From October 18 to 20, the Grand Palais hosts the third edition of the Art Basel Paris contemporary art fair. Among the 195 participating galleries, focus on the Balice Hertling gallery, a fervent defender of emerging creation in Paris, which notably presents on its stand a work by the artist and activist Puppies Puppies.
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The Balice Hertling gallery at Art Basel Paris
It was a bit by chance that the Italian Daniele Balice and the German Alexander Hertling joined their names in 2007 to found their galerieafter helping friends with programming the project space castillo/corrales in Belleville. Quickly, however, the duo established themselves on the Parisian gallery scene, with a demanding and internationally open program. Its reputation is built in particular on its ability to find very young artistes and launch their careers.
Among them, we can cite Ser Serpas, Julie Beaufils, Alex Ayed or Xinyi Cheng, but the most spectacular case is that of Pol Taburet (born in 1997). After his first exhibition at the gallery in 2020, while he was still a student, the rise of painter was dazzling: winner of the first Reiffers Art Initiatives prize in 2022, he is a finalist for the prix Fondation Pernod Ricard and benefited from a first solo exhibition at Lafayette Anticipations the following year.
An experimental approach promoting young artists
Established from its beginnings in Belleville, the gallery Balice Hertling then took up residence in the Maraisbefore anchoring rue des Gravilliers. While many galleries of its stature have branches abroad, it is on Paris that its founders currently wish to concentrate, a city on which they have bet at a time when few players in the world ofart believed in it.
More “since the 2000s, things have changedexplains Daniele Balice: The French scene is international” and the city of Paris “increasingly cosmopolitan”, forming a must for collectors. Little present in the fairs internationally (apart from the essential Art Basel), the gallery nevertheless regularly mounts “pop-up” exhibitions abroad (Beirut, New York, Shanghai), projects which affirm its experimental approach.
Indeed, for Daniele Balice, the job of gallery owner consists above all of introducing the public to new scenes. If the co-director of Balice Hertling will continue to work with young artists while remaining on the lookout for the talents of tomorrow – “a real addiction”, he tells us, today he also wants to distinguish himself from the mainstream.
“I seek to expose profiles that go against market trends in recent years, which have focused a lot on young artists and their rapid growth.” Thus, during the third edition ofArt Basel Paristhe gallery will mainly present older artists, such as the Lebanese-American Simone Fattal (born in 1942), the Italian Enzo Cucchi (born in 1949) and the American Deborah Hanson-Murphy, who died in 2018.
For the gallery owner, it is above all a question of showing “artists who make art with or without a market, and may have an emerging position at any point in their lives. Emergence today is resilience”, he concludes. During the fair, Balice Herling will also present the transgender artist and activist Puppies Puppies, who does not refrain from revealing a “surprise” on the stand.
Art Basel Paris from October 18 to 20, 2024 at the Grand Palais, Paris 8th.
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