Unlimited, Art Basel‘s unique platform for large-scale projects, provides galleries with the opportunity to showcase grand work. Towering installations, monumental sculptures, vast wall paintings, extensive photographic series, video projections and performance will rise to new heights.
Large-Scale Artwork Addressing Political Issues
Several presentations from this year’s exhibition address and comment on political
upheavals and sociopolitical tensions. Bataille (2017) by Rivane Neuenschwander is a partial freestanding interactive installation that explores the power of words taken from protest banners and placards in France.
For RYTHM MASTR Daily Strip (2018), Kerry James Marshall created comics featuring African American superheroes. Alicia Framis’ LifeDress (2018) consists of a clothing line made of airbag materials designed to protect women from harassment. Andrea Bowers’ installation Open Secret (2018) documents the development of #MeToo and Time’s Up, international movements against sexual harassment and assault.
Younger Artists From Diverse Regions
The large-scale artwork of younger artists from diverse regions will also be exhibited. Canadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga, whose family has Tanzanian origins, and Angolan-born Kiluanji Kia Henda explore Africa’s colonial history in their presentations.
Indonesian artist Fiona Tan presents Elsewhere (2018), a new filmic meditation on
urban dystopia. Korean artist Do Ho Suh presents visitors with a life-size textile version of his former home in Hub, 260-7 Sungbook-Dong, Sungbook-Ku, Seoul, Korea (2017).
Virtual Reality Incorporated Into Exhibit
Two artists incorporate virtual reality (VR) into their works: German artist Lawrence Lek’s newly recast Nøtel (2016-2019), an installation built around fictional luxury hotels, is accessible via VR headsets and game controllers. African-American artist Jacolby Satterwhite, who was featured in Statements last year as an emerging artist, continues the evolution of his singular aesthetic built in VR.
Video and Other Large-Scale Artwork
Among the many historical works present, Austrian artist VALIE EXPORT’s 1983 video Syntagma explores female identity in relation to body image. Hélio Oiticica, the
seminal artist of Brazilian Tropicalismo, returns to Basel with the installation Penetrável Filtro (1972). Octogenarian American painter Joan Semmel will bring to Basel her newest and largest canvas, which explores the body as landscape.
Art Basel takes place at Messe Basel from June 13 to 16, 2019. For further information, see www.artbasel.com.