June 16–19, 2016
Unlimited: Presenting 88 ambitious and large-scale works spanning six decades
This year Unlimited, Art Basel’s unique platform for artworks that transcend the traditional art fair stand, will present 88 projects from galleries participating in the show, a record number of projects for the sector. Curated for the fifth consecutive year by Gianni Jetzer, curator-at-large at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Unlimited will showcase a strong selection of works by renowned international artists including AA Bronson, Ai Weiwei, El Anatsui, Kader Attia, Gretchen Bender, Pablo Bronstein, Elmgreen & Dragset, Tracey Emin, Isa Genzken, Dan Graham, Mike Kelley, William Kentridge, Jannis Kounellis, Joseph Kosuth, Louise Lawler, Sol LeWitt, Laura Lima, Paul McCarthy, Pamela Rosenkranz, Martha Rosler, Dieter Roth, Frank Stella and James Turrell.
Since first introduced at Art Basel in 2000, Unlimited has become a key element of the show, providing galleries with a unique opportunity to showcase large-scale sculptures, video projections, installations, wall paintings, photographic series and performance art that cannot be exhibited in a gallery booth at an art fair. A unique platform for galleries, Unlimited provides an impressive overview of both modern and contemporary art, with work of significant art historical relevance exhibited alongside new work by artists living and working today, across 16,000 square meters of exhibition space. Unlimited is notable for its embrace of the artworld’s globalism including pieces by India’s Archana Hande, China’s Yan Xing and Cheng Ran, Brazilian artist Paulo Nazareth, Singapore’s Ho Tzu Nyen and Samson Young of Hong Kong.
Highlights of Unlimited include El Anatsui’s Gli (Wall) (2010), presented by Jack Shainman Gallery, comprised of five hanging curtains made of recycled materials. galerie frank elbaz and Gagosian Gallery will present Davide Balula’s Mimed Sculpture (2016), a performance with mimes tracing the invisible presence of art-historically significant sculptures. Gretchen Bender’s monumental 24-monitor multi-projection screen installation, Total Recall (1987), will be presented by Metro Pictures. Presented by Chemould Prescott Road, Galerie Nathalie Obadia and Galerie Krinzinger, Mithu Sen’s ”MUO (Museum of Unbelongings)” (2016) is a display cabinet filled with everyday objects, each individually named and collected by the artist since childhood. Miguel Abreu Gallery, Karma International and Sprüth Magers will present a site-specific installation by Pamela Rosenkranz. Zoom Pavilion (2015) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer in collaboration with Krzysztof Wodiczko, presented by Carroll / Fletcher, is an interactive installation that consists of an immersive projection and uses facial recognition algorithms to detect the presence of people within the exhibition space and record their spatial relationship. Ariel Schlesinger’s Two Good Reasons (2015), presented by Galleria Massimo Minini, is a repeated choreographed movement between two large sheets of polypropylene. Sprovieri will present Jungle Jam (2010) by Chelpa Ferro, a series of food blenders filled with plastic bags in place of the usual cutting devices, which move and shake when activated, creating an original rhythmic sound. David Zwirner will present Six Columns (2006) by John McCracken—six monumentally-scaled black columns first sketched out by the artist in the 1970s.
Unlimited will once again feature a number of significant historical works including Damascus Gate, Stretch Variation I (1970) by Frank Stella presented by Marianne Boesky Gallery, Dominique Lévy Gallery and Sprüth Magers, Untitled (yellow) (1966) by Robert Grosvenor presented by Paula Cooper Gallery and Galerie Max Hetzler, Titled (Art as Idea as Idea) (1968) by Joseph Kosuth presented by Sean Kelly and Sprüth Magers, Make a Salad (1962) by Alison Knowles presented by James Fuentes and Flacher Abfall/Flat Waste (1975–76/1992) by Dieter Roth shown by Hauser & Wirth.
For the full artist list, please click here.
Art Basel, whose Lead Partner is UBS, will take place from Thursday, June 16 to Sunday, June 19, 2016 with the preview taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 14 and 15, 2016. This year, 286 leading international galleries from 33 countries will present works ranging from the early 20th century to the most contemporary artists of today.
