My Favourite Artwork at Art Basel Paris 2024
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Whole Segments by Joan Snyder, 1970 (70” x 144”)
I had the good fortune and pleasure of going to Paris this month and attending Art Basel Paris 2024.
One of my favourite pieces of art at the entire exhibition was by American painter Joan Snyder. Her 1970 artwork titled Whole Segments is a mixed media painting on canvas measuring 70” x 144” and I’d like to share a bit about why I love it so much.
About the painting
Whole Segments is a 1970 painting by Joan Snyder and this painting just sings to me. It speaks to me. It excites me. So much so that it’s hard to put it into words.
I spent so much time standing in front of this painting, then I took a video where I started in close, panned out, then took some more detailed close-ups. It’s a fascinating piece of art.
I love big art–so I love how BIG this painting is. It’s so bold. And I love its bold use of colour. I love the use of space.
And if you look at some of the detailed photos I’ve included in the gallery below, you’ll see a grid drawn with pencil. But when you step back to take in the painting as a whole, the lines disappear. Noticing these lines gave me a particular thrill, because mapping things out with pencil is precisely what I did for my New Jersey series of paintings. (Which is also the artist’s birthplace!)
She uses many different materials in the painting, including spray paint, acrylic , and oil–and I absolutely love that. It’s very reminiscent of Helen Frankenthaler’s staining technique with her color field paintings.
There’s such an energy of allowing and such a vibrancy here. It’s just so luscious and delicious and fun and free–and it endlessly inspires me.
About Joan Synder
Joan Snyder (1940) is an American painter from New York who’s been painting since the 1970s and experienced tremendous success. She’s received numerous distinguished awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.
You can read more about her on Wikipedia and see more of her artwork on her Instagram and her website.
About Art Basel
Art Basel is one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art fairs, held annually in 3 main cities: Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (USA), and Hong Kong (China). It serves as a platform for galleries, artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts to come together to view, buy, and sell modern and contemporary artworks.
Art Basel has become a key moment in the global art calendar, attracting high-profile art sales, celebrity appearances, and significant media attention.
It was held this year for 3 days at the Grand Palais in Paris.
About its 2024 Paris location, Le Grand Palais
As you can see in the photo I took (in the gallery above), the exterior of this building is amazing!
The Grand Palais in Paris is a large, historic exhibition hall and museum complex located on the Champs-Élysées. Built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair), it is known for its grand architecture, which combines classical elements with Art Nouveau, and for its iconic glass-domed roof.