art basel 2005, issue 5

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ART BASEL DAILY NEWSPAPER
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UMBERTO ALLEMANDI & CO. PUBLISHING EVENTS, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS - SPECIALART BASEL EDITION WEEKEND 18,19,20 JUNE 2005
Selected by the stars
Artists and art world professionals choose their favourite works at Art Basel
John Armleder, artist, Geneva, New York
The Artists’ Book section in Art Unlimited was my favourite.
I like the idea of adding art that’s transportable, available
and affordable to an art fair. It’s not the grand spectacle that
you see in museums, but books have the capacity to create
in a small space a feeling that can be just as intense.
Peter Miller, dealer, New York.
At Galerie Mai 36, there are great paintings by Glen
Rubsamen, with black silhouetted street lights against
intense Los Angeles sunsets. If Ed Ruscha was ironic as
opposed to sublime, that’s what he would be doing.
Robert Hobbs, curator, New York
In the Art Unlimited section, the video Johnny by Hubbard &
Birchler is a strong political piece, but it’s so understated
that you almost trip over it.
Gavin Turk,
artist
“I liked
Mirò’s 1960s
Monsieur et
madame, a
funny bronze
sculpture of
two chairs,
one with a
brick on its
seat and the
other with an
egg that was
painted
yellow. At
Waddington
Jan Debbaut
Director of
Collections
Tate
I was deeply
struck by
Thomas
Schütte’s new
sculptures at
Galerie Nelson
(here, Untitled
(3 personages),
2005, sold to
François
Pinault, the new
tenant of the
Palazzo Grassi
for €410,000):
they mark an
important new
phase for one
of the leading
artists of his
generation.
Anita Zabludowicz, collector
I loved all the Jeff Walls at the Schaulager and so was
especially delighted to see the beautiful piece Still creek at
Marian Goodman.
Eckhard Schneider
director,
Kunsthaus
Bregenz
I was struck by a
group of drawings
by Dieter Roth (6
Pictures–Lollies
each with their
production
machine, 1981) on
the stand of Eva
Presenhuber—they
are both funny and
beautiful
Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator, Musée de la Ville de Paris
I was struck by how many artists attended Art Basel; I was
particularly touched to meet Martial Raysse whose work
(here, Rose des Sables, 2004) at Galerie de France is an
amazing rediscovery. The installation of paintings, which fills
an entire wall, amounts to a mini-retrospective with work
dating back to the 60s up until today.
Walter Keller, Scalo publishing, Zurich
It’s almost embarrassing, but the Lousie Bourgeois spider at
Cheim & Read (Spider couple, 2003) captures your eye even
just walking by, because she’s using a language no one else
has. She’s a giant and in the future she will be in the category
of Picasso.
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ART BASEL DAILY NEWSPAPER • WEEKEND EDITION 18,19,20 JUNE 2005
2 • THE ART NEWSPAPER
A deliciously debauched and sweaty time
was had by all. “It’s murder on the dance
floor” declared one energetic hoofer,
throwing another vodka down her throat
and bopping on down. All of which meant
that, on yesterday’s “professional” day, a
great many participants felt anything but.
Gossip
Possibly too candid
a camera at Art Basel
If you were planning a spot of bad behaviour in Basel this year, or if you have
already been playing away at the Venice
Biennale then reader, beware. Not only are
the eyes and ears of The Art Newspaper all
around, but there’s also the risk of being
caught in the viewfinder of top-notch
snapper Todd Eberle. The Vanity Fair
fashion photographer has already taken
over 3,000 pictures of the art world in
action (and passion) along the Venice
Biennale-Art Basel trail, and plans to publish a book of his findings under the (still
tentative) title of “Art World Kisses”.
However, Mr Eberle may find it considerably more lucrative to invite cash inducements not to publish what he has seen.
Polish lessons at Mann
The artistic traffic between Liste and Art
Lurie picks
up his paintbrush
Basel continues apace with much excitement surrounding Mann Gallery’s new
protégés, the Polish photographer couple
Grzeszykowska & Smaga who were spotted by Robert Mann at the young art fair
last year and are now ensconced in the
grandeur of the ground floor hall of the
larger fair. However, the only disadvantage is that, as fair fatigue sets in, collectors not of a Polish persuasion are having
more and more trouble pronouncing their
names—Mr Mann is therefore considering
recruiting a Polish intern for the course of
the fair to help those getting their s’s, z’s
and y’s in a pickle.
John Lurie, the lofty leader of post punk
jazzers The Lounge Lizards is living proof
that, despite the lamentable efforts of the
likes of David Bowie and Ronnie Wood, it
isn’t impossible for rockers to make good
art. He recently had his second show at
Daniel Blau Gallery in Munich and the
mordant humour of his small paintings—
which have a similar spirit of gentle subversion to that of British artist David
Shrigley upstairs at Stephen Friedman—
have been snapped up by collectors
beyond the Lounge Lizard cognoscenti.
Perhaps next year Mr Lurie will step into
the shoes of Martin Creed as the fair’s
anointed artistic troubador.
Murder
on the dance floor
The fair organisers may have pulled out all
the stops for last night’s Art/Party at
Kaserne Basel, but for the English contingent the major social event of Art Basel is
always the party thrown by Brit exile
Gavin Brown, which did not disappoint
this year, packing out the Swiss Hotel
basement bar until 5am on Friday morning. Established English dealers from the
main fair—including the ever immaculate
Maureen Paley—rubbed up against relative newcomers from Liste such as Kate
McGarry and Basel virgins such as Store’s
Niru Ratnam and Counter’s Carl
Freedman, both showing for the first time
at Volta. The miraculously indefatigable
Sam Keller was also seen strutting his
stuff, as was a rhythmic contingent from
Luhring Augustine and a rather wearylooking Martin Creed, who came over
after his al fresco gig at the Kunstalle bar.
lion. Mr Nahmad insists that the work is
not for sale but simply on display to
enhance his museum-quality stand, in
response to which, an undoubtably jealous
rival was heard to hiss “everything in that
gallery is for sale.”
Billionaire boy behaving
badly
Brandon Davis, son of the US billionaire
oil magnate Marvin Davis, and former
boyfriend of hot young actress Mischa
Barton of “The OC” fame has been
squired around Venice and Basel by art
consultant Sandy Heller—no easy task. At
the Kunsthalle bar on Thursday night, Mr
David lurched towards a group of women,
proferring a tequila high ball and told one
woman of a certain age, “this will make
your tits stand up.” Heller forced his
charge to apologise but the best the boy
billionaire could manage was: “I don’t
remember what I just said.” Could this be
the same Heller client who reportedly
delayed a flight from Venice to Basel
because he was wearing a t-shirt that said
“Go fuck yourself”, which so offended the
stewardess in first class that she made him
turn it inside out.
The Art Newspaper
signs off
Nahmad’s Picasso
carries top price tag
Art Newspaper spies whisper that the
most expensive item at this year’s Art
Basel is the exquisite 1923/24 Picasso
Pierrot at Helly Nahmad, which is
rumoured to carry a price tag of $80 mil-
We would have loved to bring you gossip
from last night’s official Art/Party, the
invitations for which were designed in the
style of poker chips and issued in
two mysterious
incarnations:
one in bright
lime
green,
which included
helpful information such as the
actual venue, and the other (surely more
exclusive) which was a completely black
rectangle of plastic. But we closed our
final daily Art Basel newspaper early so
that we could all leave the office in time to
actually attend the party. Tschüss! ■
End of week report
Newest art sells fastest
BASEL. As the fair settled down after the first
hectic days of trading, many dealers were
beaming with satisfaction. Sales, particularly
for the galleries with emerging artists, were
reported as excellent, with many dealers
rehanging their booths more than once.
The “Venice effect” washed into Basel. “I
think there are more people here because they
travelled from the Biennale, the opening
evening was frenzied”, said one dealer.
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THE ART NEWSPAPER
ART BASEL DAILY EDITION
Group Editorial Director: Anna Somers Cocks
Managing Director: James Knox
Editor: Cristina Ruiz
Art Market Editor: Georgina Adam
Correspondents: Marc Spiegler, Louisa Buck
Picture editor and editorial coordinator: Helen Stoilas
Production Manager: Eyal Lavi
Project manager: Patrick Kelly
Photographer: Katherine Hardy
Head of Sales: Louise Hamlin
Advertising Executive: Ben Tomlinson, Fabrizio Merlo
Art Basel’s fair in Miami Beach also seems
to have stimulated US collectors to visit the
Swiss event, and David Nash of Mitchell
Innes sold a painting to a new collector who
had attended the Florida edition and travelled
to Basel this year. Andrew Fabricant of
Richard Gray noted more US buyers “making
a bee-line for the upper floor”, undeterred by
the weak dollar.
Inevitably, the more expensive items sell
more slowly and deals are often concluded
after the fair has ended. Nevertheless, some
of the grandest dealers on the ground floor
were watching the upstairs speed-buying
slightly wistfully. “There is a herd instinct;
everyone wants the youngest art now”, said
one of them.
“An art fair creates the same sense of
urgency as the auctions”, said Howard Read
of Cheim & Read, and today’s ultra pumpedup market for contemporary art is certainly
contributing to the frenzy.
“Collectors are frightened of ‘losing out’
by not getting to the works in time”, said
another dealer, and Mr Read noted that for
the first time, he had come to the fair with
works he had already sold. When sending out
invitations to the fair, potential buyers had
contacted him and bought pieces that he had
already shipped to Basel.
The Venice effect also worked its magic on
sales. Fresh from winning the prize for the best
artist at the Biennale, the artist Thomas Schütte
saw his 2005 Untitled (trois personnages) sell
“five minutes after the fair opened” to the
French luxury-goods mogul François Pinault
(€410,000, Philip Nelson Gallery). A 1975
Gilbert & George (currently representing
Britain at the Venice Biennale) sold immediately at Sprüth Magers for $600,000.
Richard Gray sold Richter’s Abstraktes
Bild, 1993 for around $3 million, while
Mayer reported that it was “delighted” with
sales, which included Tony Cragg’s Culture
myth—Greece, 1984, in the form of a discus
thrower, made with broken plates and other
implements, to a Mexican collector, and a
brilliantly coloured sculptural Tom
Wesselman from 2003, Number nine. David
Nash of Mitchell-Innes & Nash said he had
made “a lot of sales”, including a vast, untitled painting of lightning in a darkened sky
by Jack Goldstein, 1983.
Nothing could be more vulgar and blingbling than Jeff Koons’s giant diamond on the
Gagosian stand, which hardly discouraged the
three buyers who paid the price of a massive
real diamond, ($3.2 million, edition of four).
Krugier sold Picasso’s Portrait d’homme
aux cheveux gris, 1970, tagged at $2.3 million, and Max Ernst’s Portrait d’une fille
avec boucles d’oreilles mexicaines, about
1946, but one of the most expensive pictures
in the fair, Picasso’s 1917 Portrait d’Olga
Khokhova, tagged at $30 million, remained
unsold yesterday, as did Marlborough’s
Picasso, Sylvette, 1954, priced at $9 million
and the much admired Richard Serra, Plough,
1992, priced at e1.5 million at m Bochum.
However, Marlborough sold its sensational
Paula Rego triptych and her Cakewoman.
Sales were strong in the Art Unlimited section: the auctioneer and collector Simon de
Pury immediately paid €80,000 for Kader
Attia’s The loop, a tent with a whirling
dervish, a strangled disc-jockey and breakdancers spinning on their backs (Mennour).
Bill Viola’s video The raft was also sold at
$425,000 (Cohan), and Anthony Reynolds
had two buyers for I was overcome with a
momentary panic at the thought that they
might be right, 2004, an installation with
drawings of bomb craters and punctured
white foam discs by The Atlas Group/Walid
Raad that documents events in the Lebanon
(tagged at $135,000).
The French luxury-goods group LVMH
bought Domestic tornado, 2005, by Esteve, a
pretty piece like a glittering chandelier that
would suddenly start spinning (€18,000).
SCAI the Bathhouse sold one of the edition
of three Mariko Mori, Transcircle, 2004.
By yesterday, some of the upper floor galleries had sold out; virtually all the drawings
by Christine Rebet, plus her video (installed
in a wooden shed) had gone from Mennour.
The only Polish gallery, Foksal, which represents Sasnal and Althamer, had sold an
Untitled firepiece by Sasnal to the Van Abbe
Museum in Eindhoven. It consists of the word
“Warsaw” burnt into the gallery walls, and the
museum will have to make the piece itself: it
just gets a template and has to fax fusetape to
its wall and then light it (€15,000). A private
Argentinian collector bought a life-size self
portrait of Althamer dressed as a Japanese
kendo player (€30,000).
While most of the photography specialists
are grouped together, the New York dealer
Robert Mann was pleased to be placed apart.
“I have sold across the board, from vintage to
contemporary, and every sale was to a new
person”, he said. “ I only wish I’d brought
more to the fair.”
Georgina Adam
Correction
In yesterday’s The Art Newspaper’s daily Basel edition, a photograph by the Anastasia
Khoroshilova was erroneously placed with the Laurence Miller Gallery. In fact, the work, one of
a series of 22, is with the Ernst Hilger Gallery. The whole series, by the young Russian photographer, has sold to the Miami collector Martin Margulies. The gallery has also sold four copies
of Watchful portrait, 2004 (edition of five, price E18,000 to E25,000), by John Gerrard. The computer-powered work shows two women, who remain turned to face the sun and the moon whatever the position of the screens. One example was bought by the Thurn and Taxis collection.
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ART BASEL DAILY NEWSPAPER • WEEKEND EDITION 18,19,20 JUNE 2005
4 • THE ART NEWSPAPER
Switzerland hosts biggest ever show
of Chinese contemporary art
Former ambassador’s collection goes on display in Bern
Uli Sigg in front of Fang Lijun’s Untitled, 1995
Herzog and de Meuron.
Mr Sigg played a major
behind-the-scenes role in a
previous phase of enthusiasm for China’s contemporary artists, the 1999 Venice
Biennale curated by the late
Harald Szeemann, who
toured China’s various art
Zhang Xiaogang, Bloodline series, 1997
tion there. He still travels
frequently
between
Switzerland and China due
to his involvement in projects such as the Olympic
Stadium in Beijing designed
by Basel architecture stars
Ulla Dreyfuss knows Art Basel since
it began in 1969
BASEL. It all started with a
group of friends: Ernst
Beyeler, Trudl Bruckner
and the late Balz Hilt. It was
1969 and Basel enjoyed a
level of collecting and dealing out of all proportion to
its size, due to the number
of its museums. In the background was the Hoffmann
Stiftung, an offspring of the
local pharmaceutical giant
Roche that was (and is) a
huge patron of art. And
Basel was a town that specialised in trade fairs.
The established art fair of
Cologne was fading a little,
so these Balois decided to
start their own and it was a
success from the first year,
remembers Ulla Dreyfuss, a
very pretty, plain-speaking
member of the private
banking family. She and
her late husband have been
part of the art world here
for decades, with a fascinating collection that combines “surrealism” of various centuries, Arcimboldo
with Fuseli with Dalí.
Rather as in Miami Beach,
all the art scene of Basel
BASEL.
Courtesy of Sigg Collection
Thousands of collectors and dealers, including a
group from Tate Modern, are
travelling to Bern and Zurich
for a crash course in Chinese
contemporary art, courtesy
of Swiss collector Uli Sigg.
Spread over the two sites,
“Mahjong” (a popular table
game among Chinese) is a
survey of Chinese contemporary art from 1979 to 2005.
Mr
Sigg,
with
the
Kunstmuseum Bern’s curator, Bernhard Fibicher, and
Chinese artist/curator Ai
Weiwei, has divided the more
than 300 works into a dozen
different themes, such as
“Mao and the cultural revolution”, “Consumerism” and
“The Body as a medium.”
Mr Sigg’s relationship
with China goes as far back
as 1978, first as a businessman
and
then
as
Switzerland’s ambassador
from 1995 to 1998. He built
his collection over more
than a decade, travelling all
over the country to visit
almost 1,000 artists’ studios
at a time when there were
no galleries.
After he realised that no
Chinese institution was
making an effort to collect
and preserve these artists, he
expanded his scope to
include a comprehensive
cross-section of China’s contemporary art since 1979,
eventually amassing over
1,200 pieces by 180 artists.
Due to his perseverance both
in pursuing contemporary
work and promoting it in the
West, he has become a godfather to the current scene, a
situation vividly reflected in
one small room at the
Kunstmuseum Bern, which
features works depicting the
collector himself.
After leaving his diplomatic post, Uli Sigg
returned home and bought a
small medieval castle on a
tiny
island
in
Lake
Mauensee near Lucerne and
installed his Chinese collec-
The long view
scenes with the Swiss
ambassador as his guide.
Yet while a few Chinese
artists such as Cai GuoQiang, (curator of the
Chinese Pavilion that was
inaugurated last week in
Venice), rose to international prominence afterwards,
the art world’s attention
soon turned elsewhere.
This time around, predicts
Mr Sigg, the spotlight will
not move away from
Chinese art because a growing number of gallery spaces
is opening in Beijing now
and the auction houses are
continually approaching him
in the hope of getting consignments.
“After
the
Biennale, Szeemann was
criticised for having pushed
the Chinese too much and
people seemed to think,
‘This will go away; I don’t
need to grapple with it,’ but
now it’s clear that Chinese
contemporary art is here to
stay, so people have either to
learn about it or make a conscious decision to ignore it.”
Given the current China
hype, Uli Sigg could probably have placed this show in
almost any contemporary art
museum worldwide, so why
did
he
choose
the
Kunstmuseum Bern? He
knew his involvement would
extend far beyond signing
loan agreements, so proximity to the Mauensee helped:
“I’ve never seen a collector
be so involved with a show,”
appear in the later 70s, but
the huge influx of the contemporary she dates to after
the first auctions of cuttingedge art in 1997.
She agrees with Ernst
Beyeler that today the fair is
too much about money,
although she is a great fan of
Sam Keller, the fair organiser, who, she says, has
brought great life to the
event. “It was very bad when
the idea of investing systematically in art was born with
the Artemis art fund; they
started that whole trend.
Now too many young artists
think they are important
because they sell at relatively high prices, but really they
just have their personal
problems to express and
don’t do it in a very interesting way. That’s why I
thought a lot of the
Statements section of the fair
was not good. It is partly the
fault of the critics, who are
too bland and uncritical”.
Nor is she convinced by
photography as art, she says
(“You might as well look at
National Geographic”), but
Ulla Dreyfuss
says Dr Fibicher, “He did
everything from selecting
the pieces to working on the
catalogue to being present
during the installation.”
Hanging the show took
almost a month since it
occupies the entire museum,
but even that was not
enough.
When
the
Holderbank approached Mr
Sigg to see if he would like
to set up a second exhibition
space
in
its
private
Kunsthalle west of Zurich,
the collector snapped up
another 10,000 square feet to
display 30 more works.
“This show will allow people unfamiliar with Chinese
contemporary art to see for
themselves that there is a
whole cosmos of artists
there, working across all
media and styles with
impressive energy,” says Mr
Sigg. “Often people will see
a contemporary work from
China and like it, but not be
sure how to situate it; this
will allow them to educate
themselves. We are even
expecting the visit of the
small, core group of Chinese
collectors, to whom this
older material is even less
familiar than it is to the
West.” Marc Spiegler
got involved and invited
artists and collectors to
buffets in their homes.
Of course, says, Mrs
Dreyfuss, the public was
much less numerous, the
dealers all European apart
from Leo Castelli, Ileana
Sonnabend and Sidney
Janis, so the truly artistic
component was more in evidence and people were more
likely already to know each
other, rather as in 18th-century Europe the higher aristocracy everywhere felt connected, even if they might
not actually have met.
Francis Bacon (“very agreeable”), Hundertwasser, and
Tinguely were among those
who came to her house.
The material on sale at
the fair was all classic
Modern at the beginning.
Contemporary art began to
immediately rattles off a
number of artists at the current fair whose photos she
does
admire:
John
Baldessari, Mapplethorpe,
Tacita Dean, Sugimoto, Bill
Beckley and Vera Lutter.
You get the feeling that
Ulla Dreyfuss’s fascination
with the artistic process and
with the image will always
prevail. The artist should
remain at the centre of Art
Basel, she believes, and with
modest pride says that it was
she who proposed to Sam
Keller that there be an Artist
of Honour every year. So far
these have been Jeff Koons,
Gilbert & George, and this
year it would have been
James Rosenquist if he had
not fallen ill: “People want
to see—to touch a real life
artist”, she explains, describing herself in the process. ■
Number of accredited journalists to Art Basel 2005: 1,600
Ratio of journalists to galleries: 6:1
Number of catalogues printed: 13,000
Visitors to Art Basel in 2004: 52,000
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ART BASEL DAILY NEWSPAPER • WEEKEND EDITION 18,19,20 JUNE 2005
6 • THE ART NEWSPAPER
Today’s suggestions: nothing more than €5,000
The Art Newspaper gives an entirely subjective and uncomprehensive selection
S2 Destiny Deacon, Untitled, edition
of 15. Oxley9, €2,500
This Aboriginal photographer was
shown at the last Documenta. She
mainly photographs her family and
is very interested in blackness, both
of skin and of the pieces she
includes in her compositions.
D1 Christine Rebet, various drawings, 2005, watercolour on paper.
Mennour, €950
This artist’s fresh, naive drawings
have been selling like hotcakes, but
there were still a few left yesterday.
F6 Tinguely, La camelotte pour
Larry, 1978. Piccadilly, €5,800
The quirkiness of the kinetic artist is
well conveyed in this charming
drawing.
Ground level
B6 Yeandoo Jung, Wonderland
series, ongoing project, edition of
five. Kukje, $2,500
This artist was featured in the Korean
pavilion in Venice. In this ongoing
project she photographs ordinary
people, gets them to recount their
aspirations, and then rephotographs
them in their dreamworlds.
K8
F6
S2
Upper level
Q1 Annette Messager, Le bonheur
illustré, 1975, watercolour on paper,
Mayer, €5,000
France won the best pavilion prize at
Venice with an installation by
Messager who, as three early works
on show at Mayer demonstrate, is
also an excellent watercolourist. The
other two have already been sold.
P4 Seung-Ae Lee, Monster, 2005,
pencil on paper. Hyundai, E5,000
A beautifully detailed drawing of a
monster on the unforgiving support
of a long paper scroll.
E2
D1
B6
F7
A1
A deliciously sexy, slinky, shiny
piece in pink and silver; a new work
by one of the most seductive imagemakers working today, and a must
for any boudoir.
C6
K8 Siobhan Hapaska, The way it is,
2005, resin-covered iron, pony skin,
wood and feathers, edition of 20.
Kerlin $2,750
Small in scale but powerful in
impact, a characteristically idiosyncratic and exquisite piece by one of
L2
L2 Pat Stein, Mixed marks,
Rorschach with red rectangle, 2004.
Colour sugar lift and spit bite aquatints with soft ground etching and
drypoint. Crown Point Press, $1,200
Rothko meets Rorschach in this
colourful work.
F7 Katie Dove, Present toys, 2005,
video, edition of 10. Hales, €3,700
Abstract shapes float around the
screen to upbeat music which Dove
composes herself.
E2 Lucia Nogueira, Untitled, 1995,
ink graphite and watercolour on
paper. Anthony Reynolds, £2,000.
Funny, but at the same time slightly
sinister, the drawings of the late
C6 Gary Hume, Stole, 2005, screenprint on silver leaf, edition of 56.
Paragon Press, €4500
P4
L5
the most original young sculptors
working today.
A1 Desmond Morris, Rump runner,
1960. Mayor, $2,400
Morris is better known as the zoologist; he recently rediscovered these
drawings of biomorphic figures in
his studio. They are utterly typical of
the graphics of the 1950s and
1960s.
L5
Lucia Nogueira are a poignant
reminder of a talent cruelly cut
short.
Art books section,
Art Unlimited
Francesca Gabbiani, White book,
2005, edition of 20. Jrp/Ringier,
Q1
€950. Publisher Christophe DavietThery
This year Art Basel has inaugurated
an artist’s book section, which
includes this work. The pages turn
to reveal exquisitely lacy pop-ups
inspired by a 19th-century
American art and architecture fair.
Bulgari Art Conversations
The museum as a scrambled egg?
BASEL. Artists John Armleder
and Andrea Fraser, and artist
turned designer and architect, Vito Acconci gathered
Friday morning to discuss
museum architecture in a discussion hosted by James
Rondeau, curator of contemporary art at the Art Institute
of Chicago. The talk was the
latest in a series organised as
part of the Bulgari Art
Conversations.
The proceedings were
kicked off by Armleder who
launched into a rather surprising explanation of “the
egg as a perfect metaphor for
the museum; it can be
poached, scrambled, softboiled.” He then moved on to
“another great metaphor for
the museum: the hedgehog”,
however, his explanation
defeated the understanding
of this correspondent.
Here follow extracts from
the presentation of the next
speaker:
Vito Acconci: At the beginning of my career in the early
1970s, my generation and I
looked on museums as slightly unnecessary; I saw them
as something apart from
everyday life and reality. By
the early 1990s, however, I
was thinking of myself not as
an artist but as a designer
and architect.
Art is meant to be preserved;
architecture knows from the
outset that it will never be
able to fulfill the functions
required of it. It knows that,
in time, it will have to be renovated.
The museum of the future
might take the form of a
walk through a city, through
a park, through objects
made by people. The art
could be placed on the ceilings and floors, all around
you; you might walk through
twisting surfaces of art. As
you walk you would be in
the middle of a crowd of
people, but there could also
be “withdrawal” spaces
where you could go to be
alone with the art. Maybe in
the future, most art will be
digital—it will be something
that is enjoyed privately.
Museums could also be
composed of conglomerations of many mini-museums. Maybe museums might
act as something that can
attach itself to other things,
Acconci’s futuristic vision of a portable, personal museum
like a leech. It might attach
itself to buildings, force
itself inside, act as a parasite. The museum might be a
mobile space, a space that
can go wherever it’s wanted,
or maybe, in future, people
will be able to carry their
own museums on their
backs. ■
The new
BMW 3 Series
www.bmw.com
Sheer
Driving Pleasure
Illustrations: Tara Russo
L5 Richard Serra, Venice notebook
2001, #18, 2003, colour etching.
Gemini, €1,760
A gutsy, graphic Serra that would
look wonderful in just about any setting.
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ART BASEL DAILY NEWSPAPER • WEEKEND EDITION 18, 19, 20 JUNE 2005
8 • THE ART NEWSPAPER
EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS & ATTRACTIONS
Basel
Museum für Gegenwartskunst
Covering the real: art and press
pictures from Warhol to Tillmans
Schaulager: Jeff Wall
Ruchfeldstrasse 19, Münchenstein/Basel, Tel: 061 335 32
32. Tue 10-6pm, Wed 12-6pm, Fri-Mon 10-6 pm. Tram No.
11, bound for Aesch, from Basel SBB sation to Schaulager
stop, around 20 min.
Since 1978 the Canadian artist Jeff Wall (b.1946) has made
around 120 large-scale transparencies mounted on aluminium
boxes and back-lit. Many of these have compositional elements or motifs that refer to painting, especially to works
by Manet and Delacroix. This is a selection of 70 of these
works, surveying his entire œuvre (until 25 September).
Kunstmuseum: Simon Starling
St. Alban-Graben 16, Tel: 061 206 62 62. Tues-Sun 105pm, Wed 10-7pm.
British artist Simon Starling, shortlisted for this year’s
Turner prize, is known for his complex sculptural installations, often inspired by local geography or ecology. His
reputation is so strong that the Kunstmuseum Basel has
chosen to inaugurate its newly refurbished galleries with an
exhibition of his work (until 7 August).
Fondation Beyeler
Picasso the surrealist
Baselstrasse 101, Tel: 061 645 97 00. Mon-Sun 10-6. Wed
10-8pm.
Picasso and the poet Apollinaire coined the term “sur-réalisme” to describe the artist’s 1917 stage design for the ballet
“Parade”. This survey of the artist’s relationship to the
Surrealist movement unites over 200 paintings, sculptures,
drawings, prints and manuscripts from 1924 to the outbreak of
the Spanish Civil War in 1939. The curator is Anne Baldassari
of the Musée Picasso in Paris (until 12 September).
Fondation Herzog: L’autre—das Andere
Oslo Strasse 8, Dreispitz, Zollfreilager, Tor 13, Tel: 061 333
11 85. Tues-Fri 2-6pm, Sat 1.30-5pm. Tram No. 10, 11 from
Basel SBB train station to Dreispitz, on the way to the
Schaulager, around 20 min.
An exhibition of images drawn by 19th-century photography
expert, Marc Pagneux, from the 300,000 work collection of
Ruth and Peter Herzog since the early 70s. Their focus has
been on the 19th century, and on content, not names: ethnology, ethnography, natural history—“all the scientific disciplines”. The exhibition space, in the freeport of Basel, was
designed by his brother, of Herzog & de Meuron fame.
Haus zum Kirschgarten: Karen Kilimnik
Elisabethenstrasse 27-29, Tel: 061 205 86 00. Tue-Fri, Sun
10-5, Sat 1-5, closed Mon.
The naively painted oils and watercolours of Philadelphiaborn artist Karen Kilimnik transport the viewer into a fairytale world of Gothic forests and castles, where wide-eyed
princesses in ballet dresses rub shoulders with the likes of
British supermodel Kate Moss.
Kunsthalle Basel: Tomma Abts
Steinenberg 7, Tel: 061 206 99 00. Tue/Wed/Fri 11-6pm,
Thu 11-8.30pm, Sat-Sun 11-5pm
Tomma Abts shows her latest small paintings (until 29
August), building on the success of her exhibition at the Van
Abbemuseum in Eindhoven last year.
St. Alban-Rheinweg 60, Tel: 061 206 62 62. Tue-Sun 11-5pm.
Presenting some 20 works by artists such as Warhol,
Richter, Polke, Demand, Tillmans and others, this exhibition emphasises the interconnections of painting, photography, video, the internet, installation art and TV news since
the 1960s (until 21 August).
Museum Jean Tinguely
Moving parts: kinetic forms
Paul Sacher-Anlage 1, Tel: 061 681 93 20. Tue-Sun 117pm. Tram No. 2 to Wettsteinplatz, switch to bus No. 31;
from Badischer Bahnhof, bus No. 36.
This exhibition (until 28 June), jointly organised by the
Kunsthaus Graz and the Museum Tinguely, is concerned
with the relationship of machinery to art and the link
between man and machines at the beginning of the 21st
century. It investigates the importance of kinetic art for
contemporary artists.
Art Conversations
10.30-11am, Messe Basel, BVLGARI Pavilion, Hall 4.
The future of the museum: profile China, hosted Hans
Ulrich Obrist, curator, with Yung Ho Chang, architect of
Atelier FCJZ; Chaos Yang Chen, curator; Hou Hanru,
curator; Claire Hsu, executive director Asia Art Archive;
Huang Yong Ping, artist; Uli Sigg, collector; Huangsheng
Wang, director Guangdong Museum of Art; and Guan Yi,
collector.
Art Lobby
Art Lobby in Messe Basel, Art Unlimited, Hall 1.
3:30-4pm: Artists books: about producing artist books,
with Christoph Keller of Revolver Books, Frankfurt.
4-5pm Special Guests: 51st International Short
Film Festival Oberhausen.
5-5.30pm Featured artist: Jim Drain, hosted by Host
Samuel Herzog, journalist, with Carol A.Greene,
Greene Naftali Gallery, New York.
Near Basel
6-6.30pm Close encounters: meet Ousseynou Wade,
director of the Seventh Dakar Biennial, 2006
Vitra Design Museum
Gaetano Pesce, the Sound of Time
6.30-7pm Close encounters: Dr Albert Hofmann,
inventor of LSD, hosted by Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Charles Eames Strasse 1, Weil am Rhein, Germany, Tel:
+49 (0)7621 702 3200. Tue-Sun 11-6pm, closed Mon. By
car: take Autobahn A5 north, exit at Weil am Rhein. By
train: from Basel, Badischer Bahnhof take bus number 55;
from the train station in Weil am Rhein about 15-min. walk
to the museum.
The buildings of this private museum created by the
famous design manufactory are all by the greats of contemporary architecture: Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando,
Buckminster Fuller etc. Currently showing “Gaetano Pesce:
the sound of time” (until 8 January 2006), with pieces by
this Italian-born (1939) architect, artist and designer of furniture, sculpture and decorative art, whose work has been
internationally influential as well as politically engaged.
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts
Lausanne: Collection Pierre Huber
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Palais de Rumine, Place
de la Riponne 6, Lausanne, Tel: 021 316 34 45. Bus No. 1,
2 to rue Neuve; bus No. 5, 6, 8 to Riponne, around 2 hrs.
Genevan dealer Pierre Huber amassed a collection of several hundred works of contemporary art. Yves Aupetitallot,
the director of the contemporary art centre “Le Magasin” in
Grenoble, has made a selection of these (until 11
September). Among the artists on show are Cindy Sherman,
Richard Prince, Thomas Ruff, Candida Höfer, Thomas
Struth, Paul McCarthy and Jim Shaw. The timing of the
exhibition is apposite as Pierre Huber was also one of the
founders of Art Basel.
Book Signing
Messe Basel, Hall 2, ground floor, Taschen booth
Artists signing their books published by Taschen
11am Mario Botta
4pm H.R. Giger
Art Film
10pm to midnight, Stadtkino Basel, Steinenberg 7
Films showing:
Tracey Emin, Top spot, 2004
Swiss premiere of the first feature film by British artist
Tracey Emin, drawing on her experiences growing up
in Margate. The artist will be present.
Art Club Bar, Lounge, Disco
11pm-3am Kunsthalle Basel, Campari Bar, Steinenberg 7
Events Saturday
Art Conversations
10.30-11am, Messe Basel, BVLGARI Pavilion, Hall 4.
The curators circle: new practices in curation, hosted by Nicolas Bourriaud, co-director of the Palais de
Tokyo, Paris
Kunsthalle Zurich: Sarah Lucas
Art Lobby
Limmatstrasse 270, Zurich, Tel: 044 272 15 15.
Tue/Wed/Fri 12-6pm, Thu 12-8pm, Sat/Sun 11-5pm. Driving
time around 1 hr.
Sarah Lucas was one of the leading Young British Artists of
the 1990s. Characteristic of her work is the use of everyday
materials and objects to create ironic and provocative
Art Lobby in Messe Basel, Art Unlimited, Hall 1.
4-4:30pm: Artists books: booklounge, with John
Armleder presenting his new book.
Don’t miss
5-5.30pm Featured artist: Kristina Solomoukha,
hosted by Host Samuel Herzog, journalist, with
Martine de la Châtre and Renate Kainer, galerie martinethibaultdelachâtre, Paris.
Art Film
Hallen für neue Kunst, Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Baumgartenstrasse 23, Schaffhausen,
Tel: 052 625 25 15, Tues-Sat 3-5pm,
Sun 11am-5pm, closed Mon. From
Basel, direct train with German
Railways, leaving from the Badischer
Bahnhof, about 70 min.
Just over 30 years ago a group of
Zurich-based investors banded
together to provide their former army
buddy (all Swiss do serious military
service) Urs Rausmüller with capital
to realise their dream of using profits
to support culture.
Mr Rausmüller began to accumulate
works by Minimalist, Conceptual and
Arte Povera artists. At the same time
he began to look for premises in which
to display the collection and, having
failed to find a suitable site in Zurich or
Basel, discovered an abandoned, fourstorey, 20,000-square-foot former textile mill in the town of Schaffhausen
on the banks of the Rhine, about 100
km northeast of Basel, an hour’s drive
or train journey.
With Mr Rausmüller as artistic director, a position he holds to this day, the
Hallen für neue Kunst (Halls for new
art) opened in 1984 with a collection
of over 400 works by Weiner, Carl
Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol
LeWitt, Mario Merz, Jannis Kounellis,
Joseph Beuys, Richard Long, Bruce
Nauman and Robert Ryman the
Hallen is one of the world’s leading
Events Saturday
10pm to midnight, Stadtkino Basel, Steinenberg 7
A tribute to Steven Parrino (1958-2005). John
Armleder, Fia Backström, Amy Granat and Jutta
Koether will be present. Films showing:
Fia Backström, Oh yeah! 1997
Steven Parrino, Black planet magnetic distortion, 2004
Amy Granat, Holepunch film, 2005
Kenneth Anger, Invocation of my demon brother, 1963,
with soundtrack by Electrophilia (Steven Parrino and
Jutta Koether)
Steven Parrino, Necropolis (the Lucifer crank) for anger,
2004
Franco Brocani, Necropolis, 1970
Art Club Bar, Lounge, Disco
11pm-3am Kunsthalle Basel, Campari Bar, Steinenberg 7
Mario Merz’s, Prehistoric wind from ice-covered mountains, 1976
museums of European and American
art of the 1960s and 70s.
Behind the polished pink granite façade
of the former mill, in galleries with
whitewashed walls and pocked cement
floors, a limited number of regularly
rotated works from the collection are
on display on each of the four floors.
The large former industrial spaces are
especially well suited to the display of
large installations, notably Joseph
Beuys’s two-storey Das Kapital 197077 (a grand piano, randomly hung
blackboards, a movie projector and a
metal washbasin) and Richard Long’s
room-filling Lightning fire wood circle,
1981 (the burnt branches of a cedar tree
struck by lightning).
The curators conduct tours in German,
French, Italian and English by
appointment, and, on 19 June, there
will be two special tours in English.
The museum is privately run by the
Stiftung für neue Kunst (Foundation
for new art), the building is owned by
the town, and the bulk of the annual
budget is raised by the Gönnerverein
neue Kunst (Patrons for new art). ■
works. Her work consists of photography, collage, sculpture, installations, and drawings. Fifty works are on show,
until 15 June. The exhibition and catalogue have been coproduced in collaboration with the Kunstverein, Hamburg
and Tate Liverpool whither the show travels later this year.
Kunstmuseum, Bern, Holderbank
Zurich Uli Sigg Collection
Hodlerstrasse 12, Bern, Tel: 031 328 09 44. Tue 10-9pm,
Wed-Sun 10-5pm. Driving time around 1hr.
Swiss art collector Uli Sigg is one of the most active collectors of Chinese contemporary art in the world, with over
1,200 works from the 1970s to today. The biggest ever loan
of works from his collection goes on show this month in
two venues (13 June-16 October). At the Kunstmuseum, the
exhibition is so large that the museum has cleared out some
of its permanent collection to make room for the 350 works.
The Holderbank warehouse near Zurich houses works that
are too large for the Kunstmuseum’s galleries.
JOIN THE FRIENDS
OF THE HERMITAGE
Russia’s greatest museum is opening a new wing devoted to the 19th, 20th
and 21st centuries – a wing on an imperial scale in the Neoclassical building
which formerly housed the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance. By
joining the Hermitage Friends you will participate in this great initiative and
demonstrate your personal commitment not only to the Hermitage, but to the
world of culture that the State Hermitage Museum so superbly represents.


Join the Hermitage Friends Club
Join the Canadian Friends
of the Hermitage
34 Dvortsovaya Nab.
190000St. Petersburg
Tel +7 812 710 9005
Fax +7 812 117 9528
Email: [email protected]
Join the international Hermitage
Friends Club
Ottawa Branch and Memberships:
1500 Bank St., Suite 302
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 1B8
Tel +1 613 236 1116
Toll Free: 1 866 380 6945
Fax +1 613 236 6570
Email: [email protected]
www.hermitagemuseum.ca
Friends of the Hermitage
PO Box 326
Sittingbourne
Kent ME9 8AG
Tel +44 1795 414878
www.subscribeonline.co.uk/hermitage
Toronto Chapter:
50 Baldwin St.
Toronto, Ontario M5T 1L4
Tel +1 416 979 0932
Fax +1 416 348 0438
Email: [email protected]
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Join the American Friends of the
State Hermitage Museum
505 Park Avenue
20th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Tel +1 212 820 3074
Fax +1 212 888 4018
Email: [email protected]
www.hermitagemuseumfriends.org
Montreal Chapter:
c/o Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
PO Box 3000 – Station H
Montreal, Quebec H3G 2T9
Tel +1 514 288 1896
Email: [email protected]
Les Amis Canadiens de l’Eermitage:
a/s du Musée des beaux-arts de Montreal
C.P. 3000 – Succursale H
Montreal, Quebec H3G 2T9
Tel +1 514 288 1896
Email: [email protected]
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Join the Foundation of Hermitage Friends in
the Netherlands
Postbus 11675, 1001 GR Amsterdam
Tel +31 20530 8755
Fax +31 20530 8758
Email: [email protected]
www.hermitage.nl
10 • THE ART NEWSPAPER
ART BASEL DAILY NEWSPAPER • WEEKEND EDITION 18,19,20 JUNE 2005
Kurzfassungen gesponsert von
Die Wahl der Stars: Künstler und
Kunstfachleute nennen ihre
Lieblingswerke (S.1)
Jan Debbaut, Sammlungsdirektor, Tate
Ich war vollkommen verblüfft von Thomas Schuttes neuen
Skulpturen bei der Galerie Nelson: Diese stellen eine
wichtige neue Phase für einen der führenden Künstler seiner
Generation dar. Thomas Schutte, ohne Titel (3
Persönlichkeiten), 2005. Bei Galerie Nelson (410 000 EUR)
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Kurator des Musée de la Ville de
Paris
Ich war unglaublich berührt von der Arbeit von Martial
Raysse bei der Galerie de France: Die Installation von
Gemälden, die eine ganze Wand ausfüllt, kommt einer MiniRetrospektive gleich, mit Werken von den Sechzigerjahren
bis heute, eine erstaunliche Wiederentdeckung. Martial
Raysse, Rose des Sables, 2004. Bei Galerie de France.
Walter Keller, Scalo Verlag, Zurich
Es ist fast peinlich, aber die Spinne von Lousie Bourgeois bei
Cheim & Read sticht einem ins Auge, selbst wenn man nur
vorbeigeht, da sie eine Sprache benützt, die sonst keiner hat.
Sie ist gigantisch und in der Zukunft wird sie in der gleichen
Kategorie sein wie Picasso.
Robert Hobbs, Kurator, New York
In der Sektion Art Unlimited ist das Video Johnny von
Hubbard & Birchler ein starkes politisches Stück, aber so
zurückhaltend, dass man fast darüber stolpert.
John Armleder, Künstler, Genf, New York
Die Künstlerbuch-Sektion in der Unlimited hat mir am
besten gefallen. Mir gefällt der Gedanke, auf einer
Kunstmesse auch Kunst mit einzubeziehen, die transportabel, verfügbar und erschwinglich ist. Es ist nicht das große
Spektakel, das man in Museen sieht, aber Bücher können auf
kleinem Raum ein Gefühl erzeugen, das genauso intensiv
sein kann.
Peter Miller, Kunsthändler, New York.
Bei der Galerie Mai 36, gibt es einige großartige Gemälde
von Glen Rubsamen, mit schwarzen Silhouetten von
Straßenlaternen vor intensiven Sonnenuntergängen in Los
Angeles. Wenn Ed Ruscha ironisch wäre statt erhaben,
würde er genau so etwas machen.
Eckhard Schneider, Direktor, Kunsthaus Bregenz
Am Stand von Eva Presenhuber fiel mir eine Gruppe von
Zeichnungen von Dieter Roth auf. Sie sind gleichzeitig
komisch und schön. Dieter Roth, 6 Bilder – Lollies, jeder mit
seiner Produktionsmaschine, 1981. Bei Eva Presenhuber.
Anita Zabludowicz, Sammlerin
Ich mochte alle Jeff Walls im Schaulager, daher hat es mich
besonders gefreut, das schöne Stück bei Marian Goodman zu
sehen. Jeff Wall, Still Creek, 2005, Edition von drei, Dia im
Lichtkasten Bei Marian Goodman.
Gavin Turk, Künstler
Mir gefiel die komische angemalte Bronzeskulptur von Joan
Miro aus den Sechzigerjahren: zwei Stühle, der eine mit
einem Ziegelstein auf dem Sitz und der andere mit einem
gelb angemalten Ei.
Bericht am Ende der Woche
Neueste Kunst verkauft sich am
schnellsten (S.2)
BASEL. Während es auf der Messe nach den ersten hektischen
Handelstagen etwas ruhiger wurde, strahlten viele Händler
vor Zufriedenheit. Es wurden hervorragende Umsätze
gemeldet, vor allem von Galerien mit jungen Künstlern.
Der «Venedig-Effekt» schwappte auf Basel über. «Ich
glaube, dass mehr Leute hier sind, weil sie direkt von der
Biennale gekommen sind», erklärte ein Händler.
Ausserdem scheint die Schwestermesse der Art Basel in
Miami Beach die amerikanischen Sammler dazu bewegt zu
haben, das Schweizer Ereignis zu besuchen. Andrew
Fabricant von Richard Gray stellte eine stärkere Präsenz von
amerikanischen Käufern fest.
Es ist unvermeidlich, dass sich die ganz teuren Werke
langsamer verkaufen. Hier wird das Geschäft oft erst
besiegelt, nachdem die Messe zu Ende ist, und die dauert
immerhin noch zwei Tage. «Es gibt da irgendwie einen
Herdeninstinkt, jetzt wollen alle die jüngste Kunst kaufen»,
sagte ein Händler.
Thomas Schütte hatte gerade auf der Biennale den Preis für
den besten Künstler gewonnen. Nun wurde sein unbetiteltes
Bild von 2005 (trois personnages) an den französischen
Luxusgütermogul Francois Pinault verkauft (410 000 EUR,
Galerie Philip Nelson). Richard Gray verkaufte Richters
Abstraktes Bild, 1993, für rund 3 Mio. $. Nichts könnte vulgärer sein, als Jeff Koons Riesendiamant am GagosianStand. Dies konnte die drei Käufer jedoch nicht abschrecken,
die den Preis für einen massiven echten Diamanten zahlten,
(3,2 Mio. USD, Auflage von vier Stück).
Krugier verkaufte Picassos Portrait d'homme aux cheveux
gris von 1970, das mit 2,3 Mio. USD ausgezeichnet war.
Besonders lebhaft waren die Umsätze in der Sektion Art
Unlimited: Der Auktionator und Sammler Simon de Pury
fackelte nicht lange und schnappte sich Kader Attias The
loop, ein verdunkeltes Zelt mit einem tanzenden Derwisch,
für 80 000 EUR.
Während die meisten Fotografiespezialisten zusammen
gruppiert waren, zeigte sich der New Yorker Händler Robert
Mann recht zufrieden, dass er etwas abseits platziert war.
«Ich habe über die gesamte Bandbreite hinweg alles
Mögliche verkauft, von alten bis zu zeitgenössischen
Werken, und immer an andere Leute», berichtete er. «Ich
wünschte nur, ich hätte mehr zur Messe mitgebracht.»
In Bern eröffnet die bisher grösste
Ausstellung zeitgenössischer chinesischer Kunst (S.4)
BASEL. Tausende von Sammlern und Kunsthändlern reisten
nach Bern und Zürich, um einen Crashkurs in zeitgenössischer chinesischer Kunst zu besuchen, den der Schweizer
Sammler Uli Sigg ermöglicht hatte. Verteilt auf diese beiden
Ausstellungsorte bietet «Mahjong» einen Überblick über die
zeitgenössische chinesische Kunst von 1979 bis 2005.
Zusammen mit dem Kurator des Kunstmuseums Bern,
Bernhard Fibicher und dem chinesischen Künstler und
Kurator Ai Weiwei teilte Sigg die mehr als 300 Werke in ein
Dutzend unterschiedlicher Themen wie «Mao und die
Kulturrevolution», «Konsumdenken» und «Der Körper als
Medium» ein.
Siggs Beziehung zu China reicht bis 1978 zurück, als er sich
zuerst als Unternehmer und dann von 1995 bis 1998 als
Schweizer Botschafter im Land aufhielt. Für den Aufbau
seiner Sammlung brauchte er mehr als ein Jahrzehnt. In
dieser Zeit reiste er quer durch China und besuchte die
Ateliers von annähernd 1000 verschiedenen Künstlern, und
das zu einer Zeit, in der es noch keine Galerien gab, die
solche Besuche erleichtert hätten.
Nachdem er erkannt hatte, das keine chinesische Institution
ernsthafte Bemühungen unternahm, die Werke dieser
Künstler zu sammeln und zu erhalten, dehnte er seine
Aktivitäten aus, um einen umfassenden Querschnitt durch
die zeitgenössische Kunst Chinas seit 1979 zusammenzustellen, und trug schliesslich mehr als 1200 Werke von 180
Künstlern zusammen. Aufgrund seiner unermüdlichen
Bemühungen, zeitgenössische Werke aufzuspüren und diese
im Westen bekannt zu machen, wurde er zum Paten der
aktuellen Szene, eine Situation, die in einem kleinen Raum
im Kunstmuseum Bern besonders deutlich wird, in dem
Werke zu sehen sind, die den Sammler selbst zeigen.
Nachdem er seine diplomatischen Posten verlassen hatte,
zog Uli Sigg wieder in sein Heimatland zurück, reist jedoch
immer noch ständig zwischen der Schweiz und China hin
und her, da er in Projekte wie das Olympische Stadium in
Peking des Basler Stararchitekten Herzog de Meuron eingebunden ist.
In einer früheren Phase der Begeisterung für die zeitgenössischen Künstler Chinas spielte der Sammler eine wichtige
Rolle hinter den Kulissen: 1999 wurde die Biennale in
Venedig vom verstorbenen Harald Szeemann kuratiert, der
im Vorfeld die verschiedenen Kunstszenen Chinas bereiste,
mit dem Schweizer Botschafter als Führer. Nach der
Biennale wurde Szeemann dafür kritisiert, die Chinesen zu
sehr in den Vordergrund gerückt zu haben, und viele dachten
offenbar: «Das legt sich wieder, ich muss mich nicht
bemühen, dieses Zeug zu verstehen.» Inzwischen ist jedoch
klar, dass uns die zeitgenössische chinesische Kunst erhalten
bleibt, man muss also entweder etwas darüber lernen, oder
sich bewusst dafür entscheiden, sie zu ignorieren.
Die Einrichtung der aktuellen Ausstellung dauerte nahezu
einen Monat, da sie fast das gesamte Berner Museum in
Beschlag nehmen. Selbst das war jedoch noch nicht genug:
Als Sigg von der Gemeinde Holderbank angesprochen
wurde, ob er nicht eine zweite Ausstellung ihrer privaten
Kunsthalle auf dem Land, westlich von Zürich einrichten
wolle, schnappte er sich er weitere 3000 Quadratmeter, um
noch 30 Werke auszustellen.
Marc Spiegler
Ulla Dreyfuss kennt die Art Basel seit
ihren Anfängen im Jahr 1969. Der internationale Trubel auf der Messe ist für
sie ebenso abschreckend wie
faszinierend (S.4)
BASEL. Alles begann mit einer Gruppe von Freunden: Ernst
Beyeler, Trudl Bruckner und dem verstorbenen Balz Hilt.
Man schrieb das Jahr 1969 und Basel hatte aufgrund seiner
zahlreichen Museen einen lebhaften Kunstbetrieb, der in
keinem Verhältnis zur Grösse der Stadt stand. Ausserdem
hatte sich Basel auf Handelsmessen spezialisiert. Die
etablierte Kunstmesse in Köln verlor zu der Zeit etwas an
Glanz, so dass diese Basler beschlossen, ihre eigene Messe
auf die Beine zu stellen. Die Veranstaltung war bereits im
ersten Jahr ein voller Erfolg, erinnert sich die Sammlerin
Ulla Dreyfuss, eine attraktive Vertreterin der
Bankiersfamilie, die offen und direkt erzählt, wie es damals
war. Die gesamte Kunstszene von Basel mischte mit und lud
To make a vision come alive,
it takes two.
Künstler und Sammler zu Buffets zu sich nach Hause ein.
Das Publikum war viel kleiner, und Ausnahme von Leo
Castelli, Ileana Sonnabend und Sidney Janis waren alle
Händler Europäer, so dass die künstlerische Komponente
sehr viel stärker im Vordergrund stand und die meisten sich
ohnehin schon kannten. Am Anfang waren alle auf der Messe
angebotenen Stücke klassische Moderne. In den späten
Siebzigerjahren tauchten die ersten Werke zeitgenössischer
Kunst auf, die enorme Flut zeitgenössischer Kunst begann
jedoch erst nach den ersten Versteigerungen von «Cuttingedge-Art» durch die grossen Auktionshäuser im Jahr 1997.
Ulla Dreyfuss stimmt Ernst Beyeler zu, dass es auf der
Messe heute zu sehr ums Geld geht, obwohl sie eine grosse
Verehrerin von Sam Keller, dem Organisator der Messe ist,
der die Veranstaltung, wie sie sagt, grossartig zum Leben
erweckt hat. «Es war wirklich schlimm, als mit dem ArtemisKunstfonds der Gedanke aufkam, systematisch in Kunst zu
investieren. Damit begann dieser ganze Trend. Nun glauben
viele junge Künstler, dass sie wichtig sind, weil sie ihre
Werke zu relativ hohen Preisen verkaufen. In Wirklichkeit
können sie jedoch nur ihre persönlichen Probleme ausdrücken und das nicht einmal auf interessante Weise. Darum
glaube ich, dass vieles in der Statements-Sektion der Messe
nicht gut war. Zum Teil sind daran auch die Kritiker schuld,
die zu vage und zu unkritisch sind». Der Künstler sollte auch
weiterhin im Mittelpunkt der Art Basel stehen, meint sie und
erzählt mit bescheidenem Stolz, dass sie es war, die Sam
Keller vorgeschlagen hat, jedes Jahr einen Ehrenkünstler zu
ernennen. Bisher waren dies Jeff Koons und Gilbert &
George, und in diesem Jahr wäre es James Rosenquist gewesen, wenn er nicht erkrankt wäre. «Die Leute wollen einen
wirklichen Künstler sehen—und anfassen», erklärt sie und
beschreibt sich dabei selbst.
Vorstellung des Museums, das Sie auf
dem Rücken tragen können (S.6)
Die Künstler John Armleder und Adrea Fraser, sowie der
ehemalige Künstler und jetzige Designer und Architekt Vito
Acconci trafen sich gestern Vormittag zu einem von James
Rondeau, dem Kurator für zeitgenössische Kunst am
Kunstinstitut von Chicago, geleiteten Gespräch über
Museumsarchitektur. Hier sind einige Ausschnitte aus den
Präsentationen der nächsten Sprecher:
Vito Acconci: «Zu Beginn meiner Karriere, Anfang der
Siebzigerjahre, hielten meine Generation und ich Museen für
ein wenig überflüssig. Anfang der Neunzigerjahre betrachtete ich mich jedoch nicht als Künstler, sondern als
Designer und Architekt. Kunst ist dazu gedacht, erhalten zu
werden. Architektur weiss von Anfang an, dass sie niemals in
der Lage sein wird, die Funktionen zu erfüllen, die ihr abverlangt werden. Sie weiss, dass sie früher oder später renoviert
werden muss.»
Das Museum der Zukunft könnte die Form eines Rundgangs
durch eine Stadt annehmen, durch einen Park, durch
Objekte, die von Menschen hergestellt wurden – die Kunst
könnte auf Decken und Fussböden angebracht sein. Es wäre
möglich, dass sie durch Oberflächen von Kunst laufen, die
sich drehen und winden. Es könnte sein, dass in der Zukunft
die meiste Kunst digital ist – etwas, das dafür gedacht ist, im
Privaten genossen zu werden. Das Museum könnte ein
mobiler Raum sein, oder vielleicht können die Menschen in
der Zukunft ihre eigenen Museen auf dem Rücken herumtragen.
Bulgari Art Conversations: Vorstellung
des Museums, das Sie auf dem Rücken
tragen können (S.6)
BASEL. Die Künstler John Armleder und Andrea Fraser, sowie
der ehemalige Künstler und jetzige Designer und Architekt
Vito Acconci trafen sich gestern Vormittag zu einer von James
Rondeau, dem Kurator für zeitgenössische Kunst am
Kunstinstitut von Chicago, geleiteten Diskussion über
Museumsarchitektur. Bei dem Gespräch handelte es sich um
das letzte in einer Themenreihe, die im Rahmen der Bulgari Art
Conversations organisiert wurde. Es folgen einige Auszüge aus
der Rede von Vito Acconci: Zu Beginn meiner Karriere,
Anfang der Siebzigerjahre, hielten meine Generation und ich
Museen für ein wenig überflüssig, da wir sie als etwas betrachteten, das nichts mit dem täglichen Leben und der Realität zu
tun hatte. Anfang der Neunzigerjahre sah ich mich jedoch nicht
als Künstler, sondern als Designer und Architekt. Das Museum
der Zukunft könnte die Form eines Rundgangs durch eine Stadt
annehmen, durch Objekte, die von Menschen hergestellt wurden – die Kunst könnte auf Decken und Fußböden angebracht
sein, überall um uns herum. Es könnte sein, dass Museen etwas
sind, das sich an andere Dinge anklammern kann, wie eine
Klette. Das Museum könnte ein mobiler Raum sein, ein Raum,
der überall hingebracht werden kann, wo er gewünscht wird,
oder vielleicht können die Menschen in der Zukunft ihre eigenen Museen auf dem Rücken herumtragen. Andere Leute könnten hereinkommen und das Museum besuchen.
You and us and Art Basel.
Bernard Jacobson Gallery presents
Larry Bell
Lee Krasner
Morris Louis
Robert Motherwell
Ben Nicholson
James Rosenquist
Robert Rauschenberg
Pierre Soulages
William Tillyer
Marc Vaux
At Hall/Stand 2.0/H2
++41 61 699 5226
Bernard Jacobson Gallery
6 Cork Street
London W1S 3EE
Telephone +44 20 7734 3431
Facsimile +44 20 7734 3277
Email [email protected]
Website www.jacobsongallery.com
Robert Rauschenberg Page 18, Paragraph 2 (Short Stories) 2001
pigments transfer and acrylic on polylaminate 217.2 ⫻ 154.9 cms
MARLBOROUGH
Art 36 Basel
Stand No E1 Hall 2
The Fisherman, (Triptych), 2005
Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd.
6, Albemarle Street London W1S 4BY
T:+44-20-76295161 F:+44-20-76296338
www.marlboroughfineart.com
Paula Rego
Marlborough Galerie GmbH
Spiegelhofstrasse 36
8032 Zurich Switzerland
T:+41-1-2688010 F:+41-1-2688019
by appointment only
At the Waterfall by Marina Abramovic
To make a vision come alive, it takes two.
Communication is the key to art, conveying visually what cannot be put into words. Of equal
importance to this process as the artist’s creation is the viewer. You. It takes interaction. The
same applies in the global financial world. At UBS we devote considerable time and energy
to engaging you in a personal dialogue, in order to understand your investment vision and
bring it to life. It’s why we’re the main sponsor of Art 36 Basel. You and us and Art Basel.