Art Basel: the name brands

     
I was at Art Basel for the second year now, and it still felt like being in a supermarket. But this time, I changed my strategies and allowed myself more time in the Messe halls – at least I could breathe between things.

Gallery after gallery, I saw modern classics by big names like Picasso, Dubuffet, Miró, Max Ernst, Dalí, Man Ray, Fontana, Rothko, and also paintings by Le Corbusier. More recent masters included Joseph Beuys, Eduardo Chillida, and Andy Warhol. Louise Bourgeois and John Chamberlain who passed away in recent years were also feathered in multiple galleries.

Gagosian showed off Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst

The “Picasso corner” at Gagosian

Jean Dubuffet with John Chamberlain and Josef Albers in the back

Le Corbusier paintings

Joseph Beuys, Lying Cross, 1971/72

Eduardo Chillida, The Liberty Door I, 1983

Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 1954

Louise Bourgeois, Cell XXVIII, 2004-05

John Chamberlain, Karankawas Falls, 2003

Among the practicing stars, Tony Cragg was everywhere. Anish Kapoor was quite present with his Pringles and discs as well. Antony Gormley also joined the British force with multiple new works.

Tony Cragg sculptures incl. Round the Block, 2002 (mid) and Mean Average, 2011 (right)

Anish Kapoor’s Twist Wave Oval (2011) and untitled works (2012)

Anish Kapoor, Untitled, 2012

Antony Gormley, Abstract, 2011

Antony Gormley, Stay IV, 2012

Erwin Wurm, Psychos, 2010

Yayoi Kusama was back in the spotlight with retrospectives at both Tate Modern and Whitney. Other Japanese big shots included Takashi Murakami and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Yayoi Kusama, Reach Up to the Universe, Dotted Pumpkin (2012) and Akai-chan (2012)

Yayoi Kusama, Yellow Dots A, 1993

Takashi Murakami, Shangri-La Blue / Shangri-La Pink, 2012

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Five Elements, 2011

Joining Bourgeois and Kusama, there were other more contemporary female artists such as Jenny Holzer, Katharina Fritsch, Tara Donovan, and Monika Sosnowska.

Jenny Holzer, Heap, 2012

Katharina Fritsch, Apple, 2009-12

Tara Donovan, Untitled, 2012

Monika Sosnowska, Balustrade, 2012

Damien Hirst led the way of a “younger” generation with dazzling works featured at Gagosian and White Cube. Pieces by Ernesto Neto and Damián Ortega were also quite impressive. Olafur Eliasson didn’t seem so productive this year, only presenting some lamps that played with colors and shadow. On the US side, Doug Aitken put up a whole new series of works. I was glad to see Shepard Fairey getting in the fair. But to me, he still can’t compare to Keith Haring...

Damien Hirst, Stripper, 2006

Damien Hirst, Papilio Ulysses, 2008

Damián Ortega, Organisms 1-3, 2012

Tomas Saraceno’s Altocumulus 3 (2012) above and Ernesto Neto’s Pending Body (2012) in the back

Ernesto Neto, Citoaninapylea, 2003

Ernesto Neto, Variation on Color Seed Space Time Love, 2009

Olafur Eliasson, Your Two-tone Dawn Light, 2012

Doug Aitken, MORE (x4), 2012

Doug Aitken, Fountain (earth fountain), 2012

Doug Aitken, OH NO (red), 2012

Allora & Calzadilla, Petrified Petrol Pump, 2012

Shepard Fairey at Pace Prints

In terms of photography, it seemed that the whole Düsseldorf School was present. There were Bernd and Hilla Becher’s classics, as well as old and new works by Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, and Candida Höfer.

Andreas Gursky, Cocoon II, 2008

Thomas Struth, Queen Elizabeth II & The Duke of Edinburgh, Windsor Castle, Windsor, 2011

Thomas Ruff, ma.r.s. series, 2011

Strictly speaking, Thomas Demand is not one of the Düsseldorf School photographers, because he studied sculpture at the Kunstakademie (with Katharina Fritsch). He presented again photographs of realistic models, a creative approach that echoed his American counterpart James Casebere.

Thomas Demand, Junior Suite, 2012

James Casebere, Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #10, 2011

James Casebere, Mosque (after Sinan) #3, 2007

Ai Weiwei is not a photographer. But the casual photos he took when he was in New York almost 30 years ago were put together as a signed “deluxe edition.” It seemed to me that as long as you have the fame, whatever you do could have some special value. If some random photos by an illegal immigrant in New York are worth collecting, I shouldn’t have been surprised that reprints of Frank Gehry’s scribbles were priced at thousands of dollars each.

Ai Weiwei, Marble Plate, 2010

Ai Weiwei, New York Photographs, 1983-93

Frank Gehry, Puzzled sketches

     

The magic of weird angles

         
Since the Schaulager building is closed for the rest of the year due to enhancement work, the institution decided to put up a “Schaulager Satellite” right in the middle of Messeplatz to keep its presence during Art Basel.

The overall form of the HdM-design “Satellite” makes obvious geometric references to the main Schaulager building. The distorted triangle is composed of two indentations similar to the one on the Schaulager facade, acting as two welcoming sides facing the two main access directions of Messeplatz. These two sides are combined in a very smart way to form a distinct gesture that looks as if it comes out from the Messe Hall 2, and diminishes at one sharp corner pointing into Messeplatz. Underneath the big triangle are several little houses with gable roofs – obvious instances of the Schaulager gatehouse. But compared to the ingenious recreation of the indentation, these scattered volumes seem a bit like just kitschy mimicry.

The datum between the two parts introduces a clear dichotomy. Structurally, it’s supporting vs. supported; and programmatically, it’s public functions (reception, bookstore, food stand) vs. core exhibition. The material choice follows the division: soft perforated PVC foil above and rough OSB below. But the white paint on the outside of the OSB houses seems to take a step back and undermine the otherwise sharper contrast. There is also one exceptional small house: the video room. One may argue that it’s a black box so it’s different from the display above. But I still think it goes against the conceptual clarity.

After several visits, I decided that this pavilion is one of the most difficult-to-photograph buildings I’ve seen in recent years. In the camera viewfinder, you see lines flying around in different angles. You can’t judge what’s perpendicular and what’s vertical any more. The strange form is completely anti-compositional. It’s not meant to create beautiful pictures. But all the funny angles work together magically and make the space very interesting.

Following the stair/auditorium that flips down like a spaceship, one arrives at the upper galleries around a triangular opening. There are several videos playing at the same time. In order to balance the acoustic environment, the walls are made of molton fabric – a material often used for theatre curtains. This smart material choice also results in a soft and monolithic interior surface. Very cozy.

In terms of exhibition, I found the “sourcebook” curation concept very interesting. Instead of featuring “real art,” the galleries show the making of art in a series of “shop windows.” The objects on display include the four red balls John Baldessari tossed in his pictures, the shoes Matthew Barney used to stamp the petroleum-jelly footsteps onto the floor, a rare leftover from the paper model Thomas Demand built for his photographs, plaster models and negative moulds from Katharina Fritsch, props and costumes from Cindy Sherman, a model of Monika Sosnowska’s monumental sculpture 1:1, and of course, a wooden model of the Schaulager building by HdM.

Thomas Ruff’s 3D photographs

Clockwise from top left: Herzog & de Meuron, Peter Fischli & David Weiss; Katharina Fritsch; Matthew Barney, Paul Chan; Cindy Sherman, Thomas Demand, John Baldessari