Concurrent with the Venice Biennale, well after it if you are on the 'A' liste and only go to the opening galas of stuff, is Art Basel. It is the big time art fair that all other art fairs aspire to be and it promises to be an interesting one this year for two important reasons.
One: everyone is broke relatively speaking so this whole event could just be about appearances. Will the sad dealers and dour collectors try to put on a brave face? Or will the whole thing devolve into some sort of Koh-enian bacchanal reminiscent of plague era Europe where doomed peasants acquiesced to their baser urges in massive orgies that filled their final days with sex, wine, and debauchery before succumbing to painful death?
Two: Kara Uzelman, another of my 'friends' who never calls or writes from her European escapade is Sommer and Kohl's representative at Liste, the young Swiss art fair affiliated with and concurrent to Art Basel. Kara is a great artist but a terrible correspondent, she's been on continuous residency in Dawson City, Berlin, Basel, and soon Marseille for over a year now and what have I got out of the deal? That's right nothing! Not so much as an e-mail.
She's really cool, so if you get a chance do hang out, just don't ever expect to hear from her again. Cherish the moment or whatever.
