Art Basel in Basel 2021 Edition
With a physical and digital Program
The Basel show returns with compelling presentations across its special sectors: Unlimited, featuring large–scale installations that transcend traditional art fair stands; Parcours, showcasing site–specific works throughout the city of Basel; Film; and Conversations – while the city’s Messeplatz once again is activated with site–specific interventions by artists Monster Chetwynd and Cecilia Bengolea.
Bringing together Art Basel’s physical and digital platforms in a new scale, the Basel edition embraces a hybrid format. Art Basel Live, the digital initiative which first debuted at Art Basel Hong Kong, will amplify the onsite presentations in Basel, transmitting the vibrancy and excitement from the show floor to the broadest possible global audience through a digital program comprising Online Viewing Rooms, virtual walkthroughs, and social media broadcasts.
The 2021 edition of Art Basel features 272 leading galleries from across the globe presenting the highest quality of works across all media, from rare and historical masterpieces to new works by today’s emerging artistic voices. In addition to showcasing exceptional art within its Galleries, Features, Statements, and Edition sectors, the fair also presents 62 large–scale artworks in Unlimited; 20 site–specific projects as part of Parcours; two performative interventions by artists Monster Chetwynd and Cecilia Bengolea; an ambitious Film program; as well as the fair’s renowned talks series, Conversations.
‘The scale and ambition of this year’s Unlimited and Parcours are testament to the dedication of our participating galleries,’ said Marc Spiegler, Global Director of Art Basel.
‘They are boldly presenting complex projects, many conceived before the pandemic, which now take on new meaning.’
Galleries
The show’s main sector this year presents 272 leading galleries, showing painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, photography, video, digital, and editioned works of the highest quality. Six joint booths will be featured in the sector, including: The Approach and Kate MacGarry, Bergamin & Gomide and Galeria Luisa Strina, Konrad Fischer Galerie and Peter Freeman, Inc., Galería Elvira González and Anthony Meier Fine Arts, Madragoa and Galeria Dawid Radziszewski, and David Nolan Gallery and Sperone Westwater. Galerie Jocelyn Wolff’s booth hosts Take Ninagawa as a ‘Wunderkammer’ booth presentation, a new concept allowing exhibitors to stage small exhibitions within another gallery’s stand, while Antenna Space, ShanghART Gallery, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, and Vitamin Creative Space will participate with satellite booths. For the full list of exhibitors in Galleries, please visit artbasel.com/basel/galleries.
Other Highlights include:
– Carl Andre‘s sculpture ‘Mastaba’ (1978) presented by Konrad Fischer Galerie
– Robert Rauschenberg‘s large–format painting ‘Rollings (Salvage)‘ (1984) presented by Thaddaeus Ropac
– Urs Fischer‘s installation ‘Untitled (Bread House)‘ (2004–2006) presented by Jeffrey Deitch
– Lebanese artist Etel Adnan‘s work titled ‘Le Soleil Toujours’ (2020) presented by Sfeir–Semler Gallery
– Guyanese artist Frank Bowling‘s painting ‘Samson’s Circle with Lila’s dress made in Africa of imported Chinese fabric: and the rest‘ (2019) presented by Hauser & Wirth
– After Russell Lee: 1–60‘ (2016), a photographic series by Sherrie Levine presented by David Zwirner
– Carrie Mae Weems‘s ‘Repeating the Obvious’ (2019) presented by Jack Shainman Gallery and Galerie Barbara Thumm
– ‘Entrare nel linguaggio’ (2019–2021), a textile installation by Marion Baruch, completed especially for Unlimited 2021, presented by Galerie Urs Meile
– David Hockney‘s photographic drawing ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ (2018/2021) presented by Gray and exhibited at Unlimited for the first time.
Feature
The sector brings together ambitiously curated solo or duo presentations by 24 galleries, including 11 first–time exhibitors. Highlights from the sector include: Ben Brown Fine Arts’ booth, which explores Lucio Fontana’s beginnings and evolution as a sculptor; Galerie Jérôme Poggi’s presentation of Prix Marcel Duchamp 2020 winner Kapwani Kiwanga’s ‘The Botanics of History’, which focuses on the artist’s works related to plants and botany; one of the first computer–generated poems by Alison Knowles, presented by James Fuentes; Kasmin’s presentation of significant works by Lee Krasner, tracing early experimentations with Modernism and Cubism that would inform the artist’s mature visual language in the decades to follow; and Mira Schor’s monumental painting ‘War Frieze’ (1991–1994), addressing militarism and patriarchy, presented by Lyles & King.
Statements
Dedicated to emerging artists across the globe, Statements features 18 solo presentations this year. Highlights from the sector include: ‘In A Sign for Things to Come’ by Vartan Avakian, who works with the volatility, fragility, and flux of neon signs against the backdrop of the economic and political landscape in Lebanon, presented by Marfa‘; Company Gallery’s presentation of an immersive installation by Jonathan Lyndon Chase that pays homage to the American mall, a place that the artist remembers as a safe haven while growing up queer and Black; Jessica Silverman’s booth comprised of sculptural works by Rose Bean Simpson, including post–apocalyptic figures that channel the spirits of high art, Pueblo myths, and queer hip–hop; and LambdaLambdaLambda‘s presentation of Hana Miletić‘s hand–woven textile works based on photographs taken in the public space of Pristina, Kosovo, in which the weaving process becomes a way to counteract the economic, political, and social forces at work.
Unlimited
Unlimited, Art Basel’s unique platform for large–scale projects, provides galleries the opportunity to showcase expansive installations, monumental sculptures, vast wall paintings, extensive photographic series, and video projections that transcend the traditional art fair stand. Taking place once again in Hall 1, Unlimited will be curated for the first time by Giovanni Carmine, Director of the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen.
Giovanni Carmine said:
‘The pandemic has amplified our need for direct engagement with the ‘originalsʼ. Our encounters with art have intensified: our attention and lust for discussion is on the rise. In this context, Unlimited turns out to be the ideal stage to experience these feelings in a real space – to relish in them, to reflect upon them.‘
A limited–edition catalog, published by Hatje Cantz, will accompany Unlimited, including descriptive texts and images of each artwork. The catalog will be on sale at the show as well as in bookshops for CHF 60.
Parcours
Parcours returns to the city of Basel, featuring 20 site–specific installations and performances throughout the city center. Once again curated by Samuel Leuenberger, founder of the non–profit exhibition space SALTS in Birsfelden, Switzerland, this year’s Parcours takes place across civic and private spaces, as well as new venues, under the theme ‘Can We Find Happiness Together Again?’. Some of the many highlights include:
– 12 large–scale paintings and performances by Claudia Comte presented by Gladstone Gallery and König Galerie at the Stadtcasino, Basel
– An open–floor–based composition by Jason Dodge at the Kunstmuseum Basel presented by Galleria Franco Noero
– A public walk by Hamish Fulton titled ‘Walking in Every Direction’ on Basel’s Marktplatz presented by Galerie Tschudi
– ‘Neopets’, a large–scale sculpture by Bunny Rogers presented by Société
– ‘Mudmen’, a site–specific installation by Augustas Serapinas presented by Emalin
– Sculptural installations by Pedro Wirz at the Kunsthalle Basel presented by Galerie Nagel Draxler.
Samuel Leuenberger said:
‘Through a focus on care and congeniality, this edition aims to cultivate commonalities and allied thinking across the more invisible layers, ones of deep friendship and trust, where its participants as well as visitors can find their rightful joy in participating.’
Art Basel LIVE
As part of Art Basel Live, Art Basel’s digital initiative amplifying its in–person shows to engage online audiences worldwide, Unlimited and Parcours presentations are featured indedicated Online Viewing Rooms specifically developed to give additional insight into these large–scale projects. Presentations are contextualized with a curator audio guide.
Baloise Art Prize
The 22nd Baloise Art Prize, comprising a cash prize of CHF 30,000 per winner, is awarded to up to two artists exhibiting in Statements. In addition, the Baloise Group will acquire works by the selected artists and donate them to two leading European museums, which will hold solo exhibitions of theartists’ works.
Edition
Spread throughout both floors of Hall 2 for the first time, the sector features 10 leading galleries in the field of prints and editioned works: Niels Borch Jensen Gallery and Editions, Cristea Roberts Gallery, Sabine Knust, Lelong Editions, Carolina Nitsch, Paragon, Polígrafa Obra Gràfica, René Schmitt, Susan Sheehan Gallery, and STPI participating with a satellite booth. Lelong Editions showcases ‘Borders’ by Barthélémy Toguo on the Spotlight wall facing the Rundhof.
Messeplatz
Basel’s Messeplatz features public art projects by artists Monster Chetwynd and Cecilia Bengolea, engaging the fair’s visitors as well as the city’s residents.
Film
Screened at Stadtkino Basel, the Film program is for the first time curated by Lisbon–born writer and lecturer Filipa Ramos, who is the co–founder and curator of Vdrome. In addition, Marian Masone, New York–based film curator, will select two outstanding film portraits of artists that will bescreened during the show week.
Conversations
The Conversations program offers audiences access to first–hand information on the international art world and is programmed by Art Basel and the Berlin–based artist Julieta Aranda.
*The panels take place in the auditorium.
Exhibitions in Basel
Visitors to Basel during the show week are offered a range of outstanding exhibitions by the city’s leading museums. Major exhibitions coinciding with Art Basel include:
• Fondation Beyeler
‘Close–up’
• Kunstmuseum Basel
‘Kara Walker: A Black Hole is Everything a Star Longs to Be’
‘Shadows: Images and Imagination’
‘Camille Pissarro: The Studio of Modernism’
• Kunsthalle Basel
‘Matthew Angelo Harrison: Proto’
‘INFORMATION (Today)’
‘Yoan Mudry: Rückwand–Projekt’
• Kunsthaus Baselland
‘Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger: Eine Augenübung zur Freude des Hauses
Jahresaussenprojekt’
‘Marina Rosenfeld: We’ll start a fire’
‘Andrea Blum: Parallel Lives’
• Museum Tinguely
‘Bruce Conner. Light out of Darkness’
‘Museum Tinguely AHOY!’
• Vitra Design Museum
‘Spot On: Women Designers in the Collection!’
‘Memphis: 40 Years of Kitsch and Elegance’
Design Miami/ Basel
Design Miami/Basel, the global forum for collectible design, presents the 15th edition of their Basel fair from September 21 to 26, 2021, with the Collectors and VIP Preview on Monday, September 20 (by invitation only). The fair returns to Hall 1 Süd on Messeplatz and presents more than 40 exhibitors showcasing historic and contemporary design alongside a robust cultural program. The fair will also be offered in a hybrid event format online, where all exhibited works will be available for purchase for a limited time.
*Art Basel’s highest priority remains the health and safety of its staff, exhibitors, and visitors, and the show’s design and logistics will be adapted to ensure a safe fair environment. In compliance with the regulations set forth by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, all visitors to the fair need to be fully vaccinated against COVID–19, provide a recent negative COVID–19 test, or be fully recovered. For further details on the health and safety measurements for the show, please visit artbasel.com/basel/at–the–show.
Art Basel in Basel 2021
20-26 September 2021
Basel, Switzerland