Most have focused their attention this week on Art Basel’s new Paris+ fair, which has more than 150 exhibitors and is taking place near the Eiffel Tower. But a smaller, more tightly curated affair just a half hour’s walk away offers a much different vision of what it looks like when galleries converge.

On the second level, Volume has two distinct spaces that face each other via a courtyard. In one are sparkling chandeliers by New York–based artist Sam Stewart, who worked in collaboration with a couture seamstress to achieve the intricate hand-pleating necessary to pull them off. Hung torso-level, they resemble the tops of jellyfish.

Across from them, also via Volume, are intricately knotted textiles sculptures by Tanya Aguiñiga, who is having her first presentation in Europe through the fair. The L.A.-based artist and activist creates these works, which speak to the experiences of those living in the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico, in a very specific way: after she has knotted the raw cotton, she packs them with ice and then drops dye atop it. As the ice melts, the dye seeps into the fabric to create these kaleidoscope-like color fields.

“These works act as a space of respite, especially after the last two-plus years of the pandemic,” Volume cofounder Claire Warner said. “They’re celebratory, in a way, and are contending with the history of this space.”

The sculptures seem to weave themselves into the walls, and thus into the history of Paris, as worlds collide. Read the full article here.

Image Courtesy Samuel Spreyz for Novembre Global