THIS CONFLAGRATION IS A HOOT, A HOWL, AND
A RIOT

Paris Art Week has stepped up. They have redefined the experiential experience. Visually stunning riots, well-choreographed by nefarious and well-funded non-profits and NGOs, brought a new dazzle to the auld same old.

The only thing missing was Quasimodo above Notre Dame. Pouring molten lead from the parapet would have been an apt touch, a nod to the solidification of the French economy and bloodless culture.

Kudos to the management of Art Basel Paris, who concluded their show in great style, with a dazzling grand tour fouetté en ballet. Just before closing down prematurely, the triumphant fair racked-up a stunning sales record of over $147 million. That's a dramatic finale. Félicitations, mes amis!

For decades, art collectors, aficionados and global party people have been bitching and moaning about another art fair, each resembling the one before.

A new precedent has been set.

Dopey Los Angeles sorely needs some help. I would like to suggest a brilliant experiential concept to outdo those snooty Parisians. With a nod to author Nathanael West and his classic 1939 novel "The Day of the Locust," consider a re-creation of the book's apocalyptic climax and a tribute to the long labours of painting.

Throughout the novel, protagonist and painter Tod Hackett struggles to finish his large canvas, titled "The Burning of Los Angeles." Let the next art fair bring his masterpiece to life, beginning with a film premiere at Grauman's Chinese and a riot that springs eagerly and gleefully to life, with flames that engulf the rest of the city which hasn't been burned down already.

I'd go to that art fair! Knowing full well they probably haven't yet refilled the fire hydrants.

In today's Sunday Lounge! we present an update from the former "City of Light."

Art Report Today .com

CHANCE. LUCK. IT'S ALL WE HAVE.

I respect Chance. It's universal and equitable. We all have Luck. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad. Every single living creature on this planet has Luck.

I went so far as to create a series of seven exhibitions on the topic, back in the Aughts. I presented Luck as a secular religion, one that we all can swing with.

You may have seen the international news item last week, a beautiful and horrific reminder of the power of Chance. *Ahem* And I must confess that I chuckled just a little tiny bit. What a way to go.

A Catholic priest in Ecuador was live-streaming a sermon in a beautiful small church. Behind him, the chancel walls were painted with a panoramic, wispy, Dali-like landscape of heaven and earth. Of course, a large crucifix hung on high.

Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari was speaking "about the fleeting nature of life" and our need to stop "scrolling on (your) phones and instead dedicate (yourself) to God and (your) loved ones..." The holy man concluded "One day, all of us here will also die."

About then, the crucifix fell from the wall like a hammer and smashed the good man to death.

Let's make sure Father Molinari did not die in vain. The upshot? Mindfulness. Let's make every precious moment matter. And stop scrolling. Unless you're reading Art Report Today.

Art Report Today .com