A pioneering art fair that showcases young generations of galleries into the art scene, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024 opens its doors from June 11–June 16. Also accessible online, the fair extends its new gallery presentations into a global network. The fair marks Liste’s 29th year in action since its founding in 1996.
“Almost every young gallery still applies to Liste and wants to be part of this important platform in Basel. We are once again able to present the promising new galleries and their artists to an international audience of experts,” said the fair’s co-founder and interim artist director,Peter Bläuer. “It makes me very happy to once again work with Stiftung Liste Basel on this important task of helping to promote a future generation of galleries.”
An International Group of Next-Generation Galleries
Theta: Hannah Taurins, “Study for Affection,” 2024, 7 x 10 inches, marker and colored pencil on paper mounted to panel, courtesy of artist and Theta.
This year’s fair features 91 international galleries, including 75 solo artists, 16 group shows, and 5 joint booths. With two-thirds of the featured exhibitors focusing on solo shows, Liste celebrates its galleries’ eyes for innovation and creative spirit. Liste’s showcase compiles into representing galleries from 35 countries worldwide and over 100 distinct cultural perspectives.
In alignment with the show’s eye for ascending galleries and artists, Liste’s 2024 fair features 23 new galleries from all around the world. This includes Coulisse from Stockholm; Cylinder and P21 from Seoul; Gauli Zitter from Brussels; Longtermhandstand from Budapest; murmurs from Los Angeles; Rele from Lagos; Silke Lindner from New York; sissi club from Marseille; Yutaka Kikutake from Tokyo; and a. Squire, Brunette Coleman and Rose Easton from London.
Reflections at Liste Art Fair Basel 2024
Temnikova & Kasela: Flo Kasearu, “Soap for a Lifetime,” 2023, 34 x 51 x 29 cm, soap; photo by Jack Elliot Edwards, courtesy Liste Art Fair Basel.
Throughout the fair’s presentations, there is a consistent inclination for artists to examine the interplay between humans and the environment, underscoring the pressing need for a global examination of ecological, social, and political happenings. At the same time, another prominent theme involves artistic reflections on time, memory, and the fleeting nature of existence.
These two tendencies overarchingly coalesce into Liste 2024’s broader theme: artists whose pieces grapple with the fleeting nature of humanity, including the inevitability of phenomena like morality and loss.
For Visitors, Liste’s First Art Bookstore
Fair Architecture by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen, Photo by Moritz Schermbach, courtesy of Liste Art Fair Basel.
Located in Hall 1.1 at Messe Basel, visitors can wander through the circular and interconnected architecture and observe the fair’s selected artists, then converge with other observers in the space’s central piazza.
Alongside its bar and seating areas, the piazza of the fair hall additionally features Liste’s first art bookstore, curated by Berlin’s “do you read me?” The popup includes select magazines and books that further speak to the fair’s contemporary art scene, drawing from the German location as a hub for art enthusiasts in Berlin’s gallery district.
What to Not to Miss at Liste Art Fair Basel 2024
Astrit Ismaili, Salzburg Summer Academy with Ismaili’s workshop participants, 2023; Image Courtesy of Anna Aicher.
The fair will also host daily performances by artists including Liste’s 2024 Special Project, “Mythic Beings” curated by Elisa Labber. The performance explores the powers of utopian models in addressing real-world concerns, drawing from literature by key figures like Christine de Pizan and Octavia E. Butler. The show features works by Wren Cellier, Astrit Ismaili, Florence Peake, and Luana Vitra, who all explore art’s revolutionary capabilities.
The fair’s performances also include House of Electronic Arts, a Basel-based museum that presents interactive and immersive works by Mélanie Courtinat, Andy Picci, and Moritz Piehl. The works uplift digital spaces with 3D sculpting software and game engines, toying with how worldbuilding and growing digital landscapes have entered contemporary artistic expression.
Installation view of Florence Peake’s “FACTUAL ACTUAL Ensemble,” 2023, installation view at Southwark Park Galleries, London; Image courtesy of Liste Art Fair Basel.
Additionally, with its yearly-awarded Helvetia Art Prize, Liste continues to prioritize young Swiss artists. Last year, winner Bisso Yann Stéphane’s works explored a fusion of visual landscapes, portraiture, and abstraction with his painted dreamscape series. The prize, launched in 2004, provides graduates of Swiss art schools with financial support and an exhibition at Liste Art Fair Basel, generating a strong foundation for emerging artists in an epicenter of the contemporary art sphere.
Installation view of Bisso Yann Stéphane’s “Un Arbre à Palabres,” 2023, image courtesy of Margot Sparkes.
