Bubbles and beaux-arts have always mixed well in a cheery cocktail of luxury-meets-Bohemia, especially at Private View time. But visitors to this year’s Art Basel will come face to face with the more unusual pairing of £500 skincare and original sculpture.
Swiss beauty brand La Prairie is breaking new ground by taking luxury cosmetics to the art world. Celebrating 30 years of its range of creams infused with caviar, it has partnered with five artists from the mediums of sculpture, digital art, kinetic art and photography, and the results will be shown over the next few months at fairs in Basel, New York, Shanghai and Paris.
At Art Basel, a sculptural piece by Paul Coudamy will take its place in the La Prairie pavilion in the Collectors Lounge. Coudamy – who runs his own interior design practice in Paris and sits at a crossroads between artist, designer and architect – was given a free hand to evoke, in sculptural form, the brand’s Skin Caviar Absolute Filler.
To develop his piece, Coudamy examined the Weaire-Phelan formula, an exact geometrical structure representing bubbles. Expressing the product’s scientific side, the piece is made up of equal-sized cells of lacquered metal that lock together to form a sculpture that can take new forms each time it is installed. Clustered around its edges are 100,000 black magnetic caviar-like balls. The two elements – the mathematical cell structure and the uncontrollable, organic formations of the balls – combine to represent the make-up of the product.
For fair-goers, appreciation of the piece might be enhanced by the experience of a customised facial, also to be found in the Collectors Lounge.
As originally featured in the July 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*220)
Clustered around the sculpture’s edges are black magnetic caviar-like balls
Expressing the product’s scientific side, the piece is made up of equal-sized cells of lacquered metal that lock together to form a sculpture that can take new forms each time it is installed
INFORMATION
Paul Coudamy’s sculpture will be on view at the La Prarie Pavillion in the Collectors Lounge, Art Basel from 15 – 18 June. For more information, visit the La Prairie website and Art Basel website
ADDRESS
Messe Basel
Messeplatz 10
4005 Basel
Switzerland
-
Watch dance, music and film collide at a unique event at Abbey Road StudiosIn this exclusive film, watch Abbey Road’s first Artist in Residence, Jordan Rakei, collaborate with industry-leading creatives to produce a dance performance in the hallowed Studio One
-
Frances Elkins gets her dues at Christie's this JuneYou can soon take home a piece of the legendary American designer’s legacy…including a $3 million Alberto Giacometti sculpture.
-
The new Phone 2 Pro from CMF combines generous scale with true affordabilityWe explore the ins and outs of the CMF Phone 2 Pro, the newest device from the Nothing sub-brand that focuses on bold design and carefully honed value engineering
-
Don’t miss these five artists at Art Basel Hong KongArt Basel Hong Kong – the glittering intersection of European curatorial expertise and Asia's money-fuelled art swagger – returns for its 2025 edition
-
Switzerland’s best art exhibitions to see in 2025Art fans, here’s your bucket list of the standout exhibitions to see in Switzerland in 2025, exploring compelling themes and diverse media
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA snowy Swiss Alpine sleepover, a design book fest in Milan, and a night with Steve Coogan in London – our editors' out-of-hours adventures this week
-
What to look out for at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024Art Basel Miami Beach returns for its inaugural edition under new director Bridget Finn, running 6-8 December, with 286 international exhibitors and a packed week of parties, pop-up, and special projects
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series comes to life for Art Basel ParisIn ‘Tales & Tellers’, interdisciplinary artist Goshka Macuga brings Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series for Art Basel Paris to life for the public programme
-
Art Basel returns to Paris: here is everything to see and doArt Basel Paris 2024 (18 - 20 October 2024) returns, opening at the newly renovated Grand Palais
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
