Art Basel is the largest and in my opinion the most crucial art fair in the world. They have been organized since 1970 and just on June 16 their next edition ended. Outside Basel are besides held in Paris, Hong Kong and Miami Beach. This year's edition was attended by 285 galleries from 40 countries, besides representatives of 250 museums, artists, curators, private collectors and art lovers from all over Europe, both Americas, the mediate East, Asia and Africa. The fair is known for its very demanding criteria and large selection, as this is an highly desirable place due to the chance to draw the attention of participants in the global art market. Many galleries are hard to find there.
The exhibition was attended by 3 Polish galleries: Foksal Gallery Foundation, which presented works by Paulina Ołowska, Paweł Althamer, Wilhelm Sasnal, Monika Sosnowska, Piotr Uklański, Ernie Rosenstein or Małgorzata Mirgi-Tas, Galeria Dawid Radziszewski, which showed works by specified Polish artists as Krzysztof Grzybacz, Joanna Piotrowska and Agnieszka Polska and the Stereo Gallery presenting the young artist, Barbara Wesołowski.
However, my peculiar attention was drawn to Unlimited – this is simply a prestigious art exhibition, held annually under Art Basel. This event is known for its presentation of monumental and innovative contemporary works, which frequently go beyond the conventional exhibition framework. This year's Unlimited due to its exceptionally good quality works of art, its vast variety of subjects and techniques and its social and political commitment was highly interesting and refreshing. The exhibition consisted of 70 individual artists projects presented by 93 galleries. The curator of the exhibition, Giovanni Carmine proposed very diverse works, the consequence of which was the overlapping of works of young, ambitious artists with those already recognized, including projects that already belong to the canon of art history.
On Unlimited you could see a series of photographs by Robert Frank "The Americans" (1954-1957), and a critical commitment to slavery as the cornerstone of the United States of America – this refers to religion Ringgold, whose work "The Wake and Resurrection of the Bicentennial Negro" of 1976 was created in consequence to the celebration of the Bicentennial United States. The installation explores key topics related to sex and racial identity for its work, which is simply a message about the period of human rights protests. It is besides worth mentioning the installation of Miriam Cahn from 2001, a consequence to war crimes committed during the Balkan wars. For a change, Keith Hering's 1984 monumental frieze was presented as a joyful celebration of life. In turn, the natural visions of Lu Yang's virtual future uncover what it's like to be a man of the 21st century. The author embodies himself as a shape-shifting DOKU avatar, which, according to the word “Dokusho Dokushi” recognizes that “We are the Flow”. It's a movie about digital reincarnation, refers to the Buddhist doctrine of Mahayana. In non-linear sequences of highly complex 3D DOKU animation slips in and out of various digital skins to transcend conventional reality and scope the eventual fact about voidness and interconnectedness. The fresh technologies co-existed with the minimalist space of Donald Jadd and Henry Taylor's very individual work, a tribute to Randy's older brother – erstwhile Black Panther associate and Black Lives substance movement. An artistic and highly meditative explanation of the scenery of the holy Mount Fuji at dawn by Hiroshi Sugimoto presented on respective classical nipponese screens is simply a panoramic scenery printed on Washi paper. It evokes the hidden power of conventional nipponese ink paintings.
Young artists specified as Kresiah Mukwazi from Zimbabwe, Dominica Fung from Canada appeared alongside large names specified as Jannis Kounellis, Christo, Martin Margiela or Yayoi Kusama. The monumental sculpture of the second artist, "Aspiring to Pumpkin ̒s Love, the Love in My Heart" – captivates with form, colour and imagination, and refers to microscopic and macroscopic universes. Canadian artist Dominika Fung, mentioned above, created an highly ambitious work, "Ancestral Memories", consisting of 7 parts, 30 canvases with a dimension of 26 metres. The motive behind the creation of this monumental work was the constant desire to research identity, memory, origin, woman's body, the passage of time and the combination of east and western historical references in art. utilizing the canon of the conventional ancient scroll, the communicative begins at night in the water with the marine women Arna or Haenyeo. The artist leads us by boat through the seas and lands, to a place inhabited by surreal horses bound in chariots. It is besides worth paying attention to the Polish-German artist, Alicja Kwade, born in Katowice, whose installation “ParaPosition” was of large interest. It consisted of a blocking steel frame supporting 2 large boulders. The combination of steel and stone drew the viewer into the framework of this massive but fragile universe, in which simple forms gave complex meanings. The observing and impartial Kwade prompts us to reflect on our relation with the planet and the contemplation of the fundamental nature of our existence, while challenging the tired schemes that destruct uncertainty in specified a seemingly understandable universe.
Unlimited 2024 was unique to me, as it encouraged our full commitment to art, which not only seeks and explores, but besides extends our cognition and our values, but besides challenges them and always provides a unique chance to research the latest trends in art. A very advanced level of this year's event raises hope that despite a number of challenges specified as commercialisation or spectacularisation of art, its authenticity and values will stay unchanged.
