The first thing to sell out at Art Basel this year was not a gallery stand—it was a Labubu. A series of monster elves designed by the Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung, the furry plush characters have gone viral thanks to the popularity of Gen Z strapping the small stuffed animals onto bags as a purse charm.
For this year’s fair, Art Basel teamed up with Lung to create a limited-edition figurine. The monster, in the fair’s signature blue, has a mischievous grin and holds a spirit level for hanging art. Only 100 figurines were created and are available exclusively in-person at the Art Basel Shop, priced at SFr200.
The shop opened yesterday, and it only took 20 minutes for the day’s Labubu drop of around half of the monsters to sell out. True to art-world form, within minutes a would-be Labubu flipper yelled that he would be willing to resell his for $5,000 in cash. If that is beyond your budget, the Art Basel Shop will be releasing the rest of the figurines at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, limited to two monsters per person.
