This June, German artist Katharina Grosse transformed the Messelpatz into a
vibrant immersive environment that welcomed visitors to Art Basel. Inside the fair, 289
galleries from 42 countries presented a variety of modern and contemporary paintings,
sculptures, photography, and more. Long considered a vital barometer of the art market,
Art Basel’s flagship show serves as a meeting place for collectors, dealers, advisors,
and art industry professionals alike.
3 Standout Booths
Marianne Boesky
Marianne Boesky presented new and historic works from Ghada Amer, Jennifer
Bartlett, Sanford Biggers, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Gabriel Chaile, Svenja Deininger,
Dora Jeridi, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Suzanne McClelland, Sarah Meyohas,
Celeste Rapone, Hannah van Bart, and Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Awash in
green, Dutch artist Hannah van Bart’s evocative landscapes were certainly
highlights.
Victoria Miro
Victoria Miro’s booth showcased exciting works by Milton Avery, Jules de
Balincourt, Hernan Bas, María Berrío, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Elmgreen &
Dragset, Secundino Hernández, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Isaac Julien, Yayoi
Kusama, Doron Langberg, Wangechi Mutu, Alice Neel, Chris Ofili, Celia Paul,
Grayson Perry, Paula Rego, Hedda Sterne, Do Ho Suh, Adriana Varejão, and
Flora Yukhnovich.
David Zwirner
Alongside historic works by Marlene Dumas, Ruth Asawa, Gerhard Richter, Felix
Gonzalez-Torres, On Kawara, Robert Ryman, Noah Davis, and Anni Albers,
David Zwirner presented fresh works by Huma Bhabha, Lucas Arruda, Andra
Ursuţa, Jordan Wolfson, Dana Schutz, Victor Man, Wolfgang Tillmans, Mamma
Andersson, Michaël Borremans, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Marcel Dzama, Scott
Kahn, Shio Kusaka, Emma McIntyre, Chris Ofili, Walter Price, Neo Rauch,
Bridget Riley, Thomas Ruff, Lisa Yuskavage, and more.
5 Highlights from Unlimited
Curated by Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen director Giovannie Carmine, this year’s
edition of Unlimited showcased 67 large-scale artworks, spanning sculpture, painting,
and performance.
Felix Gonzales-Torres’ Untitled (Go-Go Dancing Platform) from 1991 is a light blue
stage adorned with 48 of the artist’s signature lightbulbs. The platform remains empty
save for just 5 minutes, when a local go-go dancer performs on the stage to music only
they can hear. Created after the death of Gonzalez-Torres’ partner, Ross Laycock, from
AIDS, as well as the death of Gonzalez-Torres’ father, Untitled (Go-Go Dancing
Platform) is an expression of ephemerality and loss, joy and beauty.
In We Rise by Lifting Others (2023), Italian artist Marinella Senatore partnered with
female inmates in Florence and residents of underserved neighborhoods in Naples to
select the phrases “We Rise by Lifting Others” (attributed to American lawyer and orator
Robert G. Ingersoll) and “I Contain Multitudes” (from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself) to
illume in her 34-metre-long installation.
Conceptual Artist #37 (he exclusively paints portraits of conceptual artists who
have never existed), 2023, is Hernan Bas’ largest work so far, and depicts an artist in
his own studio. The triptych is full of references to Bas’ other paintings in his series, The
Conceptualists, in which he explores conceptual art via imagined artists and practices.
Oscar Murillo’s Disrupted Frequencies is the result of a global art project begun in
2013, in which Murillo visited schools across the world and fixed canvases to children’s
desks. For 6 months, the canvasses filled with students’ drawings, phrases, and
scribbles. In Disrupted Frequencies, Murillo builds upon these canvases from the
archive with his own mark making in shades of blue.
Suki Seokyeong Kang’s Mat Black Mat 170 x 380 installation comprises three large
reed mats hanging from the ceiling, somewhere between painting and sculpture. The
mats, dyed in geometric patterns, reference those used in chunaengmu dance
performances and represent the boundaries of space given to one in society.
Summer Exhibitions to Attend
Vija Celmins, Fondation Beyeler
This summer, the Fondation Beyeler presents the most significant presentation of
Vija Celmins’ work in Europe in almost two decades. The retrospective spans
time and media, featuring paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the 1960s to
present day. Celmins’ explorations of textures and surfaces invite close looking,
revealing the intricacies of everyday landscapes of spiderwebs, night skies, and
oceans.
Midnight Zone, Museum Tinguely
French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière’s solo exhibition, Midnight Zone, presents
photographs, sculptures, installations and new video works that center water in
its myriad forms. Across three floors of the museum, Charrière explores water’s
fluidity, immersion, culture and memory.
Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture, Kunstmuseum Basel
The Kunstmuseum showcases fifty sculptures and two hundred and fifty
photographs and drawings from Italian French artist Medardo Rosso. In
conversation with Rosso’s oeuvre, the retrospective places works by Francis
Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Alberto Giacometti, Robert Gober, David Hammons,
Yayoi Kusama, Marisa Merz, Richard Serra, Georges Seurat, Rosemarie Trockel,
Andy Warhol, Mary Cassatt, Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel Duchamp, Felix
Gonzalez-Torres, Henry Moore, Meret Oppenheim, and more.
Landmark Satellite Fairs
Africa Basel, June 17-22
Ackermannshof, St. Johanns-Vorstadt 19/21, 4056 Basel
Africa Basel made its debut this year, with 17 galleries presenting contemporary
art from Africa and its diaspora. Carefully curated, the fair provided an
opportunity for African artists and galleries to connect with collectors, curators,
and visitors.
Liste Art Fair Basel, June 16-22
Messe Basel, Hall 1.1, Maulbeerstrasse / corner Riehenring 113, 4058 Basel
Led by new director Nikola Dietrich, Liste returned to Basel for its 30th edition.
With over 100 participating galleries from 32 countries, the fair showcased an
exciting mix of contemporary art from both new and established programs.
VOLTA Basel, June 19-22
VOLTA celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, featuring contemporary artworks
from over 70 galleries from 29 countries. In a Middle East North Africa Pavilion,
VOLTA highlighted contemporary art and culture of the MENA region. VOLTA
also presented FIRSTS, a section devoted to showcasing debuting galleries, and
SOLO, a section that highlights individual artists’ practices.
Photo Basel, June 17-22
Volkshaus Basel, Rebgasse 12-14, 4058 Basel
Photo Basel is Switzerland’s first and only international art fair solely dedicated to
photography. This summer, Photo Basel presented contemporary and historical
photographs from both local and international galleries in a boutique setting.