking hours to create and while at SCOPE Art Show, she was placed inside a plexiglass box carefully drafting her next Mickey Mouse piece. Originally scouted by The Cool Hunter, she also auctioned off her drawing of the coveted Nike Mag sneakers raising $130,000 for charity.
Stéphane Gautier
Ready-made artist Stéphane Gautier adopted the gummy bear as his totem, transforming them into a universal alphabet not too far removed from emoji symbols. Discovered at Scope Art Fair by Parisian Galerie Virginie Barrou Planquart, Stéphane transforms nostalgic, colourful bears into varnished and plated relics instilled with corporate branding, highlighting the effectiveness of advertising through misappropriation of childhood memories.
Credits
Text Sarah Owen
Photography Dotmo