Sara Jantzen | 15. Juni 2022

Art Basel Week 2022 – UNLIMITED

Art Basel Unlimited exceeds the limits of traditional art fairs – in more than just one way. The most obvious being the seize of the artworks presented – most of them are large, some even monumental sculptures or installations. The exhibition takes place in a huge hall with very high ceilings to provide galleries with the opportunity to show artworks that would never fit into a regular booth.

But this year, Art Basel especially emphasizes the fact that participating galleries come from all over the world and that the interest in non-western artists is growing. There are no geographical or cultural limits. Considering the list of represented artists at Unlimited it becomes clear that galleries this year also didn’t want to limit themselves to already world famous top-selling artists. Of course, none of these participating artists are completely unknown but there is a surprisingly high number of names some of us might have never heard of before. Obviously everybody will recognize a few names such as Gerhard Richter or Carl Andre but they certainly don’t make up the majority of participants which is refreshing.

Unlimited is large, it takes a few hours to go through everything. I picked a few favorites you definitely should’t miss on your way.

Right when you come in on the wall on the right there is a monumental woven frieze by Diedrick Brackens (shadow raze, 2022) addressing the destruction and creation of historical narratives. Black figures are pulling on chains to raise or dismantle a monument out of view. The work refers to the removal of statuary tributes to colonialism and racism.

A bit further in a separate room on the right there’s a series of tiny paintings by Francis Alÿs depicting different border barriers from all over the world (Border Barriers Typology: Cases #1 to #23, 2019-2021). The artist has travelled into various conflict zones and studied the fences and walls at closed borders.

The Malaysian artist Yee-I-Lann has worked with female weavers to create a series of colorful mats (tikar) displayed on a wall on the right. These mats depict different tables which were brought to Southeast Asia by colonizers. Traditionally, people sat and met on mats. TIKAR/MEJA (2020) juxtaposes the power of the table against the power of the mat.

Located in the far right corner of the exhibition hall there is a huge installation by Leonardo Drew: Number 341 (2022). The entire corner is filled with a pile of weathered, shredded and painted wood that seems to have been magically held in place mid-explosion.

In the back left corner of the hall there is a larger than life sculpture of a fictional black woman confidently looking down on us. Moments Contained (2022) by Thomas J Price focuses the viewers‘ attention on the systemic marginalization inherent to public monuments.

On your way back on the other side of the hall make sure not to overlook the big painting Untitled, May 7 (1988) by Keith Haring in a room to your right. It depicts one of his iconic figures struggling to escape the grasp of a monster hatching from its shell.

Moving along, on the left side enjoy a sound installation by Susan Philipsz. The work is called Slow Fresh Fount (2021) and features seven standard black oil barrels arranged in the space so that they appear to call to each other. Speakers project raw elemental tones the artist made with her own voice into the barrels.

Finally, close to the entrance/exit there is a sculpture on the left that might put a smile on your face. In High Dive (2018), Nida Sinnokrot bolted a diving board onto a minibar, an Islamic pulpit where an Imam would normally stand to give a sermon. The work enchants thanks to its contradictions and the ability to transcend boundaries and destabilize assumptions.