Al Qadiri, Doris Salcedo, and More Art Basel 2023 Shows

While exploring the vibrant presentations of Art Basel this month, we’re bringing you must-see exhibitions at Fondation Beyeler, Kunsthalle Basel, and Kunsthaus Baselland.

Fondation Beyeler presents a sweeping show of career-defining pieces by Colombia-based artist Doris Salcedo, currently on view through September 17. Curated by Director Sam Keller and Associate Curator Fiona Hesse, eight dynamic series from both private collections and global institutions take viewers on an emotional journey through the artist’s exploration of brutality, alienation, grief, and never-ending faith. Salcedo’s childhood in Bogotá instilled in her an organic understanding of catastrophe, which spurred a life’s work dedicated to exhaustive research, and translating the universal repercussions of human violence into cathartic and fiercely enlightening artworks. Unland (1995-1998) speaks to northern Colombia’s orphaned children who witnessed the murder of their parents; Salcedo connects half-tables and human hair in an examination of fragmented lives and families. A Flor de Piel (2011-2014) is dedicated to a Colombian nurse who was tortured to death, her body never found; a myriad of rose petals are stitched together to create an enormous veil, which is spread across the gallery floor like a blistering, floral grave.

Fondation Beyeler reunites eight majestic paintings by the legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in an energetic show titled, “Basquiat: The Modena Paintings,” on view through August 27. To reimagine a presentation in Modena, Italy that never transpired, Director and Curator Sam Keller and Associate Curator Iris Hasler offer lesser-seen works of 1982 such as The Guilt of Gold Teeth, Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump, and Profit I. Created by Basquiat in Italy as one united series, “Modena Paintings” feature an iconic skeletal figure cloaked in black and surrounded by waves of vibrant color, symbols, and phrases. In a noted departure from explosive city street imagery, lesser-seen works such as Untitled (Angel), Untitled (Devil), and Untitled (Cowparts) evoke spiritual imagery illuminating human and animal bodies.

In a continuation of inspired summer debuts, Fondation Beyeler offers a sweeping collection of works by environmentally conscious artists titled “THE MIND’S EYE: Images of Nature from Claude Monet to Otobong Nkanga,” as well as a journey through the experiential works of artist Robert Ryman, on view through August 27. Championing the poetic visions of pioneers past and present, such as Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Olafur Eliasson, and Thomas Schütte, Chief Curator Theodora Vischer delves into the evolution of nature’s bounty over 100 years. From the Shangri-La of Monet’s gardens, to Unearthed (2021), a complex series of digital and craft-based artworks by Otobong Nkanga depicting looming threats to mother nature, viewers are enveloped by artistic memories of nature’s beauty and surreal visions of her fragile future.

The Philadelphia-based artist Tiona Nekkia McClodden shows a nuanced, multi-faceted ode to vulnerability and the universal fight for survival with her latest exhibition, “The Poetics Of Beauty Will Inevitably Resort To The Most Base Pleadings and Other Wiles In Order To Secure Its Release,” on view through August 13 at Kunsthalle Basel. Sourced from a collage of personal histories, fascinations, and society’s oppression of human and animal rights alike, McClodden’s artworks are thought-provoking and unforgettable vessels of life and death. Cattle head gates, used by the livestock industry both to care for the animals and to kill them, are reimagined by the artist as hanging, minimalistic “points of mercy” in matte black. Leather straps reading, “a single moment of inattention and I forget to breathe,” alludes to the artist’s medical condition of sleep apnea, which will be further expressed by a public performance on June 14 in which the belts will be used to constrict breath, speech, the human body, and pay respect to the fragility of life.

Basel-based artist Simone Holliger debuts an enlightening exhibition titled “venir en main (come to hand),” on view through July 7 at Kunsthaus Baselland. Evoking the freedom to shape, shift, and form our everyday lives to make way for new vistas, ever-evolving mindsets, and emerging points of empathy and personal development, Holliger’s architectural, site-specific sculptures of stiff paper and hot glue are energetic, experiential works of the imagination. In vivid colorways, influenced by human relationships and the very spaces in which they are displayed, the artist allows her work to flourish directly on-site.

Kunsthaus Baselland presents Berlin-based artist Jeppe Hein’s latest celebration of human joy, surprise, and shared experiences with the “Appearing Rooms,” on view through September 3. The whimsical outdoor installations consist of liquid walls which appear and disappear at random, inviting viewers to delight in engaging with the artworks and each other. Whether viewed from the outside or within the evolving water sculptures, the experience is both personal and collective. As with all of the artist’s singular creations, visitors of all ages are encouraged to play, experiment, discover, and let go of all expectations to exist purely in the sweet moment.

Kunsthaus Baselland extends its exploration of our impenetrable bond with the natural world in “Nature. Sound. Memory,” currently on view through July 9. Multi-disciplinary artists Monira Al Qadiri, Joan Jonas, Sigalit Landau, Maya Schweizer, and Hannah Weinberger offer their exceptional insights and artistry, provoking necessary questions and dialogues on the delicate state of the world. With Holy Quarter, Al Qadiri zooms in on the exploitation of the Arabian Gulf, and addresses the reliance that earth and space have on one another with a haunting juxtaposition of film, sound, and celestial objects made of glass. In an excavation of history and an ode to family, Schweizer continues her probing of the underground spaces built by the Nazis in Germany during the 1930s and ‘40s. L’étoile de mer (2019) and Voices and Shells (2020) thoughtfully layer set pieces, text fragments, and homages to film history in a journey through shadowy tunnels of flowing water and visceral memories of war and terror just under Munich’s surface.