Art Basel in Basel, 2017: Part 2

by HG Masters

The commercial art world is winning so much that it’s getting tired of winning. Especially for for the mega-galleries, the 48th edition of Art Basel in Basel has seen strong headline sales in the seven- and eight-figure bracket. Blue-chip contemporary galleries in the inner ring of the Messe Hall barely have enough space in their booths for their legions of directors and artworks from their ever-expanding rosters. But the trickle-down effect from the top of the pyramid has not been as consistent in other sectors of the fair and elsewhere in Basel, at least in the first part of the week. Within Art Basel, activity began picking up on Wednesday in the younger-artist-focused Statements section, where Martha Atienza won the CHF 30,000 (USD 30,800) Baloise Art Prize for her work Our Islands 11°16’58.4”N 123°45’07.0”E (2017), at Silverlens Gallery’s booth. Over at the satellite fairs, Liste and Volta, which both opened on Monday, foot traffic grew after the VIP day of Art Basel on Tuesday had consumed collectors’ attentions. Here’s a look at more sights around Art Basel, the public installations of the Parcours section, and Volta and Liste.

Art Basel has a tendency to send not-so-subtle messages in its Messeplatz displays outisde the fair. In 2013, it created a slum-chic “Favela Cafe” by TADASHI KAWAMANTA for the plaza. This year, CLAUDIA COMTE’s palandromic installation, curated by Chus Martinez, reads “NOW I WON,” an apt sentiment for those browsing the aisles at the fair. The other side of Comte’s piece is a tacky “fun fair,” with bowling, mini-golf, arm-wrestling, dance-offs and a shot bar.

In the Statements section, at Silverlens Gallery’s booth, were works by MARTHA ATIENZA, one of the winners of the Baloise prize whose video Our Islands 11°16’58.4"N 123°45’07.0"E (2017) features an underwater procession as fishermen re-enact the Ati-Atihan festival from Bantayan Island.

Also in Statements was GUAN XIAO’s installation Air Freshener, Spray (2017) at Antenna Space, featuring an artificial ecosystem that “gaze back at the viewers.”

At Gypsum gallery’s booth in Statements was MAHA MAAMOUN’s installation of photographs The Subduer (2017), which depicts the different prayers found taped up on the walls of offices in public notary offices in Cairo.

Magician Space’s presentation in Statements were contemporary riffs on scholar’s rocks—sculptures by WANG SHANG, who is an artist and a “certified gemologist.”

Nearby at Experimenter, PRABHAKAR PACHPUTE’s large paintings look at the environmental devastation of mining, stemming from his reflections on his family’s multi-generation legacy of coal mining in Chandrapur.

In the Parcours section, a tree by AI WEIWEI dominates Münsterplatz opposite the church.

Inside the Antikenmuseum is REZA ARAMESH’s hand-carved Carrara marble figure, titled Action 181: At 10:00pm Sunday 14 April 2013 (2016). Larger than life, the defiant, hooded figure stands in a bed of common urban weeds.

At Volta, Tyler Rollins gallery was showing drawings and wall-sculptures by SOPHEAP PICH, whose work is also featured in the Venice Biennale.

Zilberman Gallery showed three artists, including ZEYNEP KAYAN’s performance-inspired photographic collages.

Richard Koh Fine Art also brought a trio of artists, including a pair of sculptures by ANNE SAMAT, based on tribal Malaysian costumes.

At Liste, Southard Reid showed PREM SAIB’s sculptures, including a pair of lions on metal plinths with their faces disfigured.

Dubai’s Grey Noise organized a dual-showing of FAHD BURKI’s minimal paintings (left and bottom) made partially in response to the works of LALA RUKH, including this pair of photographs of the lines of sand left by the receding sea (upper right).

Also at Liste was Beirut’s Marfa Projects, which showcased SABA INNAB’s sculptures inspired by high-modernist architecture.

HG Masters is editor-at-large of ArtAsiaPacific.

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