Art 37 Basel
The International Art Show
June 14-18, 2006
www.ArtBasel.com
Art 37 Basel: Eldorado of the International Art World
The 37th edition of Art Basel takes place in the museum city of Basel (Switzerland) from June 14 through 18, 2006. It is the worlds leading art show and annual meeting place of the international art world. Some 300 galleries from all continents have been selected to participate. They will be showing works by over 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Making its debut this year is the special «Art Premiere» sector, where 12 promising young galleries will be presenting their programs. Further special sectors feature one-person shows of young artists, editions and multiples, artists films, artists books, and public art projects. The «Art Unlimited» exhibition, presenting over 70 large-scale projects, and «Art Basel Conversations,» with distinguished panelists, represent further highlights. This year the international art show will already be closing on Sunday, June 18, with a big final event. «Professional Day,» for which the galleries will be organizing special activities, takes place on Friday, June 16. The museums of the city will be staging fascinating exhibitions and a broad range of events to complement the show.
Every form of artistic expression will be represented at Art 37 Basel, the repertoire ranging from paintings, drawings, editions, and sculptures to installations, performance work, and internet and video art. Works costing a few thousand dollars by young, yet-to-be discovered artists will be on display alongside museum-quality masterpieces priced in the millions. The «Art Unlimited» hall will be showcasing ambitious large-scale projects such as can be seen and purchased at no other art fair in the world. Exhibition Square in front of Art Basel will provide a platform for art projects in public space. Six projects by Chris Burden, Massimo Bartolini, Jeppe Hein, Mark di Suvero, Jack Pierson, and Martin Creed will be displayed there during the international art show. Over 50,000 visitors and approximately 1,800 media representatives are expected at the 37th edition of Art Basel. The cultural institutions of the city will be staging accompanying events and mounting exhibitions focusing on such artists as Henri Matisse, Hans Holbein the Younger, Tacita Dean, Francis Alÿs, Edgard Varèse, Lee Lozano, Daniel Richter, and Joe Colombo.
News
New: «Art Premiere»
The «Art Premiere» sector makes its debut at Art Basel this year. 12 young galleries from Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the USA will be taking part. With this new commitment, Art Basel reinforces its efforts to offer a platform to the youngest generation of gallerists and to constantly update and energize the show.
«Art Statements»
This year marks the tenth anniversary of «Art Statements.» The popular sector offers galleries and their young artists a special, reduced-rate platform that brings them to the attention of an international audience of curators, collectors, and the media. The «Art Statements» sector has been relocated to a prominent new position near the entrance of the «Art Unlimited» hall. The new exhibition architecture, designed by the Basel architects practice of Steinmann and Schmid, allows for variable spatial configurations adapted to the artists projects. It provides the ideal context for the 22 solo shows of young artists. The exhibition platform is complemented by a bookstore, a video library, a cafeteria, and the «Art Lobby» forum, where artists, art mediators, and the public have several opportunities daily to meet and exchange ideas.
«Professional Day»
This is the third time «Professional Day» will be taking place (Friday, June 16, 2006). The event is aimed at museum professionals, art dealers, and art collectors. Between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., many exhibitors will be staging special activities or rehanging parts of their booths. «Art Basel Conversations» and the «Art Lobby» will also be running information events geared to professional visitors. Until 2 p.m. on Friday, admission to the international art show is only by invitation of the participating galleries and the Show Management. The special exhibitions («Art Unlimited,» «Art Statements,» «Artists Books,» and «Art Lobby») will already be open to the public at 11 a.m.
«Art Basel Conversations»
Leading artists, curators, gallery owners, private collectors, and architects will be presenting and discussing the following subjects: «Art Collecting and Philanthropy,» «Art Institutions in the Middle East,» «Museums Envisioned by Artists,» and «The Concepts behind Forthcoming Biennales.» The panelists include Monica Bonvicini, Thomas Demand, Angela Bulloch, Marino Golinelli, Robert Weil, Okwui Enwezor, Hou Hanru, Crissie Iles, Rasem Badran, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Agnès Troublé, Vasif Kortun, Suzanne Landau, Tirdad Zolgadhr, and Robert Storr, to name only a few.
«Art Unlimited»
The «Art Unlimited» hall provides a platform for some 70 ambitious artworks that exceed the scope of most art fairs owing to spatial, temporal, technical, financial, contextual, or conceptual restrictions. The selection was made from a record number of over 200 projects proposed by the galleries exhibiting at Art 37 Basel. With the accent on innovative and large-scale works, everything from outsize sculptures and installations to video projections, mural paintings, and performance art will be on show and for sale. The list of artists ranges from Ilya Kabakov, Sherrie Levine, and Barbara Kruger to Douglas Gordon, Carsten Höller, Silvie Fleury, and Ernesto Neto. There will also be works by young and little-known artists. Many artists will be there in person.
«Public Art Projects»
The exhibition area in front of the main hall of the international art show is scheduled to become an arena for art projects in public space. Six projects by internationally acknowledged artists Chris Burden, Massimo Bartolini, Jeppe Hein, Jack Pierson, Mark di Suvero, and Martin Creed will be on display and available for purchase throughout Art 37 Basel. The works on Exhibition Square engage directly with the spectator, connecting with the daily lives of passers-by in ways now poetic, now alienating or surprising. In no way a traditional sculpture exhibition, «Public Art Projects» showcases interventions in urban space.
«Artists Books»
The «Artists Books» exhibition, which celebrated its successful premiere last year, will once again be taking place in the «Art Unlimited» hall. Whereas last years exhibition focused on artists books produced in the previous 5 years, this years is dedicated chiefly to artists books from the seventies. The exhibition is scheduled to be accompanied by information events and presentations in the presence of the artists and publishers. «Artists Books» is organized by Geneva curator and publisher Lionel Bovier in collaboration with AA Bronson of Art Metropole, Toronto, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Printed Matter (New York).
«Art Film»
The «Art Film» sector once again has a top-flight program of new films by and about artists in store at the Stadtkino Basel. «Art Film» is curated by Benjamin Weil, Curator of Media Arts at the famed San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. On Saturday, June 17, there will be a screening of the new film «Absolute Wilson,» in the presence of star director Bob Wilson.
«Film Premiere»
«Zidane, a 21st century portrait,» by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, presents a different approach to sports film, creating a real-time portrait and a far-reaching, in-depth film focusing on one of the greatest soccer players of our time: Zinedine Zidane. During the entire 90 minutes of the game, seventeen 35mm cameras set up around the playing field were trained solely on Zidane, who had agreed to become the center of attention for this out-of-the-ordinary, full-length feature film. The Scottish Mogwai Band, who composed the film score, will be performing live. Thursday, June 15, St. Jakobs Park, Basel.
Museums exhibitions in Basel
Rarely have the museum exhibitions in and around Basel been as outstanding as this year.
On show at the Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel: «Henri Matisse. Figure Color Space»; at the Kunstmuseum Basel: «Hans Holbein the Younger. The Years in Basel 1515 1532»; at the Schaulager: «Tacita Dean and Francis Alÿs»; at the Museum Jean Tinguely: «Edgard Varèse (1883 1965)»; at the Kunsthalle Basel: «Lee Lozano»; at the Kunstmuseum Basel Museum für Gegenwartskunst: «Daniel Richter.»
For further information please visit our website: www.ArtBasel.com
