SPECIAL EDITION: Art Basel #1
Sharon Lockhart, Five Dances and Nine Wall Carpets by Noa Eshkol, Production still, 2011, 5-channel installation: 35mm color/sound film transferred to HD, continuous loop. Courtesy of neugierriemschneider. Art Basel Hall 2.1, Booth H7.
Basel Basics...
by Gabriella Picone & the ArtSlant Team
It's the “mother of all fairs.” It's the "premier international art show.” It's the "Olympics of the art world.” Can't guess? Art Basel!
Now in its 43rd edition, Art Basel has been red-carpeting the collectors and giving the rest of us art lovers something to gawk at since 1970. And if that's not enough, now we've got Miami (since 2002) and Hong Kong (coming 2013).
On to the basics. First of all, what's with the CH for Switzerland? That's really confusing. I suppose it's the CHeese, the CHocolate, and the CHa-CHing of the banks. That's where your Basel basics should begin because these three staples will get you through the Basel gauntlet (the real story on the CH). And don't forget to brush up on your parlez, your sprechen and your grazie mille because you never know what language to use...just give up on the Baseldytsch because that's a whole other lifetime. Finally, beware that trams wait for no one, and that includes naive pedestrians crossing in front of them. So duck and run and watch those Helvetica's...
Ann Craven, Roses (Early Morning Glory, Mirrored), 2010, Oil on canvas, 60x48 in. Courtesy of Art Basel and Maccarone, NY. Art Basel Hall 2.1, Booth K2.
There are nearly 300 participating galleries at Art Basel this year, most of which returned from last year; however some of the first time participants to look out for areMiguel Abreu Gallery from New York, Maccarone from New York, ProjecteSD from Barcelona, and Thomas Dane Gallery from London. Other not-to-miss newness: the “Art Statements” sector presenting 27 solo shows by younger artists. This less-commercial sector is a platform for emerging artists, along with an opportunity to compete for the 30,000 CHF Baloise Art Prize. This year our fingers are pointing towards Czech artist Dominik Lang (who also exhibited at the 54th Venice Biennale), Berlin-based artist Oliver Laric and Parisian artist Elodie Seguin...
For more Basel Basics, including picks, performances, and projects, click here...
See you in Basel!
--the ArtSlant Team
FAIR WATCH - Alex Israel
Alex Israel, Minerva, 2011, Rented cinema prop, 50 x 25 x 30 cm; Image courtesy of Peres Projects. Art Statements, Hall 1.0, Booth S25.
Los Angeles-based artist Alex Israel is being featured in the Art Statements solo shows at Art Basel 2012 with Peres Projects. Using rented movie house props, Israel arranges temporary sculptural readymades before the props are returned to the industry's cycle of use and re-use. Devon Caranicas interviewed Alex Israel on the occasion of his 2011 solo show in Berlin:
DC: You were saying before that choosing your sculptures from the prop rental store is like casting.AI: Yes, I go to the prop house and see thousands of objects. I take snapshots and dimensions of the ones that strike me, and then I begin a long process of trying to form an exhibition from this data...
FAIR WATCH - Matthew Metzger
Matthew Metzger, Insert, 2012, Clear Plexi-Glass and Black Acrylic Paint, 30,16 x 30,16 cm; Image courtesy of Arratia Beer. Art Statements, Hall 1.0, Booth S06.
Matthew Metzger, also featured in Art Statements, with Arratia Beer of Berlin, draws his material from the languages of art history and music, all while questioning the medium of painting. For more on Matthew Metzger's work, read Abraham Ritchie's review of his exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago:
...In that spirit it is clear that Metzger is both challenging and attempting to move past the artists he clearly admires, and it is refreshing to see an artist so clearly engaged with recent art history to move forward, especially within painting...
FAIR WATCH - Kathrin Affentranger
TALK OF THE TOWN -
Obstacle Course with Occasional Clowns: Kathryn Andrews at Art Parcours
by Andrew Berardini
Kathryn Andrews, Rainbow Successor, 2011, stainless steel, rented costume, 73 x 51 3/4 x 48 inches (185.4 x 131.4 x 121.9 cm); Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Art Basel Hall 2.1, Booth L6. Photography: Brian Forrest.
For the 3rd time, Art Basel has something this year called Art Parcours Night. It's not de rigeur to admit aloud that you don't know something, but I had to look up the definition of "parcours." I asked my good friend/slave-driving nemesis -- the Internet -- and according to Wikipedia, a "parcours" is "a physical discipline and non-competitive sport which focuses on efficient movement around obstacles."
In other words, a working definition of an art fair. Some conjecture/complain/lament, that the modern art fair experience is one that requires physical discipline, although I'm not entirely sure if art fair-going wholly qualifies as a non-competitive sport, but I suppose that depends on the individual. Perhaps the Art Parcours Night is the part of the fair that's just for practice, not for sale as it were. Will this year's Art Parcours require efficient movement around obstacles? I believe, in a weird way, it will. Read more about Art Parcours and Kathryn Andrews here...
Art Parcours OPENING NIGHT
Features a special evening extravaganza conceived by L.A. based artist Kathryn Andrews including creepy clowns, elastic acrobats, thundering musicians, clumsy jugglers, mysterious magicians and extended opening hours for all Art Parcours sites.
Wednesday, June 13, 8pm – 12 midnight
St. Johann Rheinweg, Basel and Art Parcours locations
Open to public, free of charge, bars and food vendors on-site
Features a special evening extravaganza conceived by L.A. based artist Kathryn Andrews including creepy clowns, elastic acrobats, thundering musicians, clumsy jugglers, mysterious magicians and extended opening hours for all Art Parcours sites.
Wednesday, June 13, 8pm – 12 midnight
St. Johann Rheinweg, Basel and Art Parcours locations
Open to public, free of charge, bars and food vendors on-site
ARTSLANT INSIDERS* - ArtSlant is a global network and community of artists and art professionals. Our Insider sponsorships allow exposure and recognition to network members on a worldwide basis.
Friedhard Meyer
Friedhard Meyer, Magnetomia, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 100cm.
Friedhard Meyer - Friedhard Meyer's practice could be characterized as spontaneous, and unconstrained. Rather than rigorously working from a preconceived idea for a painting, themes develop in a gradual interplay between design, idea and materials. Friedhard Meyer's work has been exhibited throughout Germany and internationally, and has been the subject of numerous awards. Meyer resides in Bad Neustadt, Germany.
Marcia Freedman
Marcia Freedman, Bound, oil on canvas, 36 x 72 in.Marcia Freedman - Marcia Freedman's paintings derive from organic forms found within the landscape or the human body -- images of pods, organs, body parts, rocks and cellular forms -- fragmented, deconstructed, and reconfigured into abstractions. Freedman received her MFA from Wayne State University in Detroit, and has exhibited widely throughout the United States. Marcia Freedman maintains a studio in Detroit, Michigan.
Miro Tomarkin
Miro Tomarkin, No reason to change policies - ship is on course!, 2012, oil on canvas, 61 x 44cm.
Miro Tomarkin - Miro Tomarkin's paintings combine a playful sense of color with a surreal sensibility, yet their whimsical aesthetics often belie subjects of sharp satire, political statements and cultural critique. Tomarkin's painting above was awarded as an ArtSlant Showcase Winner in 2012. Miro Tomarkin was born in Germany and currently lives and works in London.
William T. Rohe
William T. Rohe, Greek Urns, 2007, oil on canvas, 80 x 120cm.
William T. Rohe - An artist and architect, William T. Rohe works in sculpture, painting, drawing, and mixed-media. Throughout his works, a primary concern is the interplay of light, shadow, and form, whether in painting copies of Greek antiquities or in crafting sculptural montages. Rohe lives on the island of Aegina, in Greece.
Debbi Chan
Debbi Chan, Bovine Duo, 2012, watercolor and ink on painting silk, 20 x 16 in.
Debbi Chan - Debbi Chan's representations of the natural world stem from traditions of Chinese painting. Chan also creates deep relief carvings in natural materials such as wood, stone, bone, and antler, as well as working in other media such as embroidery, etchings, and prints. Debbi Chan lives and works in Idaho, United States.
Robert Froh
Robert Froh, Lucie Gervasi, 2012, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 24 x 30cm.
Robert Froh - Picasso once said, "Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” American artist Robert Froh turns to his surroundings and daily life for inspiration, painting the people, places, and things around him. Robert Froh lives and works in Barcelona, Spain.
Christine Chemin
Christine Chemin - Christine Chemin was born in the Ivory Coast, Africa, to French parents. She studied engineering in the United States and lives now in Ecuador. The themes and colors of Christine's early paintings reflect the strong African influence of her childhood. Towards the end of 2007, Christine dedicated herself to an equine series EQUUS, which has been featured in numerous magazines and exhibitions, most recently in the International Contemporary Art Biennial of Florence, Italy.
Christine Chemin, ENTRE-RAYAS, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 110cm.
Thank you to Art Basel and all of the galleries, organizations, institutions, curators and artists who bring us this Basel extravaganza.
For more information on our Special Edition packages featuring ArtSlant Insiders and Watchlist for galleries, artists and art services, please contact Sunny@artslant.com.
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