June 15–18, 2017
Opening in just over a weeks’ time, Art Basel’s 48th edition in Basel with 291 premier galleries—drawn from 35 countries and six continents—will present works of the highest quality, ranging from the early 20th century to the most contemporary. Once again, a very strong contingent of galleries from Europe will be joined by exhibitors from across the globe with 17 galleries participating for the very first time. The Basel show, whose Lead Partner is UBS, will be open to the public from Thursday, June 15, to Sunday, June 18, 2017, with a preview and vernissage on Tuesday and Wednesday. For the full list of participating galleries, click here.
Unlimited
Presented across 16,000 square meters, Art Basel’s unique platform that transcends the limitations of a traditional art-fair stand will consist of 76 large-scale projects presented by galleries participating in the fair. Curated for the sixth consecutive year by Gianni Jetzer, curator-at-large at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., the sector will feature a wide range of presentations, from historically significant pieces to the latest contemporary works ranging from large-scale sculptures and paintings to video projections, installations and live performances. Artists featured in this year’s presentation include Carl Andre, Chris Burden, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Subodh Gupta, Jenny Holzer, Donna Huanca, Cildo Meireles, Park Chan-kyong, Marwan Rechmaoui, Mickalene Thomas and Anicka Yi. For the full list of projects, click here.
Parcours
Curated for the second year by Samuel Leuenberger, Director and Curator of SALTS in Birsfelden, Switzerland, Parcours returns with 22 site-specific artworks sited around Basel’s historical Münsterplatz. Parcours will feature artworks by both internationally renowned and emerging artists including Ai Weiwei, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Latifa Echakhch, GCC, Amanda Ross-Ho, Cally Spooner, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Wu Tsang. Taking place on Saturday, June 17, Parcours Night will once again feature a specially curated program of live performances by Itziar Okariz, Than Hussein Clark, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Shana Moulton, Moved by the Motion (Wu Tsang, boychild, Patrick Belaga, Bendik Giske and Josh Johnson), Eric Hattan, Julian Sartorius and Hans Berg, access to all Parcours sites, and extended opening hours at some of Basel’s leading museums. For the full list of parcours projects, click here.
Film
Heavily influenced by today’s political events, the Film program is curated for the third consecutive year by Cairo-based film curator Maxa Zoller, and will include a special screening of Stanley Tucci’s Final Portrait (2017), selected by New York-based film curator Marian Masone. Program highlights of the 34 film and video works include works by John Akomfrah, Kader Attia, Eric Baudelaire, He Xiangyu, Ana Mendieta, Ugo Rondinone and Andy Warhol among others. Filipa César’s new work Spell Reel will be shown as part of Art Basel’s collaboration with the Locarno Festival, now in its third year. For the full program, click here.
Conversations
Conversations will once more bring together leading artists, gallerists, collectors, art historians, curators, museum directors and critics from across the world. Programmed for the third year by Mari Spirito, Founding Director and Curator of Protocinema, Conversations offers a platform for dialogues and discussions on current topics, offering perspectives on producing, collecting, and exhibiting art. Art Basel’s Conversations series begins on Wednesday, June 14 with the Premiere Artist Talk, devoted to Annette Messager and moderated by Dr. Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate. All Conversations panels will be available on our website.
NOW I WON by Claudia Comte
NOW I WON, a new monumental outdoor installation by Swiss artist Claudia Comte, curated for Art Basel by Chus Martínez, Head of Art Institute at FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel, will be presented for the first time during the show. Situated directly on Messeplatz, the work will take the form of a fully functioning funfair. Here the artist will challenge the audience to various games and activities including darts, bowling, arm wrestling, mini golf, dancing competitions and more. Comte’s own works—such as her target paintings, wooden or marble sculptures—are part of the very environment in which the audience will compete to win an original artwork by the artist.
For further information, please visit artbasel.com.
