Tag: art basel

Art fairs can be intimidating places in general, but an event with the vast size of Art Basel Miami Beach poses particular challenges. In the lead up to this week’s edition, we consulted five leading international collectors to help navigate the Miami madness. Below, our art world veterans reveal strategies for maximizing what you are getting out of the big fair, whether you’re buying or just browsing.

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Jean Prouvé, Kengo Kuma, Ron Arad, Kiki van Eijk, Hiroshi Sugimoto are just some of the names at the 11th Design Miami/Basel, that opens with a rich programming – Robbie Antonio

46 leading galleries from around the world are gathered in Basel to show exceptional modern and contemporary furniture and objets d’art. Throughout the fair, Design Miami/Basel presents a packed program of talks, events and special exhibitions that celebrate design in all its diverse applications, including booths showcasing Swarovski’s Designers of the Future, and the celebrated Design at Large display.

Berlin-based architecture practice Kuehn Malvezzi has teamed up with the Finnish design company Artek and Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat to produce a formally distinctive Collector’s Lounge, while works by Zaha Hadid – that have been a strong presence at the fair over the past decade – will be presented in a special presentation by Zaha Hadid Architects, showcasing her innovative work in the field.

For the first time, Design Miami will play host to a specialist in prestige vintage car design and it will also see the return of the Design Curio program, showcasing forgotten curiosities, groundbreaking ideas and new areas of investigation at design’s cutting edge. Moreover, this year’s Swarovski Designers of the Future Award is presented to a group of emerging new talents who were tasked with the challenge of designing for the future in a holistic, adaptable and personal way.

Highlights of the 2016 Design Talks program include Andreas Ruby discussing breaking the boundaries of how architecture is viewed and experienced beyond the walls of a traditional museum and the Talks program will be ‘silent’, conveyed through wireless headphones to immerse audiences fully in the conversation. 

 

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Related Links: About Robbie Antonio, Contact

Miami, FL – December 1, 2015 – The who’s who of the art world came out to the Design Miami/ Collectors Preview as the 11th edition of the fair opened its doors. This gave collectors from around the world the opportunity to admire the curated exhibits and browse around before they were showcased to the public. Later in the day select VIP guests were invited to a special, invite-only Vernissage where collectors and gallerists seized the opportunity to preview the famed art bazaar.

Anna Williams, Susan Ainsworth, Craig Robins, & Rene Kamm

Michelle & Jason Rubell, & Arlene Chaplin

Susan Richards & George Lindemann

Walid & Susie Wahab

 Elle MacPherson

Craig Robins & Jeff Soffer

Didier Krzentowski & Craig Robins

George Lindemann

Wendell Castle

Craig Robins, Clemence Krzentowski, & Rodman Primack

Brandon Grom & Anna Williams

Joe Furst

 Laurie Lynn & Richard Stark

 Laurie Lynn Stark

Simon & Nikolai Haas

Nikolai & Simon Haas

Fernando Romero & Nadja Swarovski

Fernando Romero & Nadja Swarovski

Natalie Kovacs

Patrick Seguin

Craig Robins & Patrick Seguin

Patrick Seguin, Rodman Primack, & Craig Robins

Michael Jinkowski, Yves Behar, & Suzanne Trocme

Noah Horowitz, Samir Sabet d’Arce, & Marc Spiegler

Stephanie Reed, Marvin Ross Friedman, & Adrienne bon Haes

Marvin Ross Friedman & Adrienne bon Haes

Mohsen Mostafavi & Grace La

Vanessa Grout, Kathryn Mikesell, Marvin Ross Friedman, & Adrienne bon Haes

Cathy Leff, Clark Reynolds, Dennis Leyva, Deborah Harris, Helen Allen, & Jane Wooldridge

Nadja Swarovski & Fernando Romero

Simon de Pury & Ethan Suplee

Simon & Nikolai Haas

Stefano Tonchi

Carlos Suarez, Sarah Harrelson, & Lori Warriner

Mario Cader Frech, Robert Wennett, & Stephanie Goto

Criselda Breene & Pria Punjab

Criselda Breene, Pria Punjabi, Jonathan Breene, Fernanda Domit, & Andrea Noboa

Douglas Harsevoort, Joanne Cheung, Yi Liu Shen-Burke, Jenny Shen, & Steven Meyer

Craig Robins

Craig Robins

Clemence Krzentowski & Craig Robins

Flynn McGarry

Katie Stout

Lauren Pellerano Gomez

Susie & Walid Wahab

Alisha Talbot & Pablo de Ritis

Timothy Walker, Marcella Novela, & Marc C

Linus Adolfsson, Nikolai & Simon Haas, & PJ Park

Vanessa Grout, Kathryn Mikesell, Marvin Ross Friedman, & Adrienne bon Haes

Michele Oka Doner & Ana-Marie Codina Barlick

Claire Breukel & Anja Randegger

Alejandro & Ximena Gonzalez

Kathryn Mikesell, Cassie, Paul, & Estelle Berg

Lauren Pellerano Gomez

Armando Collado, Susane Ronai, Jill Behrman, & Wayne Taylor

Debbie Robins, Philip Levine, & Scott Robins

Dakota Jackson, Roslee Goldberg, & Rodman Primack

Fernando Romero, Nadja Swarovski, & Robbie Antonio

Chris de La Fe & Victor Bared

Carolina & Juan Ballejo

Dana Tang, Rodman Primack, & Richard Gluckman

Dana Tang, Robbie Antonio, Rodman Primack, & Richard Gluckman

Tony Chambers, Robbie Antonio, Sarah Douglas, & Malcom Young

Craig Robins

Yves Behar

Emmett Moore & Nina Johnson-Mileweski

Maria Vinos & Eduardo Olbes

Shane Kerr & Chantal Nicholson

Dakota Jackson, Robbie Antonio, Roslee Goldberg, & Edward Tyler Nahem

Dana Shear & Francesca Halpryn

Daniel Novela & Miguel Cardoso

Jackie Fletcher & Daniel Arsham

Jennifer Valoppi & Christian de Berdouare

Jonathan Gonzalez & Anthony Spinello

Keppie & Maria del Campo

Mariana Amaral & Esther Schattan

Michael Gongora & Kristen Rosen Gonzalez

Michelle Bernstein & Linda Krinsky

Michelle Perr & Elisa Chiu

Pedro Maal & Leonardo Davalos

Sarah Douglas, Tony Chambers, & Gina Nanni

Spring Dautel & Nilani Trent

Stefan Golangco & Andrey Furmanovich

by Miami Herald

If you’re having difficulty planning out your Art Basel 2015 party schedule, have no fear – our guide to Art Basel parties is loaded with events for every kind of Basel-goer. For the complete list, please click here. For now, here’s a look at the next couple of days.

Tuesday, December 1

Basement’s 1 Year Anniversary – featuring Seth Troxler, Nicolas Matar and Orazio Rispo. Hosted by Paper Magazine, Silencio, A Hotel Life and One Management, the event will feature a Material Art Fair. From 11 p.m. at Basement, 2901 Collins Ave, Miami Beach. RSVP to reservations@basementmiami.com.

Favela Beach: Nightlife Is Beautiful at Wall – hosted by Mr. Brainwash and featuring Jusske, Ruen and Reid Waters. From 11 p.m. at WALL, 2201 Collins Ave, Miami Beach.

Arlin’s Trio at Regent Cocktail Club – from 7 p.m. at Regent Cocktail Club, 1690 Collins Ave., Miami Beach.  

Rum & Bass at Coyo – featuring Walshy Fire & Friends. From 11 p.m. at Coyo, 2320 NW 2nd Ave, Miami.

Wednesday, December 2

Dubwise at Coyo – featuring Yaadcore, Tippy I and Corey Chase. From 11 p.m. at Coyo, 2320 NW 2nd Ave, Miami.

Snowbirds & Flamingos at Libertine – hosted in association with Art Report and featuring performances by special guests DJ Kindness (NYC), WRESTLERS and a slew of Big Apple and Magic City locals. From 10 p.m. at Libertine, 34 NE 11th Street, Miami. Admission is $15 with RSVP via libertinemiami.com/snowbirds.

DJ Harvey at Basement – from 11 p.m. at Basement, 2901 Collins Ave, Miami Beach. RSVP to reservations@basementmiami.com.

Havana Nights at Regent Cocktail Club – featuring Renoir & friends. From 7 p.m. at Regent Cocktail Club, 1690 Collins Ave., Miami Beach.  

Sultan & Ned Shepard at E11EVEN – from 11 p.m. at E11EVEN, 29 NE 11th Street, Miami. Tickets are $20 via www.11miami.com/artbasel. Set times TBA.

Behrouz & Friends at WALL – featuring Damian Lazarus and Bedouin. From 11 p.m. at WALL, 2201 Collins Ave, Miami Beach.

By Amanda Mesa | @thegirldowntown

And now for some parties and pop-ups you probably WILL NOT be able to attend. Complete list just click here. For now, a look at the next couple of days:

Monday, Nov. 30

ARTCELERATION Featuring RETNA: Getting a jump start on the Baseline, New York’s Hoerle-Guggenheim gallery is hosting a live painting event by graffiti artist to the stars, RETNA, who may or may not have been doing performance art when he trashed an LA art gallery recently, and who will hopefully not smash the Ferrari F430 Challenge he plans to paint. The event is by invitation only and will take place at Macaya Gallery, 145 NW 36th St. 

Design District Tour: A private tour of the DD’s swanky new stores and a sneak peek of the area’s most anticipated art exhibitions led by the DD’s Don Corleone, Craig Robins and L Real Estate’s Mathieu Le Bozec at 3:30 p.m. The tour ends in the Palm Court Events Space with remarks by Robins, curator Jeffrey Deitch, Hermes USA CEO Robert Chavez and architect and Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Mohsen Mostafavi. 

Tuesday, Dec. 1

Galerie Gmurzynska/Sylvester Stallone at ex Versace mansion: Long before Basel was anything but a city in Switzerland to Miami folk, Sly Stallone was doing art. Making art. Painting. We remember his house parties in Miami celebrating such. Sly was a visionary and is back in town for Art Basel and a private party at 8:30 p.m. that he will co host with art curator and critic Germano Celant. 

Reception for Magnificent Jewels & Sotheby’s Diamonds: Invite only 1 percentfest at the Sotheby’s penthouse from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Soho House Kick-Off Party hosted with White Cube & Vinyl Factory: An invite only ‘do hosted by Soho House’s Nick Jones, London art gallery White Cube’s Jay Jopling and indie British music and arts enterprise The Vinyl Factory. Disco legend Giorgio Moroder will spin while Moet & Chandon and Bombay will keep the crowds (de)hydrated. Also happening at Soho is the Calypso St. Barth boutique, open to members and guests December 3-6 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Sunday, where you never know who may be in the market for a caftan or ten.

Opening Reception for Unrealism: Art world machers Larry Gagosian and Jeffrey Deitch have organized this exhibition which will kick off its opening with a private party at 5 p.m. in the Moore Building.

Jose Andres Pre-Art Basel Cocktail with Africa Aycart: Spanish chef Andres welcomes Spanish artist Aycart at this invite only cocktail party at The Bazaar from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Icons by Pamela Hanson: Celebrating her latest photo exhibition of limited edition prints to benefit World Housing, fashion and celeb snapper Hanson is having a private cocktail party at 6:30 p.m. at the Shore Club. Her exhibition features Naomi Campbell, Nadja Auerman, William Baldwin, Kate Moss, Carla Bruni, Helena Christensen, Eva Herzigova and Michaela Bercu, so you never know whom of the aforementioned may show up. 

DuJour Magazine Party: Delano Beach Club. Private. 10 p.m.

PK SHOP Inaugural Cocktail: Paul Kasmin Gallery’s PK SHOP, called #TheNightYouLeft is emerging at The Nautilus and celebrating with a cocktail party, by invite only, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. This time around, the shop will feature wearable and collectable art by Deborah Kass, Erik Parker, John Gordon Gauld, Nir Hod, Mark Ryden and Will Ryman, among others.

Design Dialogue at the W South Beach: A moderated talk between fashion and art hosted by, wait for it, Heat player Amar’e Stoudemire and art collector Robbie Antonio moderated by Surface Magazine editor in chief Spencer Bailey. 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Private.

Brickell City Centre’s Illuminate the Night VIP Unveiling: The behemoth Brickell City Centre is taking one block of its 9.1 acre construction site and turning it into “an incredible deconstructed event space” featuring a performance by Wooden Wisdom, the duo comprised of actor Elijah Wood and former record label dude turned DJ Zach Cowie.  Invited guests will witness the first-time illumination of the newly completed Brickell City Centre CLIMATE RIBBON™, “imagined” by famed designer, Hugh Dutton and get to take selfies in front of British pop artist Allen Jones’s 23-foot, 6-ton sculpture “Dancers,” on display for one day only over Art Basel.

Hillary Clinton Fundraiser: Timing is everything, and the Democratic presidential hopeful will be in town for some private fundraisers including one at 5:30 p.m. at a Miami Beach apartment building to which supporters can attend for $2,700 including small talk and a photo op, or  $1,000 just to breathe the same air. Clinton will also be in Pinecrest at the home of Democratic fundraiser/businessman Chris Korge that night. For more information, email jstewart@hillaryclinton.com. 

Elle Decor Modern Life Concept House opening 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Wynwood. By invite (not even a plus one) only and featuring interior designers Sam Robin, Danielle Busca, Matt Macdonald, Elizabeth Martin and Fernando Wong.

The Art of Shade: Some would say this is the quintessential title for all of Art Basel Miami Beach, but then again, TUUCI, a Miami-based outdoor shade manufacturer, is hosting its own event from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at MAPS backlot, 342 NW 24th St., featuring graffiti artists Ricky Mastrapa AKA Abstrkt, Alex Vahan AKA Quake and Luis Berros using TUUCI parasols as canvases. Food and drink too. 

Mark Anthony Green Welcome Reception at Dream South Beach: Invite only party at 9 p.m. for GQ editor turned artist Green who will debut an installation described as his “most raw, most envelope pushing exhibition by far.”

Wynwood Walls VIP Party: Following a private hootenanny from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., Wynwood Walls opens to the public with a bash from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. with a litany of artists including Alexis Diaz, Case, Crash, Cryptik, el Seed, Ernest Zacharevic, Fafi, Hueman, Logan Hicks, The London Police, Magnus Sodamin and Pichi & Avo. 2520 NW 2nd Ave.

Palmeiras Beach Club at Grove Isle opening: Debuting the newly revamped hotel, restaurant, bar, beach club and spa, Palmeiras is hosting a VIP only Soiree Blanche (white) party with exhibitions by Venezuelan artists Flor Troconis and Rafael Barrios.

Architectural Digest Art at 1 Hotel: Private party with AD ed-in-chief Margaret Russell, 1 Hotels founder Barry Sternlicht, and LeFrak CEO and namesake Richard LeFrak celebrating art by Hilary Harnischfeger, Robert Lazzarini, Philippe Malouin, Michele Oka Doner and Carlos Rolon/Dzine.  6 p.m.

by Mara Seigler, Page Six

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Celebrities will flock to Miami to rub elbows with the art elite during Art Basel, which runs Thursday through Sunday. But many over-the-top parties will take place even before the art fair officially begins.

On Tuesday, Hilary Swank and Adrien Brody will help DuJour magazine kick things off with a party hosted by photographer Bruce Weber and his companion/agent Nan Bush at the Delano. Surface will host a panel with Miami Heat star Amar’e Stoudemire and real estate developer Robbie Antonio at W South Beach. And Sylvester Stallone will help Galerie Gmurzynska open a showcase curated by Germano Celant with cocktails at the former Versace Mansion.

Later in the week, Eva Longoria and Ricky Martin will honor Related Group’s Jorge Pérez at a Global Gift Initiative event and Paris Hilton will do her annual DJ thing at the nightclub Wall.

Fashion types will also party with Moschino designer Jeremy Scott during Montauk hotel The Surf Lodge’s pop-up at The Hall South Beach. A$AP Rocky will play the III Points concert series and New York clubs popping up will include 1Oak, Bounce Sporting Club and No. 8.

by Art World News

Deborah Wilk rounds up the key lessons (and reminders for even the most knowledgeable insiders) from the 46th edition of the fair

The 46th edition of Art Basel began its pre-game on Monday with the private opening of the fair’s now beloved Unlimited sector, an exhibition of large-scale works curated by Gianni Jetzer of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The parade of VIPs included collectors Robbie Antonio, Richard Chang, Susan and Michael Joey Hort, Jill and Peter Krause, Beth De Woody, Ron Pizzuti, Alan Lo, and Donald Marron who mingled with artists and curators such as Andreas Gursky, the Beyler Foundation’s Sam Keller, the Guggenheim’s Richard Armstrong, Takashi Murakami, Lawrence Weiner, Gary Tinterow of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Beijing’s Ullens Center for Contemporary Art director Philip Tanari.

The ensuing two days of previews witnessed the sort of sales that had dealers smiling when asked, ‘Have you been having a good fair?’ On the first day alone prices in the millions of dollars — which were willingly revealed — included an untitled 1957 oil on canvas by Joan Mitchell for $6 million from Cheim & Read; Marlene Dumas’s Helena, 2002, for $3.5 million, Sigmar Polke’s Skelett, 1974, for the same price, Bridget Riley’s Allegro Red, 2014, for $1.6 million from David Zwirner; and Thomas Schütte’s Vater Staat, dressed, 2010, also for $1.6 million from Mnuchin (the artist’s Grosser Geist Nr. 6, 1998, sold for $5 million at Skarstedt the following day).

Pace Gallery had reason to give thanks as its presentation of works by Robert Rauschenberg (honouring the gallery’s recent announcement of its representation of the artist’s foundation, along with Brazil’s Luisa Strina and Thaddeaeus Ropac of Paris) sold out entirely from prices ranging from $1 million to $450,000 to primarily American collectors and one lone Russian buyer. Similarly, five works from the Kitchen Table series by Carrie Mae Weems were sold to a major American institution by Jack Shainman on the second preview day.

By Friday, Christopher Wool’s Painting from 2009 sold for $5.5 million at Van de Weghe Fine Art and Hauser & Wirth reported the sale of Paul McCarthy’s White Snow Bambi (marble), 2013, for $2.8 million and Roni Horn’s Untitled (An otherwise unexplained fire in a dwelling inhabited only by women), 2014, for $1.25 million.

There were, however, plenty of notable lessons beyond the price tags, including these…

Art Basel is not an art supermarket

Contrary to reports that Art Basel is purely a commercial enterprise, the fair offers many opportunities for contemplation, spearheaded by its Unlimited offering. Despite the monumental nature of the gathered works (or perhaps due to their overwhelming size), the show sweeps up visitors, then grounds them in the serious business of viewing, thus bringing an enhanced sense of art’s profound power to the fair aisles next door.

‘It’s not a classic curatorial project in the sense that the curator works from proposals coming from the galleries as well as proposals he recruits from the galleries himself,’ says fair director Marc Spiegler. ‘This allows Unlimited to reflect a true art world zeitgeist because it shows both what the curator finds interesting and what the gallery is most passionate about.’

Organised by Jetzer for the last four years, the show now reads like a partnership between the curator, the fair, and the dealers all working in unison to demonstrate that gallery presentations are not simply a collection of objects for sale, but considered offerings of pieces that speak to the asethetic and philosophy of the gallery itself.

This has long been true in the booths of such storied dealers as Paula Cooper, Lisson, and the late Donald Young and is a concept that has become somewhat lost as the global art fair tour grows more extensive, and soaring prices command headlines.

‘Galleries have a history of promoting artists — and really a responsibility to them — which takes the form of exposing those who are unknown or little known by showing the work and carefully placing it so its historic value can grow,’ says Fergus McCaffrey.  Jack Shainman puts it a bit more bluntly: ‘If you don’t believe in the work you’re presenting, then you can’t do much for the artist.’

VIPs and collectors mingle at the entrance to Unlimited at Art Basel 2015 © Art Basel

It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission

In this same curatorial vein, Speigler holds a hard line with dealers on keeping booth configurations (which are submitted to event organizers for approval) static for the length of the fair. But with gangbuster sales, dealers have a hard time keeping works they believe are equally as good as those that have been sold stuck in their backrooms — or closets, as is fair parlance. (Rather than pieces stacked against the walls, these rooms are often as well polished as the booths’ public spaces and often hold secret allure for VIPs.)

‘We bring three tightly curated shows,’ says Janine Cirincione, director of Sean Kelly, which brought a team of preparators, who worked hard after hours shifting pieces. The scene was much the same at David Zwirner where gallery reps said the changes seemed nearly constant. Fergus McCaffery director Jesse Penridge adds, ‘When a piece drops out, a rehang gives us a chance to showcase a different object that might not have fit in the previous arrangement and the chance for viewers to see the remaining pieces in a new context.’

On the flip side, it’s nice to see the old school red dots, the marker on identifying labels that a piece has sold, more than a few of which were on ceramic works by Lucio Fontana in the booth of Karsten Greve.

The cache at Karsten Greve

Walking by Greve’s booth, few failed to be captivated by two fountains of patinated aluminum — one white, one black — by Louise Bourgeois (Fountain Couple, 1999/2000). ‘They’re part of Mr. Greve’s collection of works he purchased directly from the artist,’ says the gallery’s Maren Kirchhoff, who pointed to a veritable mini retrospective of 2- and 3D objects by Bourgeois. ‘It’s a chance for us to expose those who might only be familiar with her more iconic works to the depth of her practice.’ Of the Fontanas, Kirchhoff says, ‘all the ideas of the slash paintings were worked out in these earlier pieces. They illustrate the history.’

Such, she says, is also the case with a selection of spray-painted works on paper by David Smith, best known for his Modernist sculptures that riff primitive. Indeed, the formal investigations are clearly at play. While viewing them, the soft tinkle of Bourgeois’s water work brings talk back to her and the question of the cost required to take the piece home. ‘Of course, it’s for a very serious collector or a museum,’ smiles Kirchhoff. ‘But the price is only for Mr. Greve to say.’

Robert Irwin, Black 3, 2008. Courtesy of Pace and White Cube. Unlimited at Art Basel 2015 © Art Basel

Where Op Art was born

After viewing Robert Irwin’s Black 3, 2008, an elegantly lo-fi optical illusion composed of a series of room-size white sheer panels stenciled in the centre with a black square, in Unlimited, the collection of works in the booth of Denise Rene appears also to be by fellow light and space practitioners. But a closer look revealed many of the pieces to be by Agam and Jesus Rafael Soto.

‘We had the first show of Op Art,’ says director Denis Kilian, who flaunts a catalogue from a 1955 exhibition, entitled The Movement, featuring the aforementioned artists along with works by Victor Vasarely and kintetic pieces by Pol Bury, Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp, Robert Jacobsen, and Jean Tinguely (who has a museum dedicated to his work in Basel).

The mesmerizing offerings in this booth might have been the fair’s bargain with nearly all prices in the five- to low six-figure range. New to the fold is Pe Lang, whose delightful Moving Objects, No 1753-1754, 2015, small black rings bouncing along rows of white cable set within a shallow box that hangs on the wall — was on offer for a mere €35,000. 

Keith Haring: Getting hotter

Of course, the hope is always that low prices for so-called undervalued work won’t stay low forever. In light of the soaring prices for works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, growing collector and institutional interest in street and graffiti art, and a resurgence of identity politics, conversation has swirled around the market potential of work by Keith Haring for several years.

Now, it seems the time for the AIDS activist has come. The morning of Art Basel’s Tuesday preview saw Haring’s Untitled (June 1, 1984) sell for $5 million at Skarstedt. The transaction came on the heels of the revered Keith Haring: The Political Line at San Franscico’s De Young museum last February as well as Skarstedt’s own Keith Haring: Heaven and Hell, which was up in New York throughout March.

Although the gallery is a champion of the artist’s work, it is not the official representative to Haring’s foundation, an honour that falls to Barbara Gladstone gallery. ‘It certainly started the fair out with a bang,’ says gallery director James Lavender. But seriously, are there any whimpers in Basel?  

And you thought you knew Anish Kapoor

An art fair must is to view oneself in at least one of Kapoor’s curved, mirror-polished stainless steel wall pieces or peer into the depths of one of his richly pigmented hollows. In Basel, however, those who hadn’t had the opportunity to see the artist’s solo show at Lisson Gallery’s London outlet in April might have been somewhat taken aback by his new work.

At both Lisson and Gladstone Kapoor fans found themselves first surprised and then transfixed by conglomerations of silicon, resin, and pigment that appeared as painterly gestures of raw meat or muscles and sinew. ‘These works are another meditation on the perception and reflection of the body,’ says Gladstone Brussels associate director Maxime de la Brousse. ‘They’re also an homage to such imagery as found in works by Rembrandt and Francis Bacon.’

In other words, they are the very corporeal creations of the highly ethereal Kapoor. But lest fans feel the work is too tough, the £400,000 asking price at Gladstone might persuade devotees to learn to love it.

With special treatment comes responsibility

Fair visitors enjoy the curry on offer at Do We Dream Under The Same Sky? © Art Basel

Stalwart conceptual practitioner Rirkrit Tiravanija offered up another of his homestyle dining experiences at Art Basel. Do We All Dream Under the Same Sky? hired cooks created the food in a make shift kitchen on the Messeplatz at the fair’s entrance and served hungry patrons a simple vegetarian curry dish. The catch? Diners were required the wash their own bowls as payment for the free meal.

The piece was enormously popular with food ‘selling out’ within an hour or two of being offered, and not only did participants willingly wash out their bowls, they stood in a particularly long line to do it.

Naturally those used to lunching after 2pm were disappointed to find the kitchen closed, but Documenta 14 curator Dieter Roselstrate had a friend in the trenches, who scored him a bowl just after the cut off of the cafeteria line. He gobbled his curry happily while chatting about his upcoming show of work by Kerry James Marshall, which he organised for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, along with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Ian Alteveer, and Abigail Winograd of LA MOCA, all the while watching out for the car that was to take him to the airport.

When Roselstrate realised he likely wouldn’t have time to stand in the line to wash his bowl, he grew concerned. ‘I won’t have properly participated in the piece,’ he lamented. His friend reassured him by explaining he had brought the food, so the bowl was his responsibility. Apparently serving a meal in Basel is akin to saving a life in China. 

The next ‘Big Thing’: Marcia Hafif

Marcia Hafif in front of An Extended Gray Scale, 1973, at Unlimited © Marcia Hafif, Courtesy Fergus McCaffrey, New York / St. Barth

The Monday opening of Unlimited was abuzz with excitement over the never-before-mounted installation of 86-year-old Marcia Hafif’s An Extended Gray Scale, 1973. Taking up 4,000 square feet of exhibition space, the work is a continuous line, set around four walls, composed of 106 22-inch square oil paintings, beginning with a white canvas, ending with a black one, and offering all the perceptible gradations the artist could possibly determine in between.

While the academic nature of the project is about as rigorous as a meditation on conceptual painting could possibly be, the visceral effect of the being in the centre of Hafif’s grand gesture doesn’t merely equal, but surpasses that of her contemporary Robert Irwin’s Black 3, 2008, across the floor.

Such an acknowledgement incites Hafif’s current New York representative, Fergus McCaffrey, to wax eloquently on Hafif’s current little-known status, a situation he is working hard to rectify having been introduced to her work by Viennese dealer Hurbert Winter. The situation even incited him to commit his thoughts to the page: ‘In examining the work of Marcia Hafif, it has struck me again how arbitrary recognition can be in the art world,’ he writes. ‘Factors such as gender, age, being in the right place at the right time, one’s name, the credibility of one’s dealer, and pure luck often appear to have greater effect on the reception of your artwork that the quality of the objects themselves. . . .

‘Thankfully, periodic revisions occur to admit overlooked members into the canon, but how much easier would it have been to shortcut the struggle and be born male . . . and be represented by Leo Castelli.’ But where Castelli — as well as his one-time wife Illeana Sonnabend, who represented Hafif for a short time in the late Seventies and early Eighties — failed, McCaffrey will likely succeed. Not only was An Extended Gray Scale a happening in Basel, it was on reserve with an American museum for $1.75 million by the fair’s close.