Art 38 Basel
The International Art Show, June 13 – 17, 2007
http://www.ArtBasel.com
Art 38 Basel: Crossroads of the International Art World
The 38th edition of Art Basel takes place in the museum city of Basel (Switzerland) from June 13 through 17, 2007. It is the world’s leading art show and annual meeting place of the international art world. Over 55,000 visitors and approximately 2,000 media representatives are expected. Some 300 galleries from all continents have been selected to participate. They will be showing works by over 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. «Art On Stage,» presented by Art Basel in association with the Theater Basel, makes its debut this year. The partnership is an ideal platform for visual artists who need a large stage and an auditorium for their projects. «Art On Stage» will be inaugurated by Hugo Boss Prize-winning Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija with his performance «An Untitled Concert.» Another new addition this year is the «Artists Lounge» designed for Art Basel by students of the renowned Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. Running under the title «Plenty of Liberties,» the project has resulted in a remarkable 350m2 lounge space. Further special sectors feature one-person shows of young artists, editions and multiples, artist films, artist records, and public art projects. The «Art Unlimited» exhibition, presenting over 70 large-scale projects, and «Art Basel Conversations,» with distinguished panelists, represent further highlights. On Thursday, June 14, Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando will be talking about art and architecture. One of his new museum projects will also be introduced in the Art Institutions sector (Hall 1).
Every form of artistic expression will be represented at Art 38 Basel, the repertoire ranging from paintings, drawings, editions, and sculptures to installations, performance work, and internet and video art. Works costing a few thousand dollars by young, yet-to-be discovered artists will be on display alongside museum-quality masterpieces priced in the millions. The «Art Unlimited» hall will be showcasing ambitious large-scale projects such as can be seen at no other art fair in the world. Exhibition Square in front of Art Basel will provide a platform for art projects in public space. Nine projects by Wim Delvoye, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Anish Kapoor, Tadashi Kawamata, Paul McCarthy, Mike Nelson, Vedovamazzei, Not Vital, and Thomas Zipp will be displayed there during the international art show. The cultural institutions of the city will be staging accompanying events and mounting exhibitions focusing on such artists as Robert Gober, Jasper Johns, Brice Marden, Edvard Munch, the Situationists, and others.
News
New «Art on Stage»
«Art On Stage,» presented by Art Basel in association with the Theater Basel, makes its debut this year. The partnership is an ideal platform for visual artists who need a large stage and an auditorium for their projects. «Art On Stage» will be inaugurated by Hugo Boss Prize-winning Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija with his performance «An Untitled Concert.» The music will be provided by the well-known Basel Sinfonietta Orchestra. «Art On Stage» is curated by Jens Hoffmann.
«Art Unlimited»
«Art Unlimited» has approximately 70 unconventional works on show. The platform enables artists to exhibit works that can rarely be presented owing to spatial, temporal, technical, financial, contextual, or conceptual constraints. Works by such established artists as Ai Weiwei, Alighiero e Boetti, Allora + Calzadilla, Carl Andre, Daniel Buren, Alexander Calder, Bruce Conner, Carlos Garaicoa, David Hammons, Pierre Huyghe, Glenn Ligon, Allan McCollum, Annette Messager, Hélio Oiticica, Gregor Schneider, Jim Shaw, Catherine Sullivan, and Marijke van Warmerdam will be joined by a large number of pieces by young and little-known artists. Many of the works have been produced especially for «Art Unlimited.»
«Art Premiere»
Following its enormously successful debut last year, the special «Art Premiere» sector is being expanded from 12 to 16 galleries. This year’s «Art Premiere» will be running under the heading of artists in dialogue and artists in juxtaposition. The 16 projects promise to provide fascinating, surprising, sometimes provocative confrontations. Works by artists representing different cultural backgrounds, different generations, or different artistic approaches will be set against each other. Pieces by 80-year-old Viennese Actionist Otto Mühl will, for example, be appearing alongside works by Mike Bouchet, an American artist born in 1970; Daniel Buren will be dialoguing with Paris-based Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed; and American artists Barbara Bloom and Zoe Leonard will be juxtaposing their artistic concepts.
«Art Statements»
The «Art Statements» sector is being expanded to include 26 one-person shows of young artists this year. The 26 artists from 16 countries were selected from 250 applications. For over 10 years now, «Art Statements» has been providing young artists with a special platform that brings them to the attention of an international audience of curators, collectors, and the media. The 26 projects promise art enthusiasts fascinating discoveries and intriguing encounters with the work of the latest generation of artists. The exhibition platform is complemented by a bookstore, a video library, a cafeteria, and the «Art Lobby» forum, where artists, art mediators, and the public have several opportunities daily to meet and exchange ideas.
«Art Basel Conversations»
Prominent art collectors, museum directors, artists, and art patrons will be discussing subjects connected with collecting and exhibiting art. The premiere of this year’s Art Basel Conversations, on Monday, June 11, features Emilia and Ilya Kabakov in conversation with philosopher Boris Groys.
On Tuesday Chris Dercon (Haus der Kunst, Munich), Alfred Pacquement (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris), Nicholas Serota (Tate, London), Lars Nittve (Moderna Museet, Stockholm), and Peter Weibel (ZKM Karlsruhe) will be discussing «The Future of the Museum: Europe.» Hosts: Hans Ulrich Obrist, Beatrix Ruf (Director, Kunsthalle Zurich).
«Art Collections as Cultural Heritage» is the topic on Wednesday, June 13. The panel is composed of Bernhard Mendes Burgi (Kunstmuseum Basel), Mikhail Piotrovsky (Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), Klaus-Peter Schuster (Staatliche Museen, Berlin), Wilfried Seipel (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), and Giandominico Romaneli (Venice Museums). Host: Peter Aspden (arts writer for the Financial Times).
The discussion on Thursday is devoted to «Artists: Production – Coproduction – Overproduction.» Panelists are Christian Boltanski, Martin Creed, and Jimmie Durham. Host: John Armleder.
Under the heading of «Featured Artists,» Daniel Buren will be talking to Daniel Birnbaum (Director and Professor, Städelschule Art Academy and Portikus Gallery, Frankfurt-am-Main) on Saturday, June 16, and French artist Bertrand Lavier will be in conversation with Jean-Hubert Martin (curator, Paris) on Sunday, June 17.
«Public Art Projects»
The exhibition area in front of the buildings hosting the international art show is once again scheduled to become an arena for art projects in public space. Nine projects by such internationally recognized artists as Wim Delvoye, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Anish Kapoor, Tadashi Kawamata, Paul McCarthy, Mike Nelson, Vedovamazzei, Not Vital, and Thomas Zipp will be installed there. Their artistic interventions will be connecting with the daily lives of passersby in ways now poetic, now alienating or surprising.
«Artist Records»
After presenting special exhibitions of artist books for the last two years, this year Art Basel focuses its special exhibition on sound recordings produced or designed by artists (Jack Goldstein, Rodney Graham, Jutta Koether, Christian Marclay, Carsten Nicolai, Genesis P-Orridge, and many others). The exhibition will be accompanied by information events and presentations in the presence of the artists.
«Art Film»
The «Art Film» sector once again has a top-flight program of new films by and about artists in store at the Stadtkino Basel. «Art Film» is curated by Benjamin Weil, Executive Director of Artists Space, New York. This Brunner, a collector with profound knowledge of the international film scene, and artist John Armleder will each be organizing an evening with special guests.
«Professional Day»
«Professional Day,» which is geared to museum professionals, art dealers, and collectors, takes place on Friday, June 15, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Exhibitors will be staging special activities or rehanging part of their booths for the occasion. Hall 1, housing Art Unlimited, Art Statements, Artist Records, and Art Institutions, opens to the general public at 11 a.m. Admission to Hall 2 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday is by invitation only.
Museum exhibitions in Basel
Rarely have the museum exhibitions in and around Basel been as outstanding as this year. On show at the Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel: «Edvard Munch – Signs of Modern Art»; at the Kunstmuseum Basel: «Jasper Johns. An Allegory of Paintings 1955-1965»; at the Schaulager: «Robert Gober. Works 1976-2006»; at the Museum Jean Tinguely: «The Situationist International: 1957-1972»; at the Kunsthalle Basel: «Micol Assael»; at the Kunstmuseum Basel – Museum für Gegenwartskunst: «Jean-Frédéric Schnyder, Brice Marden.»
For further information please visit http://www.ArtBasel.com
