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“Bâle,it’s aball!”

Wespent

the dayat Art

Irregular Tower (1999), 579,1 x 200,7 x200,7 cm. Close to six meters high,by Sol LeWitt, Alfonso Artiaco gallery.

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BaselUnlimited,

an artfair for

XXLworks

ART June 20th 2016Monumental works filling up Instagramaccounts, inveterate collectors of magicand poetry… Art Basel is the one fair notto be missed. Numéro takes a colourfultour of the section devoted to the reallybig pieces.

Tomato Head (Green) [1994] by Paul McCarthy,Hauser & Wirth gallery.

The Bâle fair wants to be the biggestcontemporary art fair in the world. Ifnothing else it’s certainly the mostmagical. A magic so powerful it starts atthe Gare de Lyon in Paris. In the 7.23amTGV train, destination Switzerland, it’spalpable. Discussions are juicy. Twocollectors introduce their wives, trophiessporting so plastic surgery they probablycost as much as a Damian Hirst. Onethirty-something exclaims: “As my fathersays, when you’re young you can dreambut you can’t afford it. And when you’reold you can afford it but you can’t get in

it.” He’s talking Porsches of course. Andwho’s got the biggest one. It’s all aboutsize, as another gallery ownerphilosophises with her neighbour overthe length of the steps in her newswimming pool. 26cm. (Apparently theaverage is 30.) “Luckily my husbanddoesn’t have big feet.” Her colleaguenods appreciatively.

Black Styrofoam on Black Wall/WhiteStyrofoam on White Wall (1993) by SolLeWitt, 4 x 10 m, Paula Cooper Galleryand Konrad Fischer Gallery.

“IT’S BETTER THAN THEMUSEUM, YOU CAN BUY.”

There’s much talk of numbersat this fair. And rightly so. ArtBasel Unlimited, the sectiondevoted to works of museumproportions, is truly one of akind. This year no less than 88pieces – 14 more than lastyear – are being exhibited over16,000 m2. Almost enough tosnap the facial staples and geta smile out of the bimboswho’ve jetted in from aroundthe world to teeter down thealleys. There’s much simperingin front of the living or deadlegends, and their historicworks: two by Sol LeWitt, thepope of American conceptual

art, a 15m long FrankStella in neon shades, a 1964Christo, one of Dan Graham’sfamous pavilions at theentrance and a return toJoseph Kosuth’s first galleryexhibition of 1968. “It’s betterthan at the museum becauseyou can buy things here,” weoverhear. We would’ve liked totell you about James Turrell,but the interminable queuewas only for the verycourageous. As oneexasperated veteran explains,“There are so many peopleinvited during the VIP days it’sbetter to be a nobody andcome at the weekend.”

The Collector’s House (2016) by HansOp de Beeck, Marianne Boesky Gallery,Galleria Continua & Krinzinger Gallery.

FROM ANAL PLUGMUSHROOM TO ANELECTRIC ANGEL

Far from being nobodies, thebig guns are here with AnishKapoor (stones covered withan explosive blue pigment)and Ai Weiwei (a WhiteHouse) very much present andcorrect… We personally preferIsa Genzken, the mostimportant female artist ofthe last 30 years accordingto MoMa, and herinstallation of 2.0 gargoylesand angels made fromelectric cables and plastic.And the German cultphotographer WolfgangTillmans (his installation of 48shots represent one of theartist’s most importantexhibitions). And theprovocateur Paul McCarthy –he was responsible for theanal plug on the PlaceVendôme – and his characterwith a tomato headsurrounded by mushroom-vibrators. The kids love it.Hans Op de Beeck hasrecreated the interior of acollector’s house. That’s aclever one. Collectorsalways love being talkabout. The Elmgreen &Dragset duo – on show nextdoor – know that too. Theircollector’s interior was asmash hit at the VeniceBiennale in 2009.

New York Installation PCR, 525 (2015)by Wolfgang Tillmans, David Zwirnergallery.

Dragon (1992) by Anish Kapoor,Gladstone Gallery and Lisson Gallery.

Out of Ousia (2016) by Alicja Kwade, 303 Gallery,König Gallery and Kamel Mennour gallery.

A BIT OF POETRY IN A BRUTAL(CONCRETE) WORLD

We found poetry with Alicja Kwade andher installation that plays with ourperceptions in a game of mirrors.Depending on the perspective, a naturalrock gets confused with its aluminiumreplica… Aged 37 the star status of thePolish artist, now living in Berlin, isconfirmed, if it really needed to be. Thesame goes for Argentinian PabloBronstein, aged 39. His series of inksand watercolours on canvas proffer apanorama of imaginary and sinisterRoman monuments, brilliantly combiningbaroque, antique, Viennese fin de siècleand 1930s inspirations.

Cross Section of the Via Appia in LateAntiquity (2015) by Pablo Bronstein, Herald Stgallery and Galleria Franco Noero.

WATCHWORD: D.I.V.E.R.S.I.T.Y

Bâle would never be the fair it is if itdidn’t keep up with big trends incontemporary art. And fashion today isall about one thing: DIVERSITY. From thenew hangings at the Tate Modern inLondon (unveiled at the same time as ArtBasel) to the commitments of bigAmerican museums, the case is beingmade: more women are needed, morenon-Western artists, more video work,more performance, more of more. And itwas high time! Obviously there’s greatworks from China (Cheng Ran fromInner Mongolia for example), India(Mithu Sen and PrabhavathiMeppayil), Brazil (Paulo Nazareth) andMexico (Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Krzysztof Wodiczko)…

Mimed Sculptures (2016) by DavideBalula, Frank Elbaz gallery.

Art Basel Unlimited is notjust the preserve of thewell-known western whitemale artist and offers plentyof lovely surprises. TakeSingaporean Ho Tzu Nyen and

her 21-minute video, TheNameless, a perfect success.While she recounts in hervoice-over the incredible storyof the General Secretary of theMalaysian Communist Party,it’s Tony Leung who embodieshim. Ho Tzy Nyen has dippedinto the great films of the HongKong actor notably by film-maker Wong Kar-Wai, to tellthe story through differentextracts.

“AIR ART”: LIKE AIRGUITAR BUT WITH ART

On the performance front, weparticularly like DavideBalula who does a sort of “airart”. Just like the air guitar,Balula’s mimed sculpturesrequire performers toreconstruct iconic sculpturesby gesturing with their hands,everything from Eva Hesseand Louise Bourgeois toHenry Moore was beingcrafted out of thin air.Fascinating.

Ascenseur (2013) by Laura Lima, AGentil Carioca Gallery, Tanya BonakdarGallery and Galleria Liuisa Strina.

BLUE WATER AND ASONIC WEAPON

In Bâle just like everywhereelse, certain pieces intriguemore than others. The artistLaura Lima lost her keys andtries to find them by pattingaround on the floor. It’s aperformance. A soldieroverlooks the great hall of ArtBasel with a menacingregard. This isn’t security –we’re in Switzerland – but thework of Samson Young. In factthe man sports the uniform ofthe Hong Kong police forceand is ready to use his sonicweapon – a gun that emits afrequency that makes thecrowds disperse. As forPamela Rosenkranz , she’sinstalled a sink whose tap

Blun Runs (2016) by PamelaRosenkranz, Miguel Abreu Gallery,Karma International and SprüthMagers.

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delivers only blue water. Abrash young man uses it as anopportunity to approach awoman absorbed by thespectacle: “I’m really thirsty,”he pants over shoulder. As agallery owner on 7.27 fromParis said, “Bâle really is aball.” Art Basel Unlimited, in Bâle. Until June

19th

By Thibaut Wychowanok

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