VOLTA7 – Basel
Monday June 13–Saturday June 18, 2011
CLOSED SUNDAY
Previews
Monday June 13th
Press Conference, 9:30 a.m.
Guest of Honour, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
VIP/Professional, 12 p.m.–2 p.m.
General Public, 2 p.m.–6 p.m.
Daily Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.VOLTA7 at Dreispitzhalle
Helsinkistrasse, 5
4053 Basel / Münchenstein
Switzerland
E-mail: info [at] voltashow.com
VOLTA7 returns for second year to the venue in the Dreispitz Areal, Basel’s new art district. Mainly solo and two-person shows will be on view in the tightly edited fair consisting of 71 exhibitors, with additional projects connecting the fair to this new vibrant area.Encouraged by the response to solo presentations and carefully considered booths in former editions, the Curatorial Committee—composed of Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Sâo Paulo; Christoph Doswald, Zurich; Jasper Sharp, Vienna; and Francesco Stocchi, Rome/Vienna—proposed much stronger emphasis on single artist presentations or on booth concepts that bring the work of two artists into dialogue. Together with the reduction in exhibitor numbers, the intended result will be a much more focused event, less trade fair and more a series of small exhibitions.
True to its character of identifying new trends, VOLTA7 returns to the Dreispitzhalle in an area that has grown rapidly into an artistically vibrant neighborhood. Next door, newly-renovated studios host local artists, who are awarded spaces after a juried selection organized by the Christoph Merian Foundation. In the downstairs project space “Basement,” artists from the foundation’s international exchange program—iaab—currently participate in a show entitled Going Places, open from 12–6 p.m.
With an aim to incorporating activities of the whole neighborhood, VOLTA7 has partnered with another neighbor, Radio X, Basel’s alternative art and culture station (95.Hz), broadcasting special 5–10 minute segments dedicated to sound art from Monday to Friday of fair week at 2 p.m.. Tune in to hear works by exhibiting artists Adrian Williams, Theaster Gates, Graham Dolphin, and Stefan Roigk.
Other things to see in the area include House of Electronic Arts, a space dedicated to exploring art that applies, addresses and reflects on new media and technologies shows Together in Electric Dreams. Absent Presence, curated by Raffael Dörig, which addresses the fundamental aspect of our electronic lives in which we share a virtual space but are physically worlds apart. Open 12–8 p.m.
OSLO10, an independent contemporary exhibition space run by curatorial team Simone Neuenschwander and Christiane Rekade, will be open from 7 p.m.–midnight on Thursday June 16, with a performance scheduled at 9 p.m. by American artist Shana Moulton, while OSLO8, a contemporary photography gallery, which will have a current show by Silvia Bächli and Eric Hattan; open 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Meanwhile some VOLTA projects include the involvement of Kaikai Kiki with a special exhibition spread over two locations at the fair, offering guests a wide-ranging mix of art, live entertainment, and charity efforts. This marks the European debut of a new generation of young Japanese artists, many of whom have received personal mentoring from Takashi Murakami, while the New Day Charity Project is an initiative begun by Murakami encouraging artists to contribute works in response to the massive earthquake.
From Berlin/New York the The HomeBase Project, an International site-specific urban art project, also finds temporary sanctuary at VOLTA7. Founder/artist/curator Anat Litwin will present a homebrew artisan craft pilsner, Ignatz Bier, brewed in the new headquarters in former East Berlin.
Finally, VOLTA7 is thrilled to announce Carlos Aires as this year’s edition artist. Using laser technology to cut vinyl records into figurative silhouettes, Aires mixes art historical references–Degas’ Small Dancer and Robert Indiana’s LOVE—with popular culture images, fusing sex, death and music in a wonderful potpourri of high and low. The edition comes in two motifs that can be bought separately or as a pair.
VOLTA7 at Dreispitzhalle is only 7 minutes from the central train station SBB by public transport or 5 minutes by car; 9 minutes by tram from LISTE (Wettsteinplatz) and with direct VOLTA7 shuttles running from Art Basel and Liste with no other stops, reaching the fair is effortless. With a 450-place car park one block away, the venue also offers easy parking.
VOLTA was founded in Basel in 2005 by dealers Kavi Gupta (Chicago), Ulrich Voges (Frankfurt) and Friedrich Loock (Berlin).
A full list of exhibitors can be viewed on our website at www.voltashow.com.
