Art Basel

Art Basel is one of the most important art fairs for contemporary art. Within their annual rhythm found in early summer 2013 already for the 44th time in Basel. 2002, the Fair with Art Basel Miami Beach was first held outside Europe, in 2013 came with the Art Basel in Hong Kong, an additional location in Southeast Asia added.

History

The idea to organize an exhibition for art in Basel, was born in 1968. The initiative came from the gallery owners and art dealers Trudl Bruckner, Balz Hilt, and Ernst Beyeler. The project was the immediate response to the first fair of modern and contemporary art in Cologne, the Cologne Art Fair in the fall of 1967. These art market, the association of progressive German art dealer had organized. As " undemocratic" was criticized at the time that the club invited only selected galleries at the fair. Therefore, the Basel art dealer opted for an open exhibition concept which permitted this exhibitor without the participation restriction.

At the first, from 11 to 16 June 1970 - Basel - oriented exhibition, already participated gallery 90 and 30 publishers from ten countries, which claims 16,300 visitors were attracted. With a turnover of 5.8 million Swiss francs, the event was also commercially successful. Since the Cologne art dealers were threatened her fair concept, they called for a boycott of the Basel event. The gallery should choose to participate in either Cologne or Basel. Despite these calls, however, the Art Basel has established itself firmly in the art world.

Since 1973, the fair takes place in the listed Rundhofhalle. An Exhibition Committee ( Selection Committee ) has been active since 1974 in their preparation and makes a selection among the registered Galleries. The Committee shall be appointed each year. In it are represented galleries that participate regularly at Art Basel. Your integrity and expertise must be beyond any doubt. His decision is the Committee by a simple majority, it does not establish its decision. In a refusal, the concerned galleries the Appeals Board can call.

On the 39th exhibition from 4th to June 8th, 2008 was attended by over 300 galleries from 33 countries participate. They are selected by the Art Committee from over 1000 applications and presented about 5,000 works by over 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Most represented were 72 galleries with the U.S., followed by Germany ( 49 galleries ), Switzerland (35 ), United Kingdom (29 ) and France (22). Around 60,000 art lovers, gallery owners, dealers, collectors and artists attended the fair. The 40th anniversary of the existence of the celebrated Art Basel from 10 to 14 June 2009.

Due to its international importance, Art Basel was designated in 2004 by the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph as the "Olympics of the Art World ".

During Art Basel 2013, there was an incident. Served in protest against what they saw as a decadent " Favela Café" at the exhibition space, a realized by the Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata and Swiss architect Christophe Scheidegger temporary reproduction of a favela in their huts for the visitors to high prices of milk coffee and a glass of champagne ( champagne) was a group of artists from the alternative scene in the afternoon of June 14 had built next to a "real" Favela and celebrated a reggae party. Initially this was part of the exhibition tolerated. After a complaint by the fair organizer MCH Group, which has leased the space for the duration of Art Basel, the police, however, the terrain admitted after the passage of ultimatums in the late evening with the use of multi-purpose launcher and pepper spray.

Organization

The Art Basel Executive Committee shall be composed of the Director Marc Spiegler and Annette Schoenholzer (Director of New Initiatives ), Magnus Renfrew ( Director Asia ) and Marco Fazzone (Director Resources and Finance). Further, the organization is a management board is available. Each Art Basel show has its own Selection Committee, a committee consisting of international gallery which reviews all applications and selects the participating galleries ..

In addition to the Selection Committee and curators involved in each show. These are currently: Florence Derieux ( Curator Course, Basel), Gianni Jetzer ( Curator Unlimited, Basel ), Marc Glöde ( Curator movie, Basel ), This Brunner ( Curator movie, Basel and Miami Beach ), Nicholas Baume ( Public Curator, Miami Beach ), David Gryn ( Curator movie, Miami Beach ), Yuko Hasegawa ( Curator Encounters, Hong Kong).

Art Basel is one for exhibition portfolio of MCH Group.

Audience

Art Basel attracts an international audience of artists, gallery owners, collectors, museum directors and curators, as well as people who are passionate about Modern and Contemporary Art of the 20th and 21st centuries.