Comments on: Episode 146: Art Basel

By: Helene

Helene — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:41:48 +0000

I had the privilege of attending Art Basel 39 and I can honestly say I was overwhelmed. While I’ve spent a considerable amount of time at New York’s MoMA and London’s Tate Modern (most of it spent daydreaming of how my favorite pieces would look in my humble abode), I don’t think the average museum experience prepares you for the sheer magnitude of an event like Art Basel. The fair is dedicated to contemporary art in all its forms – paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and editioned works.

While I understand that some reviewers were critical of the quality of the art on display, most notably the New York Times, I can’t say I noticed. Since I’m neither a museum curator, a Russian oligarch or the ruler of a small oil-rich nation, I personally saw enough stunning works to more than satisfy my yearning.

By: James

James — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:23:42 +0000

Good job MSB and LEF. Here’s an additional wrap-up:
http://www.artreview.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1474022:BlogPost:271585

By: Lamis

Lamis — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:36:22 +0000

Thanks, Mark, for your technical handiwork and thanks BaS for getting my name right. Much obliged.
I went back to Basel on my own a few days after going with Mark and it was almost a different fair since we’d spent most of our time on the first day chatting to various and sundry people. Did pay attention to sculpture/3D this time and there was actually not just a little bit. For example, we completely missed Carsten Höller’s full-scale children’s slo-mo carousel on the first floor. Just shows that you’d have to spend all five days there to walk, shuffle or crawl through the entire maze, let alone „see“ everything.
I also ventured out to Volta4 (only 68 galleries!) which showcased more multi-media than Basel or Scope. Christoph Draeger’s doubly psychotic „Schitzoredux“ video of Psycho ’60 (Hitchcock) and Psycho ’98 (Gus Van Sant) superimposed and playing simultaneously on a small screen. Watching Janet Leigh and Anne Heche make their ill-fated getaways to the Bates Motel got me thinking of all the other original and remakes that could mesh: Scarface, Cape Fear, Seven Samurai/the Magnificient Seven. Or maybe project the boxing sequences from all of the Rocky sequels all at the same time. Yikes.

By: Mark Staff Brandl

Mark Staff Brandl — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:45:13 +0000

Hey Balzac and the “regulars,” where are you? What did you think?

By: Anna B

Anna B — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:01:11 +0000

Bullock and Schmied were interesting too, proving there are perhaps a few artists in such a private opening.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:47:36 +0000

I find actually that Mark’s piece was EXACTLY how I feel at art fairs, fading in an out and talking to lots of different people. And like Mark’s recording gear, sometimes I fail to record at all.

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:41:22 +0000

I liked the fact that the podcast faded in and out, from one person and location to another. It really gave the impression that one gets at an art fair. The mix of types of guests was good too. Museum director, critics, art fair organizer, dealers, artists, and all from different countries.

By: Mark Staff Brandl

Mark Staff Brandl — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:15:56 +0000

Jeez, every article talks about Roman Abramovich and Brad Pitt. How about art?

By: Mark Staff Brandl

Mark Staff Brandl — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:26:01 +0000

Scope video by VernissageTV:

http://blip.tv/file/971231

By: Jack J

Jack J — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:19:38 +0000

AP says:

Basel art fair wraps up after some major sales
Art Basel, the largest international fair of contemporary art, wound up Sunday after registering some major sales but with a suggestion that the overall market may be slowing in reaction to the world’s financial turmoil.

The show management’s final report said the results were “outstanding” and that all participants “considered it a very good year,” but it gave no overall sales figures.

Headlines were chiefly made by Roman Abramovich, the Russian multibillionaire and owner of Chelsea soccer club, who topped the list of collectors present. Abramovich appeared to have stayed below his spending spree last month in New York, where he paid $120 million at Sotheby’s record-breaking auction, including $86 million for the top lot, a Francis Bacon triptych. In Basel, he bought one of Alberto Giacometti’s elongated woman sculptures for $14 million, according to The Art Newspaper’s special Basel edition. The sale of a Lucian Freud, “Girl in Attic Doorway,” for $12 million to an undisclosed buyer was also confirmed.

The organizers said their surveys showed that “all the exhibiting galleries were able to find buyers for their works.” The 300 participating galleries offered works by more than 2,000 artists, priced between a few thousand and millions of dollars.

Despite the positive report of the organizers, the weekend edition of The Art Newspaper headlined, “Market keeps moving, but the brakes start to go on.” “A frazzled economy and boom-market pricing transformed souls of last year’s buyers into browsers,” it said. “Much of the slow-up was blamed on Americans who opted to stay home.”

Management said that 75-80 percent of the sales went to Europe and that there had been a “marked increase in collectors and curators of the Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern and Russian art scenes.” Organizers counted some 60,000 visitors to the show.