Last week was a busy one for the Parisian art scene, with openings and events taking place across the city, coinciding with the inaugural edition of Paris+ par Art Basel. Joining in on the happenings, Whitewall hosted a special evening with the art app Docent on Friday, which ended a busy day at the fair with a night of delicious provisions, special performances, music, and merrymaking.
Just a short walk from Le Grand Palais Éphémère (the venue de Paris+), fairgoers set aside their maps and rosters for the day before gathering at the home of Helene Nguyen-Ban. As one might expect from the Founder and CEO of Docent—a progressive concept powered by machine learning to help discover and collect contemporary art—the top-floor residence was a marvel of contemporary creativity. Before the late hours of the night had arrived, every inch of Nguyen-Ban’s home was filled with art world patrons and the artists themselves, who could be seen perched on beautifully-designed furniture, snacking at candelabra-filled dining tables, and lining walls outfitted with large-scale hanging artworks and the occasional totemic sculpture.
Mingling with sips provided by Celosa Rosé Tequila, Ruinart, Vodka Romanov, and Gin Belle Rive the celebratory evening treated its guests to a special suite of hybrid and organic performances from Salomé Chatriot, who worked in collaboration with Elia Valet and Lucas Peillex to bring the entertainment to life. In the great room, Chatriot was seen perched on a pedestal in costume, surrounded on either side by swirling, enigmatic forms, as she enacted a performance with a sculptural object in hand. The activations spread across the residence, even existing in its private pool—where the figures of swimmers were distorted by projections of ghostly imagery cast across the blue water.