Eye Of The Beholder

At Art Basel 2019, three photographers explore the idea of the female gaze in all its multiplicities.

- Renée Batchelor

We’re in Basel, Switzerland for the annual Art Basel exhibition, specifically to see the works of three, female photographers who are showing at La Prairie’s Pavilion in the Collector’s Lounge. There are common threads that these three photographers — Daniela Droz, Namsa Leuba and Senta Simond — share: all three are Swiss, graduates of Switzerland’s prestigious Lausanne University of Art and Design (ECAL) and have been chosen to interpret the theme of “Eyes in Focus” for the 2019 art event’s showcase. “In making the deliberate choice to work with female artists, we also pay homage to the inimitable quality of the female gaze, interpreted by the perspective of women themselves,” says Greg Prodromides, the chief marketing officer of La Prairie Group.

But how did a luxury skincare brand come to be involved with art in the first place? For that, one needs to dip into La Prairie’s history: a brand that was birthed from the famous Clinique La Prairie in Montreux, Switzerland, and which fast became one of the leaders in skin science research, thanks to its pioneering founder Dr Paul Niehans. “La Prairie is about the use of Swiss proprietary science and our research in precious ingredients. It is also about the duality of art and science,” says Prodromides.

Patrick Rasquinet, the CEO of La Prairie, sees the brand’s involvement in art as a natural extension. “From the start there was some inspiration for art. The design of La Prairie’s packaging is inspired by the Bauhaus movement. And it’s also very Swiss, in terms of its purity and precision. We also use a special font, Helvetica, that is very artistic, as it gives focus to the content. Back in the late ’80s we were the first skin brand to launch our products’ packaging in blue and in glass,” says Rasquinet.