June 12–17, 2017
Rheinsprung 1
Basel
Switzerland
Davidoff Art Initiative launches 2017 Limited Art Edition by Rodell Warner at Art Basel
As an Associate Partner of Art Basel for the seventh consecutive year, Davidoff will proudly unveil Nature Reimagined, Rodell Warner’s newly commissioned Limited Art Edition, during Art Basel in Basel, June 15 to 18, 2017.
This year’s Limited Art Edition, the third in the series, is based on photographs of Caribbean islands. Warner has created a collage of patterns and detail views and converted them into digital three-dimensional objects. The objects were then viewed from various angles and put together like pieces of a puzzle to create the final artworks. Five of these exclusive creations are displayed on the lids of the Davidoff Limited Art Edition 2017 boxes and will be released in 1,000 numbered editions.
Warner has created an additional series of photographs by projecting the Limited Art Edition images onto human subjects, building on his earlier bodies of work First Light and Negatives, which involved photographs projected onto people. The series will be on display exclusively at the Davidoff Lounge, in the Collectors Lounge of Art Basel in Basel.
Basel Meeting Point
Concurrently, Davidoff Art Initiative will operate a temporary venue in the heart of the city, the Basel Meeting Point, in collaboration with My Art Guides. The space, open daily from 2 to 6pm, June 12 to 17, is conveniently located at Rheinsprung 1, near Marktplatz. Admission is free.
Conceived as a creative retreat and a forum for exchanging ideas and enjoying the company of others visiting the city during Art Basel, the Basel Meeting Point will feature a program of talks and salon presentations along with a display of works from all three Davidoff Limited Art Edition artists to date—Quisqueya Henríquez, Olivia McGilchrist and Warner, respectively. Also on view will be 2016 Altos de Chavón international resident Louis Henderson’s film, Sea is History, and a site-specific installation by Warner that will offer visitors an opportunity to interact with the artist and his work.
The Basel collaboration is an extension of the My Art Guides Venice Meeting Point event during the Venice Biennale, which featured Davidoff Limited Art Edition 2016 artist McGilchrist’s work, from many sides, as well as a collaborative performance, Escuela de Oficios: Antilles para los Antillanos, by Monica Rodriguez and Jorge González. González is currently a DAI resident artist at FLORA ars+natura in Bogotá, Colombia.
Tessa Mars at Residency Unlimited (Brooklyn)
Finally, Tessa Mars (b. 1985, Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is preparing for her residency at DAI’s New York partner, Residency Unlimited (RU) in Brooklyn, starting this autumn. Mars was selected by the Davidoff Art Council for the residency in New York with RU, which will host her for three months beginning September 2017. Davidoff Art Initiative is pleased to continue its partnership with Residency Unlimited, which was inaugurated last year by Jamaican artist Leasho Johnson.
Mars’s ongoing project, Tessalines—combining her name with that of Haitian revolutionary figure Dessalines—was formed during a three-month travel grant to Alice Yard, Port of Spain, (Trinidad and Tobago), conveying a vibrant if unsettled mix of spiritual beliefs and national identity. She participated recently in Caribbean Linked IV, a cross-Caribbean platform held in summer 2016 at Ateliers ’89 in Aruba. Mars seeks to use this New York residency as an opportunity for experimentation, to continue her research while deepening her understanding of installation and to explore artistic opportunities beyond the bounds of her usual medium.
The aforementioned projects constitute a sampling of activities undertaken by the Davidoff Art Initiative this year in pursuit of its mission of supporting and highlighting the contributions of Caribbean art and artists.
