Art Basel 2015 Artlyst’s Where To Go What To See Guide

Art Basel 2015

Art Basel, which take place in June every year, stages one of the world’s most important art shows for Modern and contemporary works. They bring together 284 leading international galleries to the heart of Europe. This year’s edition of the fair sees a reconfiguration of Hall 2, creating a special focus on Modern and historical works from 1900 to 1970, a fundamental part of the show. Other highlights of the fair including an African focus in the Conversations and Salon programme and 23 site specific artworks in the Parcours sector, the biggest selection to date, culminating in Parcours Night on Saturday 20 June. Meanwhile the Film sector will open with the screening of Takashi Murakami’s debut feature film ‘Jellyfish Eyes’ (2013), with the artist’s fantastical creatures set to be present at the Art Basel screening, which will be followed by a Q&A with the artist. 

In order to further accentuate the historical focus within the show 57 galleries on the downstairs floor have changed position, creating the biggest floorplan change in Basel since 2006. This year, dozens of galleries will – exclusively or as a major part of their program – show Modern and historical material – from the classical Modern to postwar contemporary. At a time when material from the first half of the past century and after has become ever-rarer, the exhibiting galleries will again bring works of high quality to present to Art Basel’s audience of connoisseur collectors. 

Leading galleries for Modern and historical material from across the globe will once again return to Basel this June for Art Basel’s 46th edition, where Hall 2’s reconfigured downstairs floorplan will create a special focus on the outstanding quality of material from 1900 to 1970, a fundamental aspect of the show.

In order to further accentuate the historical focus within the show 57 galleries on the downstairs floor have changed position, creating the biggest floorplan change in Basel since 2006. This year, dozens of galleries will – exclusively or as a major part of their program – show Modern and historical material – from the classical Modern to postwar contemporary. At a time when material from the first half of the past century and after has become ever-rarer, the exhibiting galleries will again bring material of high quality to present to Art Basel’s audience of connoisseur collectors from all over the world. 

The 2015 edition of Parcours,  An array of site-specific artworks installed around Basel’s Münsterplatz will be sited in the historical center of Basel around the city’s iconic cathedral, infiltrating key locations such as the Museum of Culture, the Natural History Museum, the Town Hall and the Münsterplatz itself. 23 site-specific artworks by internationally renowned as well as emerging artists will be featured, the biggest selection to date, including works by Alexandra Bachzetsis, Davide Balula, Adriano Costa, Alicia Framis, Piero Golia, Tobias Kaspar, Alicja Kwade, Nate Lowman, Michaela Meise, Jonathan Monk, Vik Muniz, Ciprian Mureşan, Peter Regli, David Renggli, Ugo Rondinone, Yves Scherer, Lara Schnitger, Alyson Shotz, Daniel Silver, Philippe Thomas, Blair Thurman and Francisco Tropa.

Parcours looks to engage with Basel’s past and present by weaving artistic interventions into the fabric of the specific location each edition inhabits. Florence Derieux, Director of FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, will curate Parcours for the third consecutive year. The sector will be open to the public from Wednesday June 17 to Sunday June 21, culminating in Parcours Night on Saturday June 20—an evening of late night openings of all Parcours projects, a special intervention by Lara Schnitger and an evening program curated by Derieux of performances by Rosa Barba, Julien Bismuth and Erkka Nissinen as well as a DJ set by Haroon Mirza with London-based band Factory Floor. As part of the evening, Art Basel with HeK (House of electronic Arts Basel) will present a new live performance by Edwin van der Heide. “LSP” is a series in which the artist creates composed relationships between light and sound in space.

Art Basel Announces Unlimited: Presenting 74 Large-scale Works Spanning Five Decadesunique platform. Unlimited, a section dedicated to artworks that transcend the traditional art-fair stand, will this year present 74 projects from galleries participating in the show. Curated for the fourth consecutive year by Gianni Jetzer, curator-at-large at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., Unlimited will showcase a strong selection of works by renowned international artists including Ai Weiwei, Kenneth Anger, John M. Armleder, Ed Atkins, Kader Attia, Julius von Bismarck, Martin Boyce, Martin Creed, Olafur Eliasson, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Dan Flavin, Gilbert & George, John Gerrard, Shilpa Gupta, Jeppe Hein, Pierre Huyghe, Robert Irwin, Jannis Kounellis, Ryan McGinley, Bruce Nauman, Roman Ondák, Pedro Reyes, David Shrigley, Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Sturtevant and Zhang Enli.

Since first introduced at Art Basel in 2000, Unlimited has become a key element of the show, providing galleries with an opportunity to showcase large-scale sculptures, video projections, installations, wall paintings, photographic series and performance art which could not be exhibited in a gallery booth. Unlimited, Art Basel’s unique platform for artworks that transcend the traditional art-fair stand, will this year present 74 projects from galleries participating in the show. Curated for the fourth consecutive year by Gianni Jetzer, curator-at-large at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC, Unlimited will showcase a strong selection of works by renowned international artists including Ai Weiwei, Kenneth Anger, John M. Armleder, Ed Atkins, Kader Attia, Julius von Bismarck, Martin Boyce, Martin Creed, Olafur Eliasson, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Dan Flavin, Gilbert & George, John Gerrard, Shilpa Gupta, Jeppe Hein, Pierre Huyghe, Robert Irwin, Jannis Kounellis, Ryan McGinley, Bruce Nauman, Roman Ondák, Pedro Reyes, David Shrigley, Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Sturtevant and Zhang Enli.  Since first introduced at Art Basel in 2000, Unlimited has become a key element of the show, providing galleries with an opportunity to showcase large-scale sculptures, video projections, installations, wall paintings, photographic series and performance art which could not be exhibited in a gallery booth. 

Highlights of Unlimited will include Ai Weiwei’s ‘Stacked’ (2012), created out of 760 symbolic Forever Bicycles, the most widely used bicycles in China, presented by Galleria Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Boissy-le-Châtel). Presented by Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris, Salzburg), Sturtevant’s ‘Gonzalez-Torres Untitled (Blue Placebo)’ (2004) is a repetition of the most iconic conceptual work by the Cuban-born American artist who died of AIDS in 1996. Lisson Gallery (London, Milan, New York, Singapore) will present Pedro Reyes’ ‘Disarm (Mechanized) ll’ (2014), part of his ambitious international project in which confiscated firearms are used to fabricate musical instruments. Kader Attia’s large-scale installation ‘Arab Spring’ (2014), presented by Galleria Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Boissy-le-Châtel), addresses the failure of the revolution that swept across the Middle East in early 2011. The idea behind the work was triggered by the plunder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Attia’s installation employs those same showcases that were smashed during the attack, which the museum has kept on display as an act of remembrance. Whenever the work is shown, the artist reenacts the revolts by destroying the display cases with stones, again and again. The work reflects on how riots are motivated by the utopian revolutionary idea to improve the world through change. Presented by Luciana Brito Galeria (São Paulo), Héctor Zamora’s installation of eight suspended parachutes ‘OG-107 Scenery’ (2012) challenges the limits of gravity, commenting on political structures. As simple as walking may seem to most of us, for the characters in Martin Creed‘s video ‘Work No. 1701’ (2013), presented by Gavin Brown’s enterprise (New York, Los Angeles) and Hauser & Wirth (Zurich, New York, London), it is an concerted effort; their gaits and rhythms becoming conspicuous parts of their personality. Stephen Friedman Gallery (London) will show David Shrigley’s participatory work ‘Life Model’ (2012) in which a three-meter high sculpture will be displayed in a traditional life class drawing room, with visitors invited to draw what they see. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (New York) will present Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Your space embracer’ (2004), a historically significant work in his practice using light as both tool and subject. John Gerrard’s ‘Solar Reserve (Tonopah, Nevada) 2014’ (2014), presented by Thomas

Art Basel’s Conversations and Salon series will once again bring together key speakers including leading artists, gallerists, art historians, curators, museum directors, critics, and collectors from across the world to discuss a diverse range of topics. The 27 talks will feature speakers including, Rosella Biscotti, Julien Bismuth, Mariana Castillo Deball, Simone Fattal, Matthew Higgs, Susan Hiller, Christian Jankowski, Jean Lamore, Lu Jie, Jumana Manna, Robin Meier, Aïda Muluneh, Ciprian Mureşan, Shelly Nadashi, Moataz Nasr, Erkka Nissinen, Wael Shawky, Lara Schnitger, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Barthélémy Toguo, Ulay, Danh Vō, Peter Wächtler and Anicka Yi.

Art Basel’s Conversations series launches with the Premiere Artist Talk, which will see Vietnamese-born Danish artist Danh Vō discuss his most recent and innovative projects, including his presentation at the Venice Biennale, with Manuela Ammer, curator, mumok, Vienna. As part of a larger focus on the African continent in the Conversations and Salon program, András Szántó, author and cultural consultant, leads a discussion as part of the Public/Private series on Thursday morning entitled ‘Works in Progress: Building New Art Institutions in Africa’. The talk will evaluate both the promise and challenges of a continent that is commanding increasing interest from the international arts community with Marie-Cécile Zinsou, president, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Benin; Touria El Glaoui< /b>, fou nder, 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London; Koyo Kouoh, founding artistic director, RAW Material Company, Dakar; Mark Coetzee, director and chief curator, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town and Raphael Chikukwa, chief curator, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.

As part of his ongoing series on the diversity of artistic practice, a panel led by Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director, Serpentine Gallery, London, will focus on ‘The Artist as Archaeologist’. The 10th installment of the series will bring together several artists from a range of generations whose work takes inspiration from archaeology, excavation or research. On Saturday, the Conversations panel offers a dialogue about the unique and essential relationship between artists and their gallerists with Andrée Sfeir-Semler, director, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg/Beirut and Egyptian artist Wael Shawky. On Sunday, ‘Rethinking Kunsthalles and Non Profits’, moderated by Marc-Olivier Wahler, founder and director, Chalet Society, Paris, looks into the evolution of the Kunsthalle with Anthony Huberman, direct or and c hief curator, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; Matthew Higgs, artist, director and chief curator, White Columns, New York; Elena Filipovic, director and chief curator, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel; Solveig Øvstebø, executive director and chief curator, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, and Samuel Leuenberger, director and curator, SALTS, Basel.

Highlights of the afternoon Salon program, an open platform for short presentations, includes a discussion on Milan in the 60s focusing on Italian artist Paolo Scheggi. Moderated by Mirta d’Argenzio, art historian, Rome, the panel includes Bernard Blistène, director, Département du Développement Culturel at Centre Pompidou and director, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris; Luca Massimo Barbero, associate curator, Peggy Guggenheim Collection and editor of the upcoming ‘Paolo Scheggi: Catalogue Raisonné’, Venice. As part of Josh Baer’s series on the art market, the publisher of Baer Faxt and art advisor, will discuss ‘Commissioning in Today’s Market’ with Benjamin Weil, artistic director, Centro Botín, Santander, Spain; Heike Munder, director, Migros Museum fü r Gegenwartskunst, Zürich; Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, president, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin and Marc Payot, partner and vice president, Hauser & Wirth, New York. 

On Friday, highlights include a discussion on the power of contemporary art with Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, curator, art critic and director, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin; Moataz Nasr, artist and founder, Darb 1718 Contemporary Art & Culture Center, Cairo; Jean Lamore, artist, writer and filmmaker, Paris and Chris Dercon, director, Tate Modern, London, moderated by Simon Njami, writer, independent curator, founder and chief editor, Revue Noire, Paris. Chus Martinez, head of the Art Institute at Academy of Art and Design, FHNW, Basel, will moderate a discussion entitled ‘The Caribbean is the Future of Art’ with Sara Hermann, Dominican art historian and curator, Dominican Republic; Yasmil Raymond, curator of Allora & Calzadilla’s ‘Puerto Rican Lig ht (Cuev a Vientos)’, Puerto Rico, and as part of the Art Market series Olav Velthuis, associate professor, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, and Stefano Baia Curioni, associate professor, Università Bocconi, Milan, will moderate ‘The Myth of a Global Art Market’ with Lu Jie, artist, curator and founder, Long March Space and Project, Beijing; Marcio Botner, artist, founder of A Gentil Carioca and CEO Ocalage, Rio de Janeiro. 

As part of the Salon talks on Africa, Bomi Odufunade, director, Dash & Rallo Art Advisory, London/Lagos will be moderating ‘Collecting Africa’ with Prince Yemisi Shyllon, collector and founder, Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation, Lagos and Bruce Campbell Smith, collector, Cape Town. The Salon program will then end on Sunday with a discussion moderated by Maxa Zoller, curator of Art Basel’s Film sector and independent curator, Cairo, on ‘Beyond Austerity: Supporting Art in Cultural Crisis’ with Aleya Hamza, founder of Gypsum Gallery, Cairo; Katalin Timar, lecturer, Theory and Art History, University of Pecs, Pécsi, Hungary; Övül Durmuşoğlu, curator and writer, Berlin/Istanbul and Khaled Jalanbo, director, The Jalanbo Collection, New York.

The Davidoff Art Initiative (DAI) will add the fourth component to its global Art Residency program – an annual residency for Caribbean artists or curators at Atelier Mondial in Basel, Switzerland, in collaboration with the Institute of Art at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design. The residencies will take place from October to December each year, starting in 2015.

Atelier Mondial’s studios are located in the newly constructed building complex at Freilager-Platz in the Dreispitz area, an emerging art zone just behind the Swiss railway station. The complex is directly opposite a new FHNW high-rise, designed by the architects Morger & Dettli, and the so-called “offspaces” – a cluster of independent, non-commercial exhibition spaces. Each year, the Davidoff Art Initiative will invite one artist or curator from the Caribbean to participate in a three-month residency at Atelier Mondial. 

“It is my firm belief that the Caribbean region has some of the most exciting voices in the contemporary art world today,” said Chus Martinez, Head of the Institute of Art at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel. “Yet these artists and curators are often overlooked. They demand our urgent attention. The new residency collaboration will be an important vehicle to developing a deeper and much needed cultural bridge between our respective regions.”

Earlier in 2015, DAI started a new residency for international artists visiting the Caribbean, in collaboration with the Altos de Chavón School of Design, in La Romana, Dominican Republic. DAI has three further international partner residencies for Caribbean artists in New York, Berlin and Beijing. 

If you’re more experimental

VOLTA11 Basel JUNE 15–20, 2015

Basel’s renowned art fair for new and emerging art.

VOLTA, the renowned art fair for new and emerging art, debuted in Basel in 2005 as a collaboration between dealers and friends. The aim was to secure a platform for international galleries beyond young art stalwart Liste and market heavyweight Art Basel. Concerns and aspirations of the exhibiting gallerists have been first and foremost since VOLTA’s inception; in combination with the curatorial mind of Artistic Director Amanda Coulson, eclectic and dynamic presentations with a strong focus on solo presentations find a stage as refined as at the main fair. Over a decade on, VOLTA remains committed to the same values and spirit and now, in our ‘pre-teen years’, we are ready — in the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel — to GO TO 11!

LISTE encourages and showcases young galleries with artists under the age of 40, although the rules have recently relaxed to include more established figures. It takes place in a warren-like former brewery, where an outside zigzag staircase has been added to alleviate the congestion. The art tends to be audacious and messy, with a focus on performance art. – LISTE art fair from 15 to 21 June 2015

SCOPE eighth edition,returns to its new location in Klybeckquai on the Rhine, that is presented as an up and coming cultural development in Basel, but is in fact desolate and difficult to reach. But it’s worth the detour to get a flavour of new tendencies, some of them bold and brash. SCOPE showcases 75 international exhibitors alongside 20 ‘Breeder Program Galleries’, incubators for emerging art. SCOPE Art Shows in Miami, Basel, New York, London and the Hamptons boast an attendance of over 1,000,000 visitors. The art tends to be aggressively market-oriented. – Scope in Basel from 17 to 21 June 2015

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