Art Basel
Art Basel stages art shows for high quality modern and contemporary art and is sited annually in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong.[1] Each show has participating galleries, exhibition sectors, artworks and parallel programming produced in collaboration with the host city's local institutions.
Art Basel provides a platform for galleries, giving them access to an international audience of collectors, museum directors and curators. The shows attract people with an appreciation of modern and contemporary art who experience Art Basel as a cultural event.
Contents
History[edit]
Art Basel was founded in 1970 by Basel Gallerists (also known as art dealers and connoisseurs of art) Trudi Bruckner, Balz Hilt and Ernst Beyeler.[2] Three years after its launch, Art Basel welcomed 281 exhibitors and over 30,000 visitors. While other emerging art fairs partnered in the 1970s, specifically in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Art Basel remained independent.
In 2002, Art Basel was launched in Miami Beach, under the leadership of former director, Samuel Keller.[3]
Art Basel debuted in Hong Kong in May 2013. In July 2011, MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd. – the parent company of Art Basel – acquired 60% of Asian Art Fairs Limited, which launched ART Hong Kong and has the option of acquiring the remaining 40% in 2014.[4]
Leadership and management[edit]
Marc Spiegler, having been director of Art Basel since 2007, oversees the development of the organization globally, and across the three shows.[5]
Art Basel’s parent company, MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd, is a marketing company in Europe. Each year, the company organizes roughly twenty key international and national trade and consumer exhibitions, including the Baselworld Watch and Jewelery Show.
Art Basel maintains an international network with over twenty Global VIP Relations Managers covering five continents, who build and strengthen relationships year-round with art world luminaries, art collectors, business leaders and decision-makers.
Participating galleries for Art Basel shows are selected by committees composed of international gallerists who normally serve for several years. A fresh application process begins each year and all galleries must reapply.
Art Basel works with curators who present a selection of international artists and emerging talents. Recent guest curators include: Nicholas Baume, Director and Chief Curator, Public Art Fund, Gianni Jetzer, director of the Swiss Institute, New York; Florence Derieux, Director, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, co-director, Serpentine Gallery.
Art Basel in Basel[edit]
Art Basel in Basel, which began in 1970, takes place in June and marks the summer reunion of the international art world, hosted by the Swiss city of Basel, which has been a cultural capital for centuries.[6] In 2014, the show featured more than three hundred galleries from thirty-six countries, attracting more than ninety-two thousand artists, collectors, gallerists, museum directors, curators, and art enthusiasts.[7]
The show is divided into eight sectors:
Galleries: The anchor of Art Basel is its Galleries sector, over 230 of the world's leading galleries of Modern and contemporary art show 20th - 21st century artworks. Visitors are presented a breadth of works including paintings, drawings, sculpture, installations, prints, photography, video and digital art by more than 4,000 artists.
Feature: The Feature sector emphasizes precisely curated projects that may include solo presentations by an individual artist, or juxtapositions and thematic exhibits from artists representing a range of cultures, generations, and artistic approaches.
Statements: In this sector, Art Basel presents exciting new solo projects by young, emerging artists.
Edition: Leading publishers of editioned works, prints, and multiples exhibit the results of their collaboration with renowned artists.
Unlimited: Unlimited is Art Basel's pioneering exhibition platform for projects that transcend the limitations of a classical art-show stand. It was launched in 2000 under the direction of Samuel Keller with Simon Lamunière as curator until 2011. The innovative work includes out-sized sculpture and paintings, video projections, large-scale installations, and live performances. Since 2012, Unlimited is curated by New York-based curator Gianni Jetzer.
Parcours: Parcours engages the city's historical quarters with site-specific sculptures, interventions, and performances by renowned international artists and emerging talents. Parcours is curated by Florence Derieux and is open to the public.
Film: Art Basel's weeklong program of films by and about artists is curated by Berlin film scholar Maxa Zoller and Zurich collector This Brunner.
Magazines: Art publications from around the world display their magazines in single-magazine stands or the collective booth.
Complementing the multiple sectors, Art Basel hosts a series of conversations and talks on a range of subjects, including the collection and exhibition of art, understanding art from a geographical and historical perspective, and timely topics concerning the contemporary art scene. Artists, gallerists, art historians, curators, museum directors, publishers, and collectors participate in panel discussions, book signings, and interviews.[8]
Outside the exhibition halls, the city of Basel's cultural institutions – including Fondation Beyeler, Kunstmuseum Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, Tinguely Museum, and Kunsthaus Baselland – offer museum exhibitions.
UBS has been the Lead sponsor of Art Basel in Switzerland since 1994.[9] In 1999, the partnership was extended to Unlimited. Associate sponsors include Davidoff, AXA Art, NetJets Europe, Audemars Piguet, and The Absolut Art Bureau.[10]
Expansion of the Basel exhibition site was commissioned by the MCH Basel Exhibition, under the leadership of Swiss architects, Herzog & de Meuron and was completed for the 2013 edition of the Basel show.
Art Basel in Miami Beach[edit]
The US show of Art Basel, which began in 2002, takes place each December and marks the winter reunion for the international art world.[11] In 2013, the show featured 258 galleries from thirty-one countries, attracting seventy-five thousand collectors, artists, dealers, curators, critics and art enthusiasts.[12]
The show is divided into nine sectors:
Galleries: More than 200 of the world's leading Modern and contemporary art galleries – from North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia – display paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, prints, photography, film, video, and digital art by over 4,000 artists.
Nova: Designed for galleries to present one, two or three artists showing new works that have been created within the last three years, the Nova sector often features never-before-seen pieces fresh from the artist's studio and strong juxtapositions.
Positions: This sector allows curators, critics, and collectors to discover ambitious new talents from all over the globe by providing a platform for a single artist to present one major project.
Edition: Leading publishers of editioned works, prints, and multiples exhibit the results of their collaboration with renowned artists.
Kabinett: Kabinett sector participants are chosen from the Galleries sector to present curated exhibitions in a separately delineated space within their booths. The curatorial concepts for Kabinett are diverse, including thematic group exhibitions, art-historical showcases, and solo shows for rising stars.
Public: This sector offers its visitors a chance to see outdoor sculptures, interventions, and performances, sited within an open and public exhibition format at Collins Park. The sector has been produced in collaboration with the Bass Museum of Art since 2011.
Survey: Survey presents precise art historical projects that may include solo presentations by an individual artist, or juxtapositions and thematic exhibits from artists representing a range of cultures, generations, and artistic approaches.
Film: Organized in association with David Gryn, Director of Londonʼs Artprojx, the Film sector presents a dynamic program of films by and about artists.
Magazines: Art publications from around the world display their magazines in single-magazine stands or the collective booth.
Complementing the multiple sectors, Art Basel hosts a series of conversations and talks on a range of subjects, including the collection and exhibition of art, understanding art from a geographical and historical perspective, and timely topics concerning the contemporary art scene. Artists, gallerists, art historians, curators, museum directors, publishers, and collectors participate in panel discussions, book signings, and interviews.
Every year, Miami’s leading private collections – among them the Rubell Family Collection, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, the De la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, World Class Boxing, the Margulies Collection and the Dacra Collection – open their homes and warehouses to guests of Art Basel. Additionally, the museums in the region, such as Miami Art Museum, Bass Museum of Art, Norton Museum, Wolfsonian-FIU and MOCA North Miami. Since 2003, the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables has set the opening of its annual outdoor art exhibition to coincide with the fair.[13]
UBS has been the Lead sponsor of Art Basel in Miami Beach since its inception in 2002. Associate sponsors include Davidoff, NetJets US, Audemars Piguet, and The Absolut Art Bureau.
Many well known music acts take the stage during the Art Basel festivities. Phil Collins, Danny Brown, and Wil E. Haze & Rabbid to name a few who have performed during the events.
Art Basel in Hong Kong[edit]
Art Basel Hong Kong is Asia’s largest annual art festival.[14] The Hong Kong edition of the Art Basel show began in 2013 and takes place in the spring. In 2014, the show featured 245 galleries from 39 countries, attracting more than 65,000 artists, collectors, gallerists, museum directors, curators and art enthusiasts.[15] The third editions features 233 galleries from 37 countries and territories.[16]
It included:
- Galleries: the main sector comprising the world’s leading Modern and contemporary art galleries
- Insights: projects developed specifically for the Hong Kong show. These galleries must be based in Asia or the Asia-Pacific region – from Turkey to New Zealand, including Asia, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent – and exclusively present works by artists from that region. Solo shows, exceptional art-historical material, and thematic exhibitions of two or more artists are selected on the strength of the proposed project.
- Discoveries: this sector gives a global platform to emerging contemporary artists from all over the world, showcasing work by the next generation of talent at an early stage in their career. Galleries present an exhibition of work by either one or two artists from their gallery program, preferably new and created specifically for the show.
- Encounters: large-scale sculpture and installation works by leading artists from around the world, Encounters provides visitors with the opportunity to see works that transcend the traditional art fair stands. The sector presents these works in prominent locations throughout the exhibition halls. Encounters is curated by Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo and Curator of the Sharjah Biennial 11.
- Film: Curated by Li Zhenhua, director and founder of Beijing Art Lab, the Film sector presents an exciting program of films by and about artists.
- Magazines: Art publications from around the world display their magazines in single-magazine stands or the collective booth.
Complementing the multiple sectors, Art Basel hosts a series of conversations and talks on a range of subjects, including the collection and exhibition of art, understanding art from a geographical and historical perspective, and timely topics concerning the contemporary art scene. Artists, gallerists, art historians, curators, museum directors, publishers, and collectors participate in panel discussions, book signings, and interviews.
UBS is the Lead sponsor of Art Basel in Hong Kong. Associate sponsors include Davidoff and Audemars Piguet.
The first edition of the Hong Kong show took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from May 23 to May 26, 2013.
References[edit]
- ^ "Art Basel - Basel". Basel.artbasel.com. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ "Forty years of Art Basel". The Art Newspaper. 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ Bell, Jennie. "Samuel Keller". Artinfo. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ Seno, Alexandra A. (2011-05-06). "Hong Kong's Art Fair Goes on Swiss Time - Scene Asia - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ Russeth, Andrew. "Art Basel Will Reconfigure Leadership, With Marc Spiegler in Top Job". GalleristNY. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ JUDITH H. DOBRZYNSKIPublished: June 17, 1999 (1999-06-17). "In Olympics Of Art World, Anything For an Edge - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ Carol Vogel (June 17, 2010), The Buzz in Basel: Art, Alive and Well and Selling Briskly New York Times.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/arts/13iht-rartdubai13.html
- ^ "Art Basel Miami Beach | UBS Global home". Ubs.com. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ "Davidoff Announces Major Sponsorship With Art Basel - BASEL, Switzerland, April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/". Prnewswire.com. 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ GUY TREBAYPublished: December 07, 2003 (2003-12-07). "Miami Puts On an Arty Party - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/arts/design/art-basel-miami-beach-review.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all(subscription required)
- ^ Judith H. Dobrzynski (October 21, 2011), Going to an Art Fair: What It Takes New York Times.
- ^ Linda Kennedy Hong Kong: The centre of Asia’s art boom? BBC 16 March 2015
- ^ Aspden, Peter (2012-06-09). "Tomorrow, the world ...". FT.com. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ Amy Qin (December 30, 2014), Art Basel, Eyes to the East, Names New Director for Asia New York Times.
External links[edit]
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