Art Basel 42: a week of highlights

Art Basel 42: a week of highlights This time, the 42nd edition of Art Basel is going to be based in Basel, Switzerland and will last from June 15th through June 19th, 2011. Being the leading yearly art fair, Art Basel represents the seasonal gathering of the global art scene, taking place right in the heart of the city of Basel, which has now played the role of artistic hub for a long time...

Published on Monday, June 13th, 2011 Art Basel was born in 1970 and established by a group of local gallerists. Since then the fair has comfortably positioned itself as the most prominent annual global art show. The eminence and variety of the art pieces recurrently shown grasp the attention of over 60,000 people including artists, gallerists, collectors, curators, museum directors, and art lovers. Art 42 Basel displays every type of artistic expression: paintings, sculptures, photography, editions, installations, performances, drawings and video art. Reasonably priced works by promising artists are on sale, along with excellent works of art worth millions. The galleries exhibiting their works are over 300, chosen by the Art Basel Committee, an international board of judges made up of notorious gallerists, from more than 1,000 applicants. They come from 35 different countries spread over the six continents of the globe. What more could one ask for? Yet again, 99% of the most important international galleries will be present at the show. Diverse and new exhibitors enhance this edition’s tough list of habitual applicants. Emerging for the first time in Art Galleries are: Concept (Paris), Bortolami (New York), Blondeau (Geneva), Cabinet (London), Isabella Bortolozzi (Berlin), gb agency (Paris), Joanna Kamm (Berlin), Holland-Hibbert (London), Regina (Moscow), Standard (Oslo), Vintage (Budapest) and Sfeir-Semler (Beirut). After a short break, Moeller Fine Art (New York) and Szwajcer (Antwerp) rejoin Art Basel’s exhibitors in the Art Galleries sector. The multiples specialists in Art Edition are joined by Three Star Books (Paris). The art pieces displayed have the signature of more than 2.500 artists belonging to this current generation as well as the previous one. Basel is an excellent location for art talent scouting, so much so that there’s a section especially created for this reason: Art Statements highlights 26 stands from uprising international galleries each respectively representing their top emerging artist. From 1999, the Baloise Group has honored its yearly Baloise Art Prize to two exceptional Art Statements' projects. This year, the prize is worth CHF 30,000 for each artist. Moreover Baloise Group will purchase artworks by the prize-winning artists and thus make a contribution to the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien. Besides, those galleries present in the show, additional number of 50 impressive art pieces within the Art Unlimited division will be displayed. The exhibition theory linked with Art Unlimited has once again been structured in cooperation with Geneva curator Simon Lamunière. The fair is spread out all over Basel, thanks to the site-specific schemes and accomplishments present in the Art Parcours segment, which this year will renovate a number of structures all through the neighbourhood of St. Alban. At the same time, the major cultural institutions of town, them being museum institutions, will show dazzling exhibitions dedicated to artists such as Richard Serra, Constantin Brancusi, Konrad Witz, Quaytman, Francis Alÿs, R.H. and Henrik Olesen. Following a greatly celebrated first appearance last year, Art Feature concentrates on accurate curatorial exhibitions. In fact a number of 20 gallery projects – characterized by artistic discussions, outstanding art material will be staged every morning (June 15 to June 19), and solo exhibitions - will be introduced on both floors of Hall 2, next to the Art Galleries division. Going back to discussions, Art Basel Conversations will be going on every morning during the week, assembling together principal components of the worldwide art scene. The Premiere of the Art Basel Conversations focuses on a celebrated artists. Additional themes comprise: ‘Public/Private: How Will Museums Be Able to Collect,’ 'Collector Focus: Patronage and Politics,' ‘The Future of Artistic Practice: The Artist as Urbanist,’ and 'What is Alternative – Alternative to What?' Moreover, a widespread day-by-day list of artist talks, book signings, and more will be the highlights of the Art Salon forum every day. Art Basel hosts a number of films both created by and regarding artists. The Art Filmsection is curated by Berlin film academic Marc Glöde (Berlin) and This Brunner, the Zürich collector with an extensive power in the global film scene. Marc Glöde's program introduces films by artists which are separated into four collections on diverse subjects. curated by eleonora galasso 42 Art Basel June 15th to 19th, 2011 Hall 1+2 Messeplatz, 4005 Basel, Switzerland Opening Hours: Wednesday 15th to Sunday 19th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Info: www.artbasel.com

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