Everything You Need to Know about the Fairs This Week in Basel

Here you can learn what you need to know and where you need to be for Art Basel, LISTE, Design Miami/ Basel, VOLTA14, SCOPE, and photo basel.

Art Basel
June 14–June 17
Running from June 14 to June 17 at Messe Basel, Art Basel presents an ambitious roster of international galleries and projects for its 2018 iteration. Heralded as the premier modern and contemporary art fair, Art Basel routinely pushes at its boundaries, seeking out the latest developments in the visual arts.

Art Basel’s dual goal is to support galleries and their artists. This year, participants include 289 galleries
from 35 countries across Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa, with works by around 4,000 artists. Newcomers to the fair include White Space Beijing (Asia), Freedman Fitzpatrick (USA), and Franklin Parrasch Gallery (USA).

Galleries constitute the show’s main sector, with a focus on painting, sculpture, drawing, installation,
photography, video, and digital works. The other sectors—Edition, Feature, Statements, Unlimited, and Parcours— each host exceptional offerings by historical, contemporary, and new artists. Statements, for example, consists of 18 solo projects by emerging artists. There, Lawrence Abu Hamdan (b. 1985) will show a video installation and “acoustic” paintings that rely on recordings at the Israeli-Syrian border.
Other Statements shows include a large meat-rack installation by Doreen Garner (b. 1986) and a found-object robot by Flaka Haliti (b. 1982).

LISTE
June 11–June 17
A must-see for private collectors, institutions, and art lovers, LISTE has centered on emerging artists since its inception in 1996. At this year’s edition, on view from June 11 to June 17, LISTE presents 79 leading galleries of young and “middle generation” galleries from 32 countries. Fifteen will show at LISTE for the first time. Between them, work by approximately 170 artists, from over 45 countries, will be featured.

Participating galleries include Bodega (New York), Emalin (London), Frutta (Glasgow/Rome), High Art (Paris), Jenny’s (Los Angeles), Stereo (Warsaw), Bridget Donahue (New York), Madeln (Shanghai), Öktem Aykut (Istanbul), and Gregor Staiger (Zürich). In addition to galleries, LISTE will host a performance project, curated by Eva Birkenstock, and present the Helvetia Art Prize to its winner, Gina Proenza, École cantonale d’art de Lausanne.

Design Miami/ Basel
June 12–June 17
Design Miami/ is a marketplace, meeting place, and global forum for design. From June 12 to June 17, Design Miami/ Basel 2018 will provide that enriching space, supporting commercial and collecting opportunities alongside cultural programming and exciting collaborations. For its 13th edition, Design Miami/ Basel features almost 50 presentations curated by leading galleries as well as 10 Curios, which
are small-scale, thematically organized, immersive shows.

For 2018, Design Miami/ Basel’s program spotlights one-of-a-kind pieces, debut and commissioned works, textiles, jewelry, chandeliers, and ceramics. The highlights include an inverted gas chandelier system by Gustave Serrurier-Bovy and the ceramic works of the Design in the Mountains members, which are inspired by ancient artifacts. In debut works, Friedman Benda features “Watercolour Collection” by nendo, a metal furniture collection based on the effect of watercolor on paper.

Represented galleries include Dansk Møbelkunst Gallery (Copenhagen/Paris), Galerie Jacques Lacoste (Paris), Heritage Gallery (Moscow), Salon 94 Design (New York), and Side Gallery (Barcelona). Design Curios are hosted by Galerie Chenel and Oscar Humphries, Galerie Meubles et Lumières, Ivan Mietton, Nadia Morgenthaler Haute Joaillerie, Nouvel Limited, Spazio, Syz Art Jewels, and TORRI.

VOLTA14
June 12–June 16

For 2018, VOLTA14 inaugurates a new campus: the former COOP distribution center at Elsässerstrasse 215. Quipping, “There’s no place like home,” VOLTA is quick to highlight that the new location sits down the street from its very first location, the Voltaplatz. As a platform, VOLTA prides itself on its ability to
transform, expand, claim new territory, and develop. But, even in evolution, it remains firmly rooted in providing a space for research, discovery, and professional gallery work.

From June 11 to June 16, around 75 international galleries will meet in the new space. In the 2,500-square-meter exhibition hall, compelling exhibitions will reign. As in previous years, Meyers Culinarium, Aesop, and Volta Bräu will distribute resources and treats to attendees. The fair—and its new-old locale—represents the inauguration of a neighborhood-wide rejuvenation plan. A school, startups, and ateliers will join VOLTA in the coming year.

Participating exhibitors include MARS Gallery (Australia), Soda Gallery (Slovakia), Galerie Maïa Muller (France), Green on Red Gallery (Ireland), the Hole (USA), Privateview (Italy), Island Japan (Japan), Galleri Flach (Sweden), and Vin Gallery (Vietnam).

SCOPE 
June 12–June 17
SCOPE Art Show will return to its location at SCOPE|HAUS from June 12 to June 17. In celebration of its 18th year, SCOPE will collaborate with URBAN NATION Museum for Urban Contemporary Art. In doing so, SCOPE reinforces its ties to street art and new contemporary genres.

Since its inception, SCOPE has focused on emerging artists and genres— giving longtime support to street art, in particular. SCOPE provides a global platform to artists, in recognition of the role of public engagement in developing community and conversation. URBAN NATION likewise presents itself as a
space of engagement, creativity, and exchange (its mission is “Connect. Create. Care.”). Their collaboration results in a series of projects, artist talks, panel discussions, screenings, and performances—all of which are curated with aesthetics, global politics, and the community in mind.

photo basel
June 12–June 17
Photo basel is Switzerland’s first and only art fair committed to the promotion and display of photography. Now in its fourth edition, the fair returns to the Volkshaus Basel, between June 12 and June 17. Photography expert Daniel Blochwitz will curate this year’s show, drawing on his knowledge of and expertise in the field. In participating, Blochwitz hopes to promote “the further impact this could
have on photography as a collectable art and the way it can help to highlight significant artists each year.”

The roster represents exhibitors from 13 countries, including France, Colombia, Germany, and Japan. Among its returning galleries are Fabian & Claude Walter Galerie (Switzerland), Flatland Gallery (The Netherlands), Galerija Fotografija (Slovenia), and Galerie Springer (Germany). Alongside its veterans, photo basel welcomes newcomers including Ibasho Gallery (Belgium), Arte Contemporânea (Portugal), °Clair (Germany), and Aperture (USA). In addition to the main section, photo basel will host masterpieces of 20th-century photography in “Master Cabinet: Pivotal Moments” and the Paris Photo – Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards.