The city of Basel is famed for its world-class institutions. Together with their directors, we explore their programs ahead of the show: Kunsthalle Basel and HeK. See our videos featuring Elena Filipovic (Kunsthalle) and Sabine Himmelreich (HeK).
Kunsthalle Basel
‘Our task is to give artists the opportunity to take risks that wouldn’t be possible in another setting.’ – Elena Filipovic, Director/Curator Kunsthalle Basel
Founded by the Basel Art Association in 1839, Kunsthalle Basel has always been dedicated to the art of its time. It offers a platform for untested ideas and experimental practices, right in the heart of the city. With no permanent collection, it instead follows a programme of short-term exhibitions, often based on new commissions. Landmark shows have included Pablo Picasso in 1914, Jackson Pollock in 1958, and more recently, early-career exhibitions by Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley, and Cindy Sherman.
During Art Basel’s 2018 Basel show, the Kunsthalle Basel will be showing two solo exhibitions: a meditative, 35mm film on race and representation by Luke Willis Thompson and an out-of-this-world, sculpture and video installation by Raphaela Vogel.
Founded by the Basel Art Association in 1839, Kunsthalle Basel has always been dedicated to the art of its time. It offers a platform for untested ideas and experimental practices, right in the heart of the city. With no permanent collection, it instead follows a programme of short-term exhibitions, often based on new commissions. Landmark shows have included Pablo Picasso in 1914, Jackson Pollock in 1958, and more recently, early-career exhibitions by Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley, and Cindy Sherman.
During Art Basel’s 2018 Basel show, the Kunsthalle Basel will be showing two solo exhibitions: a meditative, 35mm film on race and representation by Luke Willis Thompson and an out-of-this-world, sculpture and video installation by Raphaela Vogel.
HeK
‘I’ve always been attracted to media art because it addresses the issues of our time.’—Sabine Himmelsbach, Director of HeK
HeK, or, to give its full name House of Electronic Arts, has been a leading champion of digital culture since it opened in 2011. Located since 2014 in the fast-expanding area of Dreispitz – a former freeport on Basel’s outskirts, also home to the city’s art school – HeK is a reference in what has been until recently a relatively niche field: media art. Its program ranges from solo exhibitions by big-hitters such as Ryoji Ikeda and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, to group shows tackling urgent subjects such as big data politics and sexuality in the information age. A place for research as well as exhibition, HeK has also been a key driver in developing the thinking around the display and preservation of net-based art.
During Art Basel, HeK is hosting a solo show by media art pioneer Lynn Hershman Leeson. ‘Lynn Hershman Leeson: Anti-Bodies’ presents the artist’s latest body of work, which focuses on genetic experimentation and biotechnology. It includes an actual antibody-as-artwork, a protein named after the artist and developed in collaboration with Novartis scientists.