As you may have heard, despite war in Syria, refugees escaping conflict and poverty, a crazy Korean popping of missiles, the US economy going wobbly, Donald Trump being nominated for US Republican presidential candidate and going wobbly, a crack down on censorship here, there and, well, there, a terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Miami, England voting for obscurity (did you know about their referendum this week?), DESPITE ALL OF THAT, Art Basel did just great. Orgasmic sums of money changed hands (just read the post-Basel press releases). But there was also great art. Oh and it was rainy. SO rainy.
Notes & Memes Performance art, Jannis Kounellis, Seth Price, pavilions, architect designed booths, immigration, refugees, surveillance, green trousers (again),…
Chinese art No, not much this year, except for some major works in Art Unlimited: Ding Yi, Cheng Ran, Colin Siyuan Chinnery, Birdhead. And not many galleries: ShanghART, Vitamin Creative Space, Long March Space, and Galerie Urs Meile and Galleria Continua, and Marlborough had a Song Yige, and Thaddaeus Ropac had a Yan Pei Ming. Hmm. But compare the prices: great art from China is cheap compared to (often not so great art) from Western galleries, or even Chinese art in Western galleries.
Classics & Masters Art Basel is not just about selling famous one-name artists—the Picassos, Pollocks and Warhols—but also about remembering other masters, whether still living—Haim Stainbach, Jannis Kounellis, and Liang Shaoji and Seth Price; or not—László Maholy-Nagy.
Performance art was not only present in Art Unlimited–here Jannis Kounellis “Da inventare sul posto” (To Invent on the Spot), 1972, with Cy Twombley-esque painting, it was first performed at Documenta 5 in 1972 and maybe, just maybe, he is not taking it altogether Cyrioiusly (Luxembourg & Dayan, New York & London
Perfection. Roy Lichtenstein “Landscape with Red Sky” 1985 (Kukje Gallery, Seoul & Tina Kim Gallery, New York)
László Maholy-Nagy—Almost unpronounceable Modern hero slowly being remembered (some never forgot)
A hugely underrated artist—Liang Shaoji “Nature Series Candle”, 2011 (ShanghART, Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore)
Jackson Pollock at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.
Anna Opperman in the Feature section was a new iteration of the late artist’s recent show at Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Feature section
Vanguard video artist, Lynn Hershman Leeson’s “Roberta Breitmore Series” was in the Feature section (Waldburger Wouters, Brussels)
Statements This is the section for young, emerging galleries with solo-presentations.
Mary Reid Kelley’s “This Is Offal”. video work won the Baloise Art Prize in the Statements section (Arratia Beer, Berlin)
Jasper Spicero “T.U.R.T.L.E.” 2016 (Johan Berggren Gallery, Helsinki) in Statements—the story of making a set with a turtle and then making a movie about what was made.
Daniel Jacoby in Statements (Maisterravalbuena, Madrid)
Always painting Because…there is always painting…but Art Basel is where you will find the best (that is purchasable).
neugerriemschneider booth, with the theme of nature, including Olafur Eliasson, Ai Weiwei, …well you know already. But the green trousers are not part of the display.
Cao Fei at Vitamin Creative Space – not the robotic vacuum cleaner.
Jolle Tuerlinckx (Galerie nächst St.Stephen Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna)
David Hammons and John Chamberlain (right) at Mnuchin Gallery
Koenraad Dedobbeleer at Mai 36 Galerie
Seth Price
Olafur Eliasson at neugerriemschneider
Ugo Rondinone at Eva Presenhuber
Doris Salcedo at White Cube – riffing on Rachel Whiteread?
Matthew Barney at Gladstone Gallery
Koenraad Dedobbeleer at Mai 36 Galerie
And now we go to Art Unlimited—Joseph Kosuth “Titled (Art as Idea as Idea)” [Nothing] (1968) (Sean Kelly New York and Sprüth Magers, Berlin, London & New York)
