As Art Basel Paris Shutters for Weekend Protests, Satellite Fairs Keep Their Doors Open

If you planned to visit Art Basel Paris but just learned that it’s closing for the weekend ahead of Saturday’s planned protests, there’s some good news: for now, at least, several satellite fairs plan to welcome visitors for part or all of the weekend—while keeping an eye on the surrounding social and political context as it evolves in real time.

As of Thursday night, Asia NOW and Paris Internationale told ARTnews they are staying open as planned, through October 24, while exhibitors at OFFSCREEN said they received official confirmation that the fair will remain open through Sunday, October 25. (OFFSCREEN organizers did not respond to a request for confirmation by the time of writing.) Outsider Paris also said it plans to stay open through Sunday, while responding to circumstances as they evolve.

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

“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, of whom the New Yorker recently wrote, “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. Works on paper range from $8,000 to $16,000.

This is Post-Fair’s inaugural Paris edition, following its 2025 founding in Los Angeles by Chris Sharp. It features 35 galleries from 15 countries and is billed as “a carefully crafted, boutique, and invitation-only alternative to the conventional art-fair model.” Galleries don’t have separate booths and instead exhibit one or two artists in open-plan layouts, with project spaces taking up as little as one wall. The two venues feel elegant and brightly lit, including a 17th-century hôtel particulier, or mansion, with vaulted stone ceilings on the bottom floor, and an Art Deco building across the Rue du Temple.

Sharp told ARTnews that the first preview day, on Monday, was “bonkers; we had almost 1,000 people.” He added, “It totally exceeded my expectations”—this, 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 Kentaro Kawabata (born 1976), which have a marine or alien-life feeling, with skeletal as well as invertebrate components, rendered in delicious color and 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.”

Elsewhere, at Paris Internationale, some dealers said their clients had promised to make it out to this edition’s new venue in the northeast part of town but had struggled to find the time. Nevertheless, most said sales had been good for the first part of the fair.

Among several other strong presentations pairing historic with contemporary works was Parker Gallery’s, which showed assembled paintings by Thornton Dial (1928–2016) and ceramic and collage crown sculptures by Bay Area artist Sahar Khoury. Prices range from $8,000 to $75,000.

New works by UK artist Aimée Parrot at Kate MacGarry gallery are another great discovery. Parrot paints onto glass or metal and transfers the prints onto cotton canvas, which she often stitches together and paints over. She is currently showing work 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 Saturday, Galerie Derouillon said it preferred to close early, on Friday night, to ensure the safety of staff and artworks as people travel home or away from the fair. 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 herself was stuck inside the centrally located gallery last Saturday due to tear gas and clashes with police nearby, she said. Similarly, she was concerned that staff who don’t live near the fair could find themselves unable to leave the venue by day’s end.

OFFSCREEN—like last year, located in the expansive, 17th-century Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière on the Left Bank, not far from the Seine—is not near the planned protests. Set on the grounds of a large hospital, it is also protected and removed from the street.

This year, the fair, dedicated to fixed and moving images, is honoring Ana Mendieta with a special presentation of her films under the grand cupola. Another must-see is brought by Galerie Max Hetzler, featuring a strange and captivating “fictional autobiographical” film titled A Life in a Day (2021–23) and a handmade mask by Rinus Van de Velde, who imagines himself traveling the world to meet artistic heroes, or behaving like the artist he wishes he were. Van de Velde also has his largest exhibition at a US institution to date, The Dinner, on view in Marfa, Texas, through December 6.

On Thursday evening, the gallery announced it had been 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, who echoed other exhibitors in noting that many international curators and museums had already been through the fair.

Paris Internationale, with 54 international galleries and a strong Hispanic and South Korean contingent this year, also aims for a more curated, smaller-scale, and approachable 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.”