Air de Paris, one of France’s leading contemporary art galleries, has said that it has withdrawn from Art Basel’s marquee Swiss edition in June over its booth placement on the floor plan for the upcoming fair.
For the 2023 and 2024 editions, Air de Paris has had booth L2, in the first row of the Messe Basel’s second floor, directly opposite the escalators from the first floor. This prime location means that the gallery’s stand is among the first things people see while ascending to the upstairs portion of Art Basel.
For the 2025 edition, Air de Paris was given the option to remain in L2 or move to N3, in the second row. Even though the gallery chose to remain in L2, it said the N3 placement was “imposed” on them in a letter to Art Basel announcing their withdrawal.
Related Articles
“I’d like to stress that the conditions under which our stand was allocated this year were brutal and unfair,” the gallery’s cofounders, Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino, wrote in their email, which was first circulated online by the newsletter Provence Global. “This appears to be a fool’s game to which I do not wish to participate, or a power game which I do not want to fight.”
In a statement sent to ARTnews, Art Basel said, “Air de Paris was accepted to Art Basel’s 2025 edition in Basel and decided to not participate. We understand that booth placement is a matter of great importance to our exhibitors; however, as outlined in our Exhibitor Regulations, gallery placement is at Art Basel’s sole discretion and made in consideration of the fair’s and all 290 participating galleries’ best interest.”
At any art fair, an exhibitor’s placement is considered a mark of their status. Being moved closer to or away from coveted spots can signal a judgment on a change in a gallery’s reputation, and can also directly impact sales.
Because Art Basel is often considered the world’s most important art fair, the stakes are even higher. Many blue-chip works are placed on the first floor, so many VIP visitors don’t make it up to the second floor on the first preview day of the fair—if they make it there at all.
In a comment on Provence Global’s Instagram post sharing the letter, art market research Magnus Resch wrote, “Nowhere is the hierarchy of the gallery world more visible than on an art fair floor plan. There’s usually one (maybe two) epicenters—often anchored by Gagosian. The further you are from that nucleus, the less foot traffic, buzz, and sales you can expect. Here’s the problem: galleries in these ‘secondary’ locations pay the same fees as those in the prime spots—but can’t expect the same return.”
In its statement to ARTnews, Art Basel added, “Each year, the floorplan is carefully designed, taking into account a variety of evolving factors — including the overall curatorial vision of the fair, gallery participation and logistical considerations, and the need to create an engaging and positive experience for both galleries and visitors.”
Founded in 1990 in Nice and based in Paris since 1994, Air de Paris has participated in each edition of Art Basel’s Swiss edition since 1999. In an email to ARTnews, Bonnefous said the gallery has had a first-row placement on the second floor since around 2001. She declined to comment further, pointing to the gallery’s letter to Art Basel, as well as one sent to the Basel fair’s selection committee, both of which were reviewed by ARTnews.
“While I understand that you need to review the booth allocations from time to time, I believe that this should be done while maintaining a sense of respect and honesty toward your long-time customers and collaborators,” the letter to Art Basel continues.
In addition to being a longtime exhibitor Art Basel, Bonnefous has also served on the selection committee for Art Basel Paris since its first edition in 2022. The dealers on the selection committees for Art Basel’s fairs run some of the world’s most important galleries. Because of their ability to decide who gets into a given fair, these dealers wield an immense amount within the art market.
A gallery with this kind of imprimatur publicly announcing their withdrawal from Art Basel is almost unheard of.
“Under these conditions, I confirm that we refuse the stand your [sic] have offered us in the second row,” the dealers’ letter to the fair reads. “We’ll let you allocate the stand that we’ve occupied for years to the gallery you now consider more deserving than we are, even though, or may be because, we have been participating in Art Basel for 25 years. I confirm that Air de Paris is withdrawing from Art Basel in Basel in 2025.”
The Art Basel floor plan for its Swiss fair generally does not change, which makes this event different from some of its competitors. Frieze, for example, redid the floor plan of its London fair last year, to help the small and medium-size exhibitors. This move saw the mega-galleries, like Gagosian, Pace, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner relocate from being front and center to the end of two broad aisles.
“To get out, you have to go the way you came, increasing the likelihood that something at one of the small or midsize galleries might grab and hold your attention,” ARTnews reported, with dealer Alexander Gray adding, “The new layout really benefits that cycle of discovery.”
At last year’s edition of Art Basel Paris, booth placement was also a topic of conversation. The 2024 fair was the first in the Grand Palais since its renovation, which also made the venue’s second floor publicly accessible for the first time in years. In order to maximize the number of exhibitors, the fair put 70 galleries upstairs, including 45 from the main Galleries section. Dealers told ARTnews that it took about an hour for the second level to see much foot traffic, which some attributed to visitors likely wanting to marvel at the renovation and never-before-seen parts of the Grand Palais. How foot traffic will be for the 2025 Paris fair, now that the newness of the second floor has worn off, remains to be seen.
Bonnefous and Merino also felt it was important to email their colleagues on the Basel fair selection committee, whom they noted do not weigh in on the floor plan, as a matter of courtesy.
“We deeply regret this decision,” Air de Paris’s selection committee letter reads. “While it’s understandable that the recent trend towards a more corporatist model has given priority to managerial efficiency, leading to new structures and new behaviours, we don’t see why Air de Paris has been moved from its initial leading position to a secondary one, which discredits us.”
The gallery continued, bolding its last line: “We cannot accept this treatment and feel obliged to withdraw. At the same time, we are proud to show that it is possible to say ‘No’.”