As the man who put Art Basel on the map of the international art world in the 1990s, Lorenzo Rudolf pretty much wrote the book on how to run a successful international art fair. Under his direction, Art Basel was the first international art fair to reach out to corporate sponsors and offer V.I.P. treatment to collectors. Now, Mr. Rudolph is turning his hand to ArtParis, a rather sleepy modern and contemporary art fair held each year at the Grand Palais. Mr. Rudolf hopes to revitalize this year’s fair — rebranded ArtParis+Guests and running March 18-22 — by focusing on lesser-known but vibrant contemporary art scenes. At the same time, the organizers are challenging common practice by reaching out to new partners or “guests” like collectors, foundations and museums, in addition to the traditional dealers.
For ArtParis+Guests, Mr. Rudolf decided to showcase works of contemporary art from Africa, Ukraine, Finland and Indonesia by giving each their own platform. He believes Indonesia, in particular, is “ready to step into an international context.” Instead of a small accumulation of booths showing a few artists, the country’s platform — “The Grass Looks Greener Where You Water It” — will be an open exhibition of works by 20 artists selected by the well-known Indonesian collector Deddy Kusuma. Mr. Kusuma acted as a sort of project manager for the selection, coordinating input from artists, curators and galleries.
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