On June 13 in Basel, Switzerland, Art Basel 2024 will be unveiled with a sweeping creative program throughout the vibrant city, on view through June 16. The much-anticipated 2024 edition brings 285 internationally renowned galleries and forward-thinking masterpieces in the diverse realms of digital art, painting, photography, and sculpture. Visitors will find 22 new and cutting-edge participants alongside returning exhibitors from cities worldwide.
Sections like Feature, Statements, and Edition will feature presentations from Jeffrey Deitch, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Meredith Rosen Gallery, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Gemini G.E.L., and more, while nearly 70 immersive installations and energetic performances will be included in the Unlimited platform.
The fair’s Kabinett section shines light on presentations across primary booths with unparalleled curation. Throughout the city of Basel, the Messeplatz display, revisioned Parcours sector, Conversations series, and Film program will engage and inspire.
Art Basel 2023, courtesy of Art Basel.
Community and Unlimited Possibilities at Art Basel 2024
“I am particularly excited about this year’s expanded city-wide program as a testament to Basel’s cultural pulse,” said Maike Cruse, Director of Art Basel in Basel. “The Messeplatz project, featuring Agnes Denes’ transformative installation Honouring Wheatfield – A Confrontation (2024), redefines the dialogue between environment, land art, and the value of things. Our Parcours sector transforms the Clarastrasse into an exhibition exploring the topics of circulation and transformation. And the Merian will not only showcase Petrit Halilaj’s installation on the façade but will also extend Art Basel’s activation into the evening and night. Join us to celebrate community and the limitless possibilities of artistic expression along the Rhine.”
The drawing room at Monkton House, featuring a pair of “Lips” sofas (1938–39) and “Champagne standard lamps” (1938) designed by Salvador Dalí and Edward James (photo: 2006). Photo by Elizabeth Whiting & Associates / Alamy Stock Photo, courtesy of Jeffrey Deitch.
The Large-Scale Installations of the Unlimited Sector
Striking, large-scale projects are placed at the heart of the Unlimited sector, astutely curated for the significant fourth time by Giovanni Carmine, Director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen. Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg, with Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler and Meredith Rosen Gallery, expands the mind with the site-specific installation Premium
Economy (2023-2024). Presented by Goodman Gallery in partnership with ACA Galleries, the first multimedia performance of luminary Faith Ringgold, The Wake and Resurrection of the Bicentennial Negro (1976), is brought to new life in a spellbinding reenactment.
On the evening of June 13, Unlimited Night will host performances in the evening hours, and The Unlimited People’s Pick sparks joy as an inaugural vote for visitors’ favorite artwork, followed up by a yet-to-be-disclosed prize.
Art Basel 2023, courtesy of Art Basel.
The Second Year of the Kabinett Category Radiates
The masterfully curated projects of the Kabinett category, in its second year, unfolds with 22 presentations by 23 galleries. American artist Sarah Pucci and her daughter Dorothy Iannone offer a heartfelt, familial show presented by Air de Paris. German Japanese artist Ernst Yohji Jaeger examines the prisms of human emotion and love with evocative colors and content. Experimenter brings the stunning artistry of Indian artist Kanishka Raja with Switzerland for Movie Stars (2014), a hypothetical adventure between Srinagar and Geneva by way of an experiential panoramic panel painting and brochure.
Sam Gilliam, “Annie,” 2022, watercolor on washi, 77.5 x 42 inches;
© Sam Gilliam / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy of Pace.
Public Art Sector Parcours is a Celebratory and Avante-Garde Encounter
Parcours, the comprehensive public art sector, plays out on Claratrasse and the Middle Bridge, a celebratory encounter between the Rhine and the fairgrounds. With inaugural curation by Stefanie Hessler, Director of Swiss Institute (SI) in New York, the exhibitions take place across avant-garde spaces such as store spaces, a brewery, a hotel, and more.
New and site-specific artworks dive into the concepts of globalization, trade, and ecology. London-based artist Alvaro Barrington, with Sadie Coles HQ, Thaddaeus Ropac, and Massimodecarlo, enlivens an architectural space that offers fresh produce with immersive paintings. Presented by Galerie Nordenhake, a food court is seen with new eyes through Swedish visionary Lap-See Lam’s mesmeric installation which collages time-honored Chinese shadow play and skillful digital animation. On June 12, Parcours Night hosts live performances and acts for the very first time in Basel history.
Judy Chicago, “Multicolor Rearrangeable Game Board,” 1965-1966,
Acrylic on wood,
18 x 18 inches;
Photo by Genevieve Hanson, Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, New York and Los Angeles.
Messeplatz, The Merian, and Film Programs Uplift Connection and Creativity
Basel’s Messeplatz unveils a site-specific show from the nuanced mind of conceptual artist Agnes Denes, and curated for the third year by Samuel Leuenberger, founder of the non-profit exhibition realms SALTS. Within The Merian, where the hotel bar, restaurant, and terrace beautifully unite, Petrit Halilaj’s When The Sun Goes Away We Paint The Sky uplifts the meaningful 30-year alliance between Art Basel and UBS.
The 25th edition of the Film program, curated by Filipa Ramos, founding curator of video platform Vdrome and lecturer at Basel’s Arts Institute of the FHNW, brings together varying pieces of cinematic artistry. In partnership with Marian Masone, the New York-based independent curator, the lineup kicks off on June 12 with “The Political Life of Plants.” In this short film series, filmmakers Nefeli Chrysa Avgeris, Zheng Bo, Ulla von Brandenburg, Kyriaki Goni, and Tiffany Sia explore ecology as a vital element of art cinema.
Alighiero Boetti (1940 – 1994), “Tra l’Incudine e il Martello,” 1987, Signed on the reverse
Embroidery, 21.6 x 21.4 cm; (8 1/2 x 8 3/8 in.), courtesy of Ben Brown Fine Arts.
The Landmark 20th Anniversary of the Conversations Platform Unfolds
Art Basel 2024 invites all visitors to bask in the 20th anniversary of its profound Conversations platform, newly curated by Berlin-based art critic Kimberly Bradley. Over 25 cultural figureheads in 11 panels investigate positive ways in which to mold the bright future of modern society.
Hans Ulrich Obrist talks about worldbuilding and the multi-dimensional concept of utopia with renowned architect Carlo Ratti alongside digital artists Rebecca Allen and Danielle Braithwaite Shirley. Within the Premier Artist Talk, Mire Lee speaks about individual creative practice in anticipation of her Hyundai Commission at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, a project that keenly recalls kinetic sculpture throughout art history.
Installation view of Irène Zurkinden’s works at Meredith Rosen Gallery’s booth in Art Basel 2024, courtesy of Meredith Rosen Gallery.
Art Basel 2023, courtesy of Art Basel.
