Art Basel Cities Week‘Hopscotch (Rayuela)’ Catalog

Eduardo Basualdo, known for his large-scale, philosophical, and enigmatic sculptures, has taken over an 800-meter stretch of a fishing pier on the Río de la Plata. Fishermen’s huts dot the riverbank, which has been home to a fishing club since 1934, the Asociación Argentina de Pesca. Today the pier, located near the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur, has been all but forgotten, except by those who still fish there. Echoing the way in which the community relates to the river through the social ritual of fishing, Basualdo, long interested in the relationship of bodies and spaces, has installed sculptural and performative installations inside the huts and along the pier for viewers to discover and interact with. Occasionally wind, heat, or electricity will animate the works, which culminate in a large-scale installation at the far end of the pier. But like the endangered riverbank, these interventions are temporary and will erode and disappear over time. 

Performers: Andrés Arzuaga, Mariel Britez, Román Tonizzo
Production: Estudio Arqc

Special thanks to Marcelo Vilko and Asociación Argentina de Pesca for hosting this ‘Hopscotch (Rayuela)’ work.

• Artist Talk  |  Saturday, September 8, Asociación Argentina de Pesca, 5:30pm-6:15pm 

• Asociación Argentina de Pesca, Río de la Plata, Costanera Sur 
• Thursday, September 6, through Wednesday, September 12, 12pm-8pm
• Free entry, no ticket required
• Activations are ephemeral and ongoing throughout
• Children under 12 restricted; high heels not recommended

Drawing from literature, psychoanalytic theory, and film, the multimedia artist Eduardo Basualdo specializes in uncanny objects and built environments that unsettle viewers’ relationships to space. With theater training as an actor and a puppeteer, he also took part in the 2010 edition of the Guillermo Kuitca scholarship at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Basualdo’s works have been presented in the Biennale de Lyon (2011); the Biennale de Montevideo (2012); the Gwangju Biennale (2014); ‘All the World’s Futures’ at the 56th Biennale di Venezia (2015); and the 12th Bienal de La Habana (2015). Selected solo presentations include ‘Nervio’ at the Musée Départemental d’Art Contemporain de Rochechouart, Limoges (2013); ‘The End of Ending’ at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 2016; the Museu Brasileiro de Escultura e Ecologia, São Paulo (2017); and ‘La Cabeza de Goliat’ at La Usina del Arte, Buenos Aires (2018). Since 2003 Basualdo has been part of Provisorio/Permanente, a four-person group with which he presents theatrical installations. 

The artist is represented by Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo; and PSM Gallery, Berlin.