The Women’s Fashion Issue

4342

ARTandCIRCUMSTANCE

Art Basel is the international con-temporary art exhibition held eachyear in Basel, Switzerland since itsinception in 1970. Considered to bethe world’s premier international

art show for Modern and contemporary works,Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleriesfrom North America, Latin America, Europe,Asia and Africa.

More than 2,500 artists, ranging from thegreat masters of Modern art to the latest gen-eration of emerging stars, are represented inthe show’s multiple sections. Works on view in-clude the highest-quality paintings, sculptures,drawings,drawings,dra installations, photography,ography,ography video andeditioned works from the most important fineart dealers worldwide.

61,000 people attended Art Basel in 2009,including art collectors, art dealers, artists, cu-rators and other art enthusiasts. Whether ornot this year’s fair,fair,fair being held June 16 – 20, will

bring the same numbers is unclear,unclear,unclear but vendorsand collectors alike, remain hopeful.

Located on the banks of the Rhine, at theborder between Switzerland, France and Ger-many,many,many Basel offersoffersoff world-class museums, out-door sculptures, theaters, concert halls, idyllicmedieval old town and new buildings by lead-ing architects. Basel is ranked as a culture capi-tal, and that cultural richness helps put the ArtBasel week on the agenda for art lovers from allover the globe.

DAYDAYDA ONE: The beginning of the fair actuallystarts the Mondayndaynda prior to Tuesday’sesday’sesda officialVernissage, with the VIP opening of Art Unlim-ited. For the past 10 years, Art Unlimited is ArtBasel’s answer to providing an exhibition plat-form for projects that transcend the classicalart-show stand - including video projections,large-scale installations, massive sculpturesand live performances.

The opening is characteristically energetic,with everyone greeting each other as if for thefirst time, comparing notes on traveltraveltra schedule,various degrees of jetof jetof lag, what the state of theirhotel is in, and the difficulty in navigatingnavigatingna theSwiss style of business.

The past years havehaveha had various degrees ofcritical success in terms of the quality of thework shown; this year maymayma yet prove that thisexhibition program model maymayma havehaveha extendedbeyond its relevance.

With far fewer large scale productions andthe predominance of video installations, it canfeel more like a critic on the current economicsituation, with less money for large-scale pro-ductions, than a statement of the political orsocial relevance of the work itself.

Art Statements, a smaller side venue withinUnlimited, provides a unique venue for thoseseeking emerging artists, featuring one-personstands from rising galleries worldwide.

DAYDAYDA TWO:TWO:TW This is when the real frenzy begins!This entire daydayda is reserved for the most exclu-sive of invited guests, allowing the first priorityaccess at noon. It is a mad rush of some of themost powerful figures, jockeying for position toenter as soon as the doors.

While it is well known that many works aresold before the fair,fair,fair it is still critical to arriveearly to be the first to find the works that havehavehanot been scooped away,ay,ay and this could mean thedifferencedifferencediff in minutes if a collector gets to thebooth before you.

A second VIP level entry begins at 3pm –which means, of course, significant artworks,havehaveha been previewed and sold in the prior threehour window.window.window The final entry level is from 7pm-9pm for the official Vernissage. For those whohavehaveha the energy,energy,energy this sets off the social mael-strom of the week. Here the day’sday’sda scoops, pur-chases and frustrations are discussed and fetedduring the remainder of the evening.

DAYDAYDA THREE: For those who did not spendeight hours at the fair on Tuesday,esday,esda or who fo-cused on either priority purchases or prioritysocializing, will spend the majority of this daydaydaseeing anything and everything possible. Thistype of mentality and transactions, will contin-ue until the close of the fair on Sunday.Sunday.Sunda

While the art market has not been immuneto the global economic crisis, it is apparent thatthis is beginning to shift. Auction records havehavehacontinued to be set and the general feeling at ArtBasel among most dealers was that the openingwill be a success with many sales on the books,but far from the sell-out conditions which werecommon in the more recent years. If you are atrue collector,or,or with limited time and energy tospend either going to galleries or the multiplefairs worldwide, Art Basel is the one place thatyou should not miss. It is the best of the bestand an experience that words alone can not de-scribe alone. (Contributions frontributions frontributions omfromfr www.artbasel.comwww.artbasel.comwww )

re :invest

BY MICHELE QUINN

4342

ARTandCIRCUMSTANCE

Art Basel is the international con-temporary art exhibition held eachyear in Basel, Switzerland since itsinception in 1970. Considered to bethe world’s premier international

art show for Modern and contemporary works,Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleriesfrom North America, Latin America, Europe,Asia and Africa.

More than 2,500 artists, ranging from thegreat masters of Modern art to the latest gen-eration of emerging stars, are represented inthe show’s multiple sections. Works on view in-clude the highest-quality paintings, sculptures,drawings,drawings,dra installations, photography,ography,ography video andeditioned works from the most important fineart dealers worldwide.

61,000 people attended Art Basel in 2009,including art collectors, art dealers, artists, cu-rators and other art enthusiasts. Whether ornot this year’s fair,fair,fair being held June 16 – 20, will

bring the same numbers is unclear,unclear,unclear but vendorsand collectors alike, remain hopeful.

Located on the banks of the Rhine, at theborder between Switzerland, France and Ger-many,many,many Basel offersoffersoff world-class museums, out-door sculptures, theaters, concert halls, idyllicmedieval old town and new buildings by lead-ing architects. Basel is ranked as a culture capi-tal, and that cultural richness helps put the ArtBasel week on the agenda for art lovers from allover the globe.

DAYDAYDA ONE: The beginning of the fair actuallystarts the Mondayndaynda prior to Tuesday’sesday’sesda officialVernissage, with the VIP opening of Art Unlim-ited. For the past 10 years, Art Unlimited is ArtBasel’s answer to providing an exhibition plat-form for projects that transcend the classicalart-show stand - including video projections,large-scale installations, massive sculpturesand live performances.

The opening is characteristically energetic,with everyone greeting each other as if for thefirst time, comparing notes on traveltraveltra schedule,various degrees of jetof jetof lag, what the state of theirhotel is in, and the difficulty in navigatingnavigatingna theSwiss style of business.

The past years havehaveha had various degrees ofcritical success in terms of the quality of thework shown; this year maymayma yet prove that thisexhibition program model maymayma havehaveha extendedbeyond its relevance.

With far fewer large scale productions andthe predominance of video installations, it canfeel more like a critic on the current economicsituation, with less money for large-scale pro-ductions, than a statement of the political orsocial relevance of the work itself.

Art Statements, a smaller side venue withinUnlimited, provides a unique venue for thoseseeking emerging artists, featuring one-personstands from rising galleries worldwide.

DAYDAYDA TWO:TWO:TW This is when the real frenzy begins!This entire daydayda is reserved for the most exclu-sive of invited guests, allowing the first priorityaccess at noon. It is a mad rush of some of themost powerful figures, jockeying for position toenter as soon as the doors.

While it is well known that many works aresold before the fair,fair,fair it is still critical to arriveearly to be the first to find the works that havehavehanot been scooped away,ay,ay and this could mean thedifferencedifferencediff in minutes if a collector gets to thebooth before you.

A second VIP level entry begins at 3pm –which means, of course, significant artworks,havehaveha been previewed and sold in the prior threehour window.window.window The final entry level is from 7pm-9pm for the official Vernissage. For those whohavehaveha the energy,energy,energy this sets off the social mael-strom of the week. Here the day’sday’sda scoops, pur-chases and frustrations are discussed and fetedduring the remainder of the evening.

DAYDAYDA THREE: For those who did not spendeight hours at the fair on Tuesday,esday,esda or who fo-cused on either priority purchases or prioritysocializing, will spend the majority of this daydaydaseeing anything and everything possible. Thistype of mentality and transactions, will contin-ue until the close of the fair on Sunday.Sunday.Sunda

While the art market has not been immuneto the global economic crisis, it is apparent thatthis is beginning to shift. Auction records havehavehacontinued to be set and the general feeling at ArtBasel among most dealers was that the openingwill be a success with many sales on the books,but far from the sell-out conditions which werecommon in the more recent years. If you are atrue collector,or,or with limited time and energy tospend either going to galleries or the multiplefairs worldwide, Art Basel is the one place thatyou should not miss. It is the best of the bestand an experience that words alone can not de-scribe alone. (Contributions frontributions frontributions omfromfr www.artbasel.comwww.artbasel.comwww )

re :invest

BY MICHELE QUINN