VOLTA8, Basel
11 June–16 June 2012
Dreispitzhalle
Basel/Münchenstein
Switzerland
Public Hours: Mon 11 June, 2–6pm
Tue–Sat 12–16 June, 10–6pm
Closed on Sunday
Direct shuttles every 20 minutes
from Art Basel and Liste to VOLTA8
VOLTA, Basel’s platform for cutting-edge art and emerging international talent, mounts its eighth year this June in a showcase of primarily solo and two- or three-artist dialogues. The VOLTA8 Curatorial Board—Amanda Coulson (Artistic Director of VOLTA and Director of The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas); Christoph Doswald (Chairman of the Working Committee for art in public places in Zurich); Urich Voges (art historian, economist, and co-founder of VOLTA); and David Risley (Director of David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen, and founder of Zoo Art Fair, London)—assembled 81 tightly edited, inspired positions, including 64 galleries from Europe and 12 from the Americas, plus exhibitors from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia.
Solo presentations remain one of VOLTA’s assets, considering the overwhelming satisfaction for last year’s more easily navigable fair. Select highlights at VOLTA8 include: Alexandra Makhlouf (Fred [London] Ltd), the talented young printmaker and 2010 artist-in-residence at David Krut Print Workshop (DKW) in Johannesburg, South Africa; Adam Jeppesen (Peter Lav Gallery, Copenhagen), whose large-format photography was assembled in the 2008 Steidl monograph Wake; painter Nick Fox (Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne), featured in the recent Anschlüssel: London/Berlin drawing survey at London’s C4RD; and Ulla von Brandenburg (ph-projects, Berlin), who participated in the Prague Quadrennial, Belgrade, and was commissioned an outdoor project for Frieze New York’s inaugural fair.
Other exhibitors show multiple artists in installments, encouraging repeat visits. This includes Paolo Maria Deanesi Gallery (Rovereto), who commences with photographer Armano Lulaj (participant in the 2007 Venice Biennale and 2010 Berlin Biennial), then spotlights video/performance artist Dacia Manto, winner of the Premio Aletti, ArtVerona 2011; and Copenhagen’s V1 Gallery, featuring three separate waves: pairing photographers Matthew Stone and Peter Funch with painter Thomas Øylisen; New York-based painters Stephen Powers, Misaki Kawai, and Todd James; and finally cross-media works by Julie Nord, Troels Carlsen (who contributed VOLTA6′s limited edition), and Wes Lang.
Each year, VOLTA’s signature limited edition promises a superlative collectible beyond the offerings of the fair booths. For VOLTA8, Galerie Stefan Röpke (Cologne) tapped young powerhouse Jason Gringler, who concentrates his visual language and process of recycling works in a new limited edition of two sets of alternating silkscreened, mixed-media collages, recalling Brooklyn’s industrial environment and objects in flux. The impact of these repeating images, literally “mirroring” Gringler’s dynamic VOLTA NY installation while forcing one another’s innate uniqueness, both deepens understanding of his work ethos and creates a strong visual statement.
VOLTA8 occurs just after the commencement of dOCUMENTA, plus the surrounding Dreispitz neighborhood features many destination activities. The House of Electronic Arts hosts the immersive perceptual show Gateways, a selection of works shown at the Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn as a summer highlight of the European Capital of Culture Tallinn 2011. The independent art space OSLO10 stages a group show including Beni Bischof, Daniel Jackson, Toril Johannessen, and Marcellvs L. Riccardo Previdi; OSLO8 presents new works by renowned Swiss photographer Christian Vogt; and the artists of international exchange program iaab participate in Going Places, curated by Alexandra Blätter.
Gallerist.com creates an online platform for VOLTA8 as it did for this year’s New York fair, allowing art-lovers worldwide to experience VOLTA from home, too. The platform will remain accessible for two weeks after the fair concludes on 16 June.
Shuttle buses will run daily from Monday through Saturday, from 10–6pm, leaving from the backside of Hall 2 at Art Basel and from LISTE. The addition of a 450-place car park one block away contributes even easier parking than previous locations.
VOLTA8 at Dreispitzhalle is only seven minutes from the central train station SBB by public transport or five minutes by car, nine minutes with Tram 10 or 11 from Bankverein (Kunsthalle/Kunstmuseum).
VOLTA was founded in Basel in 2005 by dealers Kavi Gupta (Chicago), Ulrich Voges (Frankfurt), and Freidrich Loock (Berlin).
You will find the latest updates on VOLTA at www.voltashow.com or on Facebook and Twitter.
