The Art Daddy's Weekly Daddy Wrap Up for 6/20/25
The Basel Blur: Art World Sightings, Absences, and Dispatches from Bard. All the Art Daddy news that is fit to print.
While Erica Pelosini showed off just Chanel, Jerry Gogosian pitched another art world fever dream, and Lisa Schiff preps for Club Fed, I’m boarding the Bard bus for the solstice ritual that matters.
Welcome to the ninth circle of hell—aka Art Basel 2025. Daddy wasn’t there (self-care, baby), but I was very much watching from a safe distance—with a spritz in one hand and a screen recording in the other. And I even gave you concierge services that are being offered through the close of the fair on Sunday and the alternative to The Basel Social Club––The Art Daddy Social Club.
The air brushed acid trip that is Basel this year, brought to you by Katharina Grosse, installation view of CHOIR, 2025.
While the fairgrounds reeked of power, perfume, and the scent of collapsing dynasties, I was preparing for a different kind of pilgrimage: the annual Bard Bus trip, my favorite unhinged solstice tradition, where 45 overheated art people are packed onto a motor coach and hurled toward compost toilets, curatorial theory, and the soft power of a Tom Eccles side-glance. Think Midsommar meets the October journal, with a tote bag full of questionable mushrooms.
Meanwhile, down in the Basel trenches, the gossip was hotter than the booths. Erica Pelosini finally dropped her Basel content, but there was no Larry in sight—just a soft-focus June dump full of tan lines, outfit changes, and art with no context. Typical. The real tea though? My DMs are buzzing that these two were seen arm in arm around the fair, and apparently, Larry is very much into her. Daddy’s watching this unfold with increasing concern—and honestly, so should you. More on that later.
Erica P. not in Basel and no Larry in sight on her grid.
Also spotted: Jerry Gogosian, fresh off her digital goodbye, lurking around the Messe with whispers of a “White Lotus–esque” art world TV series. Someone get this woman a dramaturg and a glass of water. And just in time for summer camp season, Lisa Schiff is allegedly fluffing her pillow and folding her jumpsuits ahead of her July 1st check-in at Club Fed. Daddy will be monitoring the countdown—so stay tuned, because the tea’s not just hot, it’s institutional.
So whether you were sipping Ruinart at the Messe or crying in a Bard meadow next to a compostable zine, just know: Daddy was watching. Stay tuned for scandal, solstice, and spiritual exfoliation.
Tell Your Dad
In my new Substack series, Tell Your Dad, I’m creating a space for art-world gossip, hot tips, and spicy takes. Got something that needs to be called out? Think a show, scandal, or power play deserves more attention than the usual outlets are giving it? This is where it happens. Send your tips to theartdaddyy@gmail.com or slide into my DMs @theartdaddy_.
🚨 BASEL EMERGENCY: LARRY G DOWN🚨
This is not a drill. Multiple Art Daddy sources have confirmed that Erica Pelosini, my long-standing arch nemesis, has surfaced at Art Basel 2025 as Larry Gagosian’s date. Yes, Larry. The man I have poured essays into. The man I tried to save. She was spotted arm in arm with him at the gallery dinner, wearing head-to-toe Chanel like she just wandered out of a tax write-off, and reportedly dissociating between courses. Eyewitnesses claim she tilted her head at a Rudolf Stingel and whispered, “Is this a Banksy?” She thinks Cy Twombly is a cocktail. The damage to Larry’s reputation—and to my nervous system—is incalculable.
Larry and Erica at the MoMA bash last month.
This comes mere weeks after my public, generous, critically engaged call to rebrand Larry into the emotionally available, post-cap Daddy he is destined to become. I asked for nothing. I offered vision. Taste. Narrative. A redemption arc. And what did I get? Erica Pelosini in a micro-mini Chanel skirt suit, seducing the secondary market with a glazed expression and an aura of influencer fatigue. The betrayal cuts deep.
Daddy insiders are calling him “smitten.” And honestly, we don’t know why. Is it the extensions? The body shimmer? The vague energy of a woman who once had dinner near Kanye in Ibiza? I’m not mad—I’m mourning. This is more than a lapse in taste; this is a cultural collapse. A crime against art history. And yet I remain firm in my cause. I will not rest until Larry returns to us: elegant, unreadable, and ideally unattached. Until then—Basel Threat Level: Magenta.
Erica’s Photo Dump Is Like a Fashion Interns Moodboard
Erica Pelosini has finally blessed us with her Basel photo dump—and guess what? Not a single one of Larry in sight. No art, no captions, no context—just a sun-drenched chaos carousel casually tossed into a general June dump like Basel was a minor pit stop on her influencer itinerary. What is that, Erica? A disappearing act? A soft launch of delusion? Or just Chanel-branded denial?
Basel Is Burning and Jerry Gogosian Brought the Matches
Just when you thought the Basel chaos couldn’t escalate any further, Jerry Gogosian, the former meme queen turned podcaster turned failed insider turned gallery girl turned micro-influencer turned aspiring screenwriter (??), has reportedly resurfaced at Art Basel. Yes, just one week after her meltdown-y digital goodbye, where she declared herself done with it all (again), our girl was seen working the room like a B-list Bravolebrity with a dream. According to The Art Newspaper, Jerry is now—wait for it—developing a “White Lotus–esque” TV show about the art world. Oh, and she apparently wants to work for Art Basel again. I ask, with full sincerity: what acid trip is this?
Proof of life of Jerry at Basel.
Let’s rewind. Jerry once owned a gallery, dropped out of her MBA program, tried to podcast her way into relevance, cycled through a brief NFT phase, and rebranded herself as a kind of chaotic oracle of the art world without ever offering an actual take. She was not writing a book that never materialized? The projects stack up like unopened press releases, and somehow none of them stick. And now? We’re supposed to believe there’s a prestige TV show on the way? From her? About us? No. Simply no. I am once again asking the gods of taste, structure, and union-accredited writers to revoke her all-access fair pass.
But perhaps the most unhinged part of this saga is that she actually showed up to Basel after publicly rage-quitting the art world for what is now the fifth time (?) in eighteen months. Like—why? To haunt us? To pitch a pilot to dealers between bites of compressed melon? To reclaim relevance by sheer proximity to people who actually work in the industry? Make it make sense. And until someone does, I’ll be over here—tracking Erica Pelosini’s Chanel count and filing restraining orders on behalf of taste itself.
From Rothkos to Lockup: Lisa Schiff’s Countdown to Club Fed
In what can only be described as the summer camp drop-off from hell, disgraced art advisor Lisa Schiff is officially reporting to Club Fed on July 1st. That’s right—in just ten days, Schiff, once the Upper East Side’s answer to Anna Delvey with a day job, will be swapping Birkin bags for BOP-issued jumpsuits. It’s a swift fall from the glassy heights of blue-chip grift: the woman who once trafficked in multimillion-dollar Rothkos is now just trying to figure out if minimum security still lets you bring your own moisturizer.
Lisa Schiff pre then this all went down.
Sources say she’s headed for a facility about as plush as federal prison gets—but let’s be honest, there’s no VIP lounge behind bars. After defrauding clients and collectors (allegedly! but also… very publicly!), Schiff’s empire of shady dealings, fake invoices, and “Oops, the money’s gone!” emails have finally landed her where many art world insiders whispered she was always heading: straight to the slammer. Whether she’ll come out with a memoir, a media deal, or just better arms remains to be seen—but for now, the countdown to Club Fed is on. Watch it unfold on The Art Daddy’s Instagram. Tick tock, Lisa.
Headlines
Independent Moves, May Fairs Breathe (Sort Of)
Independent is moving from its longtime home in Tribeca to Pier 36 for 2026, running May 14–17. While Tribeca was more central and easier to hit, Pier 36 is—let’s be honest—a bit of a pain in the ass, located over on the East Side.
Where this blessed event will now take place.
It’s giving old-school Armory vibes before that fair officially turned into a full-scale Home Depot hellscape inside the Javits Center. But it does open a small window before the fair madness fully kicks in, hopefully making the May art fair marathon slightly less of a contact sport for collectors and dealers trying to do it all. It’s not exactly a gift—it’s more like a begrudging peace offering.
Duchamp Is Back, Darling: MoMA and Philadelphia Serve the Ultimate Retrospective in 2026
Hold onto your ready-mades, because Marcel Duchamp is making a major comeback with a sprawling retrospective hitting MoMA next spring (April 12–August 15) before rolling on to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is the first time the U.S. gets a full-on Duchamp deep dive since 1973, and honey, it’s massive—over 300 works including all the iconic troublemakers like Fountain, Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2, and the enigmatic Étant donnés.
The man, the myth, the legend.
Curated by the art world’s dream team—Ann Temkin, Michelle Kuo, and Matthew Affron—this show promises to unpack every facet of Duchamp’s radical career from 1900 to 1968. Whether you worship the king of conceptual art or just like a good scandalous splash of art history, this is one retrospective you do not want to miss. Time to brush up on your Duchamp lore and get ready to serve some avant-garde realness.
In a NYT Style section manner, I also want to set forth some taste making elements.
I am reading: I'm reading Dancing on My Own by Simon Wu
I am drinking: 365 Lime Seltzer and Saratoga Spring sparkling water.
I am looking at: All the men over 60 with real estate in other countries on daddy apps. I am also going to auctions to meet men over 60 with real estate in other countries so this counts as a form of looking.