Mariana Custodio Art Gallery

Art Basel is on RIGHT NOW, and by the time the public walks in, half the best work is already sold. 👀

I’m an art dealer, so let me translate what’s actually happening in Basel this week — minus the snobbery.

Swipe through for: the free artworks you don’t need a ticket to see, where the real emerging talent is hiding (hint: not the safe booths), and the part of the art world map that’s quietly shifting toward Turkey, the Middle East, and West Africa. 🌍

Save this so you sound like an insider at your next gallery visit — and tell me in the comments: would you actually go to Art Basel, or is it not your scene?

Follow .art for the contemporary art world, decoded. 🎨

📍 Art Basel 2026 · Basel, Switzerland · June 18–21

Double the masterpiece. 🧠🎨
Currently at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, this rare retrospective brings together multiple versions of Brâncuși’s iconic Mademoiselle Pogany series (1912–1933).
On the left, the textured marble variation resting on a beautifully carved wooden base. On the right, the gleaming polished bronze version. Seeing how Brâncuși experimented with how different materials reflect light and change the emotional weight of the exact same form is incredible.
Catch this landmark exhibition in Berlin before it closes this August! 🇩🇪

When fashion meets art. Met Gala 2026 and some references.
Which one is your favourite ?

Looking is never neutral.

Inside a gallery, perception shifts—shaped by context, curation, time, and presence. What you see isn’t just the artwork… it’s your experience meeting it.

Every decision—from placement to lighting—guides your attention. Some works demand a glance, others ask you to stay. Some reveal themselves instantly, others unfold slowly.

And then there’s you—moving through the space, becoming part of the composition itself.

Because art doesn’t end at the exit.
It follows you—into thought, memory, and the way you see the world after.

What stayed with you the longest? 👀

Art We Appreciate | Santiago Cárdenas
Dibujo, 1992
Pastel and chalk on cardboard
47.6 × 69.9 cm

Executed in 1992, Dibujo reflects Santiago Cárdenas’ interest in perception and the act of drawing itself. Working with pastel and chalk, the artist reduces form to gesture and outline, allowing traces, erasures, and overlapping lines to remain visible. The chalkboard-like surface emphasizes process over completion, creating a quiet and contemplative image where drawing becomes both subject and method.
ArtGallery

Art We Appreciate | Jenny Holzer | Top Secret, 2010
Oil on canvas
147.6 × 112.1 cm

Part of Holzer’s celebrated Redaction series, this work transforms declassified government documents into abstraction. Bold color bands obscure classified text, leaving only traces like “TOP SECRET” visible — turning censorship into composition.

artcollecting artauction

From Our Gallery | Joan Miró
Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró (Plate 16)
Lithograph on paper
49.5 × 35.5 cm.
Edition of 1500

A vibrant interplay of line, symbol, and color, this lithograph from Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró captures the poetic freedom that defines Joan Miró’s visual language. Floating forms, constellation-like marks, and bold primary accents emerge against a soft, open ground—balancing spontaneity with precision.

Created in 1975 and published by Polígrafa, Barcelona, this work belongs to a celebrated series where Miró transforms gesture into a lyrical universe. The composition feels both playful and cosmic, inviting the viewer into a dreamlike garden where abstraction becomes storytelling.

Miró’s unmistakable vocabulary—organic shapes, delicate black lines, and radiant color—reminds us that simplicity can carry profound emotional and symbolic depth.

Art We Appreciate | Philip Guston
Suitcase, 1979
Oil on canvas | 81.3 × 91.4 cm

Painted at the height of his late figurative period, Suitcase distills Guston’s radical turn away from Abstract Expressionism into a single, psychologically charged image. Rendered with thick, tactile brushstrokes and a muted, heavy palette, the suitcase becomes more than an object—it reads as a symbol of displacement, memory, and emotional weight.

Stripped of narrative, the form stands alone, confronting the viewer with quiet unease. In its rawness and restraint, Suitcase reflects Guston’s conviction that painting must face moral and emotional realities head-on, even when they are uncomfortable.

Art We Appreciate | Rashid Johnson
Large Anxious Red, 2021
Screenprint in red with hand-applied resist
121.6 × 91.4 cm

Executed in 2021, Large Anxious Red reflects Rashid Johnson’s ongoing interest in emotion, material, and inner states through abstraction. The work combines a screenprinted surface with areas of hand-applied resist, creating a subtle tension between repetition and personal gesture.

The intense red field suggests urgency and emotional pressure—feelings that frequently appear in Johnson’s practice. The resist breaks the surface’s uniformity, introducing irregularities that feel fragile and human, allowing moments of openness and vulnerability to surface within a controlled structure.

A visit to Papko Art Collection in Istanbul with artists and friends offered a thoughtful and engaging experience. The collection is defined by a strong curatorial structure, where works are not presented in isolation but carefully positioned in relation to one another. Each piece holds its own conceptual strength while contributing to a broader, cohesive narrative that unfolds across the collection.

What stands out is the sense of intention and responsibility behind the collection — an approach rooted in continuity, critical selection, and long-term vision rather than accumulation. Special thanks to and for making this visit possible and for their ongoing commitment to sustaining what a serious and well-considered art collection should represent today.