by Nancy Nesvet In the wake of nations attempting to close their borders, the Basel Art Fairs have expanded the world of art and art’s very definition to become the most inclusive ever in art’s history. Including not only ideas but the process by which those ideas are expressed, these shows amaze in the variety of sensual experience, including sound, vision, physical feeling, taste (and I don’t mean the food kind) and more. Art Basel, Basel’s oldest and best Art Fair, includes eight sectors; Unlimited, shows 76 projects, unlimited in size and scale including interventions, installations and other non-scaled pieces. Parcours, from the French meaning "journeys", offsite at the Cathedral Square and throughout the old city of Basel, offers current work of contemporary living artists including installations, guided journeys, interventions and repurposed sculpture. The Film Sector offers … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE’S GUIDE TO BASEL ART FAIRS 2017
Exhibits
ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY TWO
by Nancy Nesvet TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2017 Day two at Art Basel. In this wonderland of art, I am still totally at play, seeing the installations at Parcours, in the cathedral square and down by the Rhine River, but coming around to reality via some installations and sculpture at "Unlimited" in the city square called Messerplatz. First confronted by Al Wei Wei’s “Iron Tree” (2016), which changes patina as it ages, it also brings nature and the manmade relationship with nature into perspective. That relationship seems a theme of Parcours, curator Samuel Leuenberger’s brilliant trek through the city through the following of artwork installations. Reza Aramsh recreates Michelangelo’s “Slave” in resin, but tiesits hands behind his back with a rope, making him captive and towering on a plinth over the river. Katinka Bock’s “Parasite Fountain” (2017) creates ametal fish that draws water … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY TWO
ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY ONE
by Nancy Nesvet MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2017 With Art Basel, in Switzerland and The Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel, in Germany and Athens, Greece respectively, happening all at the same time, it is the trifecta for art shows, and so far, I’m betting on Art Basel. Having seen all of the Liste show yesterday, when it opened, and Art Basel Design, I can tell you the art aficionados are coming out for art, beauty and fun. Done with the hard-hitting political landscape of last year’s work here, and taking a breather, maybe literally, everyone’s happier seeing fewer political statement or in your face art. A lot is concentrating on the process, the materials and the bringing in of concrete, beads, aluminum screening and more for innovative treatments of material. Watch Artscope’s Instagram and Facebook pages for Prem Sahib’s Concrete Lion reproductions (of the originals in front … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY ONE
Between Past and Future: Clemens Kalischer’s Vermont at Bennington Museum
By Marguerite Serkin Bennington Museum hosted an artist reception on the afternoon of June 3rd to honor legendary photographer Clemens Kalischer. Now on view in the museum’s ground floor gallery, "Between Past and Future: Clemens Kalischer's Vermont" provides a wide sampling of Mr. Kalischer's masterfully- composed portraits. Spanning more than six decades of Vermont life, the collection was curated by Kalischer's daughter Tanya, and Bennington Museum executive director Robert Wolterstorff. Known for his candid, yet meticulous approach, Kalischer's images leave no detail overlooked. "Postmaster" documents a stern man behind an iron grille, surrounded by the evocative post office paraphernalia of the 1940's and 50's. "Teenage Couple Dancing" (1958) is a photograph in motion, encapsulating the vigor and style of the day. Photographs from Kalischer's long affiliation with … [Read more...] about Between Past and Future: Clemens Kalischer’s Vermont at Bennington Museum
Wanderlust: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
By James Foritano San Francisco, CA - How does one sum up a museum so huge that it qualifies as the largest space in the world dedicated to modern and contemporary art? Carefully and incompletely, I found. Feelings of gratitude and trepidation alternated as I found myself transported from quaint, historic Boston to a city and museum all about the future — the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, modestly abbreviated as SFMOMA. I had already acquainted myself with Columbian artist Doris Salcedo’s mystical, complex vision of human suffering and endurance in “The Materiality of Mourning” at the Harvard Art Museums. My view of Salcedo’s vision deepened considerably as I wandered through an expansive installation of, to put it too simply, her ‘upended furniture’ at SFMOMA as part of its “A Slow Succession with Many Interruptions” exhibition showcasing 40 artists responding to the … [Read more...] about Wanderlust: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Da Vinci — The Genius at the Museum of Science
By Kate Kenney Cambridge, MA - Inside the Museum of Science is a dark room full of realized dreams that’s hosting a temporary exhibit from Grande Exhibitions and Pascal Cotte, France: “Da Vinci — The Genius,” an exhibition that allows visitors into Leonardo da Vinci’s world with a behind-the-paintings look at some of his most infamous creations. One side of the room is decorated with large wooden models depicting da Vinci’s finest experimental designs. What were once simply notebook sketches have now been realized into life-sized hand-crafted models. Structures range from a canvas parachute that could be easily mistaken for architectural art piece, to a Jules Verneian — and honestly terrifying — diving suit complete with webbed flippers. Many of the objects show da Vinci’s curiosity in military engineering. A large wooden catapult and tank show his imaginative ideas on how to … [Read more...] about Da Vinci — The Genius at the Museum of Science