Art Feature
The Art Feature sector at Art Basel spotlights precise projects in highly focused stands, located alongside Art Galleries on both floors of Hall 2. These 20 projects including solo presentations, juxtapositions and thematic exhibits from artists represent a wide range of cultures, generations, and artistic approaches.
A
A Gentil Carioca | Rio de Janeiro: José Bento,
Lourival Cuquinha, Rodrigo Torres
Applicat-Prazan | Paris: André Masson
B
Galerie Guido W. Baudach | Berlin: Thilo Heinzmann
Boers-Li Gallery | Beijing: Zhang Peili
C
Galerie Andrea Caratsch | Zurich: Giorgio de Chirico
D
D'Amelio Gallery | New York: Cady Noland
G
Alexander Gray Associates | New York:
Melvin Edwards
H
Galerie Henze & Ketterer | Wichtrach/Bern:
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Herald St | London: Nick Relph
Hotel | London: Carol Bove, Duncan Campbell
I
In Situ Fabienne Leclerc | Paris: Meschac Gaba
K
Krobath | Vienna: Běla Kolářová, Jiří Kolář
M
McCaffrey Fine Art | New York: Saburo Murakami,
Sadamasa Motonaga, Fujiko Shiraga, Kazuo Shiraga
Galerie Mezzanin | Vienna: Geta Bratescu
Murray Guy | New York: Moyra Davey
P
Galeria Plan B | Cluj: Navid Nuur
S
Galerie Micky Schubert | Berlin: Victor Brauner,
Marieta Chirulescu
Sorry we're closed | Bruxelles: Bernhard Buffet
Stevenson | Cape Town: Zander Blom, Ernest Mancoba,
Odili Odita
V
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois | Paris:
Jacques Villeglé, Raymond Hains
A Gentil Carioca (Rio de Janeiro) will present work by three Brazilian artists of three different generations who use monetary values such as currency and gold to reflect on the global economy and world cultures. While José Bento works with blocks of dark wood which he shapes into gold bullions, which become the basis of his sculptures, Rodrigo Torres delicately glues together banknotes from different countries, thus mixing their economies and cultures. On display will also be Lourival Cuquinha's recreation of the European flag, made out of Euro notes.
Applicat Prazan (Paris) will mount a precisely curated solo exhibition of the French surrealist painter André Masson. The gallery will show a selection of ten historically important paintings that illustrate the artist's influence on abstract expressionism.
Galerie Guido W. Baudach (Berlin) will present a solo show by Berlin based artist Thilo Heinzmann. Exhibiting a new series of four interrelated paintings made especially for Art Feature, their distinct impression and sensitive choice of various materials exemplify Heinzmann's singularly diversified position in contemporary painting.
Boers-Li Gallery (Beijing) will bring together various works by Zhang Peili. While early pieces from the late 1980's show the artist's transition from painting to conceptual text-oriented works, videos produced from 1991 onwards document his interest in the social-political meaning of art.
Galerie Andrea Caratsch (Zurich) will exhibit a selection of self-portraits by Giorgio de Chirico. Throughout his life de Chirico was obsessed with self-portraiture and interested in seriality, repeating again and again the same images.
D'Amelio Gallery (New York) will present a specially designed booth at Art Features devoted to works by Cady Noland. Cady Noland's sculpture deals with the dysfunction of American society and the collective experience of the frontiersman search for the illusive "American Dream".
Alexander Gray Associates (New York) will display Melvin Edward's 'Five to the Bar' (1973) in the Art Feature section. This large-scale sculpture, forged from welded steel and barbed wire, encapsulates a number of motifs present in Edwards' oeuvre.
Galerie Henze & Ketterer (Wichtrach/Bern) will present an exclusive selection of oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints created by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in Davos between 1917 and 1938.
Herald St. (London) will exhibit a solo presentation by English artist Nick Relph. Working across a variety of media such as film, photography, collage, sculpture and text, Nick Relph's practice helps understand cultural and historical detail through subtle highlighting of moments both past and present.
Hotel (London) will bring together work by Carol Bove and Duncan Campbell. How history is read, and misread, and how social, artistic and political institutions and individuals edit, replace and create a narrative from chaos and desire, is a central theme to the work of both artists and the link in their investigation into historical and 'empowered' objects and images.
In Situ Fabienne Leclerc (Paris) will display a series of 15 sculptural wigs created by artist Meschac Gaba. Each wig has the form of a symbol representing icons of history such as scientist Louis Pasteur, King Guézo or Martin Luther King.
Krobath's (Vienna) presentation will show extraordinary and mostly unknown assemblages, drawings, photograms and collages created by Běla Kolářová and Jiří Kolář created between the 1960's and 1980's.
McCaffrey Fine Art (New York) will present art work by leading Gutai artists, including Saburo Murakami, Sadamasa Motonaga, Fujiko Shiraga and Kazuo Shiraga. The exhibition will also include seminal documentary material such as film footage and a facsimile of Gutai, the twelve volume journal produced by Gutai Art Association
Galerie Mezzanin (Vienna) will present a solo-exhibition of Geta Bratescu, focusing on historical works that give insight into the artist's approach and thinking.
Murray Guy (New York) will present a solo project by Moyra Davey. On display will be a single installation comprising new photographs, a film, and an artist's book. Davey's installation will function as a wide and profound inquiry into the nature of photography, circulation, abstraction, narrative, and the written word.
Galeria Plan B (Cluj) will exhibit two works by Navid Nuur. Both works – a video projection displayed on a glow-in-the-dark screen and a painting made of retro-reflective gels – explore questions about composition, art history, science and language.
Galerie Micky Schubert (Berlin) will juxtapose Victor Brauner's 'L'abeille' from 1930 with new works by contemporary artist Marieta Chirulescu made especially for the exhibition. In the beginning, Chirulescu worked under the influence of surrealism but eventually began to empty her paintings of figurative elements. Instead, she retained a use of pictorial space, which can be linked to the background we find in the work by Brauner.
Sorry we're closed (Bruxelles) will present a selection of life-sized écorchés in Renaissance attire from the 'Death' series by Bernard Buffet, which were created after he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1998.
Stevenson's (Cape Town) will exhibit a group show presenting two contemporary African abstract painters, Odili Odita and Zander Blom, alongside their most significant predecessor Ernest Mancoba. Although these three artists differ in their primary points of investigation, they share a belief in the potential of abstraction and deep formalist concerns.
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois (Paris) will unveil an ensemble of hundreds of gouaches, drawings, photographs and scrapbooks documenting Jacques Villeglé's and Raymond Hains' collaboration on the pictorial animated project 'Pénélope'.