List of art fairs 2023 in Basel. The best stands

It was the most special and characteristic experience of the art week in Basel, the Liste fair. Housed in an old decadent brewery for years. Times pass and needs change. For some time Lists of art fairs It is housed in a normal exhibition hall, directly above the rooms where Art Basel takes place. Goodbye magic, hello convenience. The only concession to a specific identity is the circular, radial layout, forcing visitors to keep going in circles to visit all the stalls.
Stands that this year presented a really high level of quality of the proposal. Good galleries (but let’s not forget that the goal of the galleries that make the list is always the same: advance to Series A and have a stand at Art Basel), relevant projects, practically all mini personal shows . And on top of that a rather positive and optimistic mood compared to the past few years, which were more marked by wars and epidemics. Last year the conflict in Eastern Europe had just broken out, the year before we were still in the middle of Covid. So here we are at the first edition of the non-emergency list.
Below is a selection of the stands we liked the most, with galleries that were a bit more daring.

Massimiliano Tonelli

The content will follow

1. VIN VIN – VIENNA and NAPLES

The Austro-Neapolitan gallery owner brings to light the Italian artist’s noir and fluorescent paintings Cecilia DeNisco (Parma, 1997), full of tension and contrasts. They are mounted on walls on which the artist has worked like a set designer Paulina Semkowicz.

2. CAPSULES – SHANGHAI

Curious presentation of the artist Gaoyuan (Yunnan, 1986), offering his acrylic paintings on canvas. Dreamy and narrative paintings that are works in their own right but also provide the background for the artist’s animation work. One of them will be presented in a video at the stand.

3. JOB OFFER – SHANGHAI

The Chinese gallery presents an intervention by Chen Ting Jung (Taipei, 1985) and has the courage, practically unique at the fair, to propose a sound installation. Two microphones hang from motorized arms, which they gyrate inaccessibly around the room, recording the noise of the fair visitors, which is then reproduced at regular intervals by the speakers mounted on the wall, just below some sculptures made of cardboard. Mâché on sea buoys.

4. THETA-NEW YORK

Personal introduction Elizabeth Englander (Boston, 1988). Some large sculptures in front and then a “staircase” with smaller sculptures, all made of wood or metal. They are totems that tell a lot about religion and rituals and contain references to Buddhism or our traditional iconography of the crucifix. Very intriguing sculptures made from recycled low quality materials.

5. PHD GROUP – HONG KONG

The Japanese Sasaoka Yuriko (Osaka, 1988) offers a very haunting and engaging booth. A screen with some hanging paintings acts as a theatrical backdrop, which houses a series of exercise balls used to exercise the back. We sit down and a fun 2018 video by the artist begins with a series of dolls and dolls, always depicted with hands. A fantastic world, but also a reflection of Japanese society, beginning with the 2011 tsunami until today.

6.GIAN MARCO CASINI-LIVORNO

Like Vin Vin, Casini also produces a young Italian artist born in the 1990s. Clarissa Baldassarri (Civitanova Marche, 1994). At the end of the faira very crude setup with a microphone, some metal elements on the floor and a printer that continuously prints out the results of the noises of the fair picked up by the microphone in the form of numerical data.

7.VALERIA CETRARO-PARIS

Another more theatrical stand is that of the young Parisian gallery Valeria Cetraro. The duo Angelique Aubrit & Ludovic Beillard He also expresses himself in videos and performances, but here he presents a series of human-sized puppets with large heads, large hands, and large wooden feet. And clothes made directly by the artists. The goal is to think about how people live with other people.

8. AFRIART – KAMPALA

Coming to Switzerland from Uganda, the all-painting stand of this gallery is very impressive. The featured artist is the very young one Emmy Number (Uganda, 1999). A work on the border between painting and embroidery by Nume, which for 24 years has been able to capture the essence and the emotions of the subjects with surprising depth. They are portraits that must be viewed live (or at least through beautiful photos, not like ours!).