ART-FAIRS:LISTE Art Fair 2017
For over 22 years the focus of LISTE Art Fair is to introduce young galleries with primarily emerging, as yet little known artists. Each year, approximately 80 galleries from over 30 countries are presented – of those, 10 -15 galleries are introduced for the first time. LISTE’s mission is to promote these new galleries and introduce them to an international expert public.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: LISTE Art Fair 2017 Archive
As a not-for-profit-oriented fair, LISTE – unlike any other fair – has consistently advocated for the promotion of new galleries since its founding in 1996. The fair strives to provide reasonable terms and conditions to galleries, thus easing their entry into the international art market. LISTE is considered the most important Art Fair for a young generation of Galleries and artist. The jury which is composed exclusively of curators selected for the 22nd edition of LISTE Art Fair 79 galleries (15 are represented at LISTE for the first time) from 34 countries with works by over 140 artists. This year 34 artists are introduced in solo presentations because the Fair gives importance to curated presentations with selected artists. The widely acclaimed Performance Project will take place for the 13th time, curated by Eva Birkenstock, titled “Rehearsing Intra-Activity”, presents the works of artists, dancers and choreographers that are engaged in an expanded understanding of the concept of choreography. Instead of following a given script, they share an interest in creating transgressive situations that destabilize and subvert ascribed distinctions between the performer and the audience, actors and roles, human and non-human, material and discourse, politics and emotions, and the stage and its spatial, as well as socio-political condition. The Helvetia Art Prize is awarded to a graduate of a Swiss college or university majoring visual and media art. This year’s prize, which includes a monetary award of CHF 15,000 and a solo presentation at LISTE, goes to Andriu Deplazes, her artistic interests lie in figurative painting. Naked, strangely androgynous bodies are forlornly set in heavenly or apocalyptic landscapes. With their ambiguous expressions and bald heads, these curious figures seem repulsive but also poignant. In his large-scale canvases, Andriu Deplazes consciously makes allusions to art history and yet creates his own very personal imagery. Special Guests: Each year LISTE provides a Swiss institution dedicated to emerging art the opportunity to present itself. The exhibition space Kaskadendondensator and the House of Electronic Arts, both of Basel, also appear annually as special guests at the fair. To investigate what photography is becoming, Fotomuseum Winterthur launched its new format “Situations”, a dynamic program that responds to current developments within photographic culture and experiments with innovative interactions of physical and digital spaces. During the fair ar on presentation: “Situations #80”, Cristina de Middel created “EXTRA! EXTRA” an installation that sets the critical status of physically distributed printed matter against the fluid yet no less problematic parameters of online news portals with their modification and postproduction of images and text.! In “Situations #81:Letters to Omar”, Edmund Clark examines the strict monitoring and control mechanisms in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The work comprises postcards and letters received by the (unjustly convicted) British prisoner Omar Deghayes during his six-year term in the camp. Some are from family members, some are from his lawyer, others are from people around the world who had never met him. “SITUATION #82: Bomb Cloud Atlas”, Forensic Architecture collected data from different moments of the conflict in Syria from 2015, like the bombings of the MSF Hospital in Ma’arat al-Numan, to create 3D printed models of the events. Next to the 3D reconstructions, the cluster will also feature a video that provides insight into the process behind Forensic Architecture’s work. During the LISTE art fair Kaskadenkondensator presents two Initiatives that host very different Formats for Collaboration and Presentation: Stingray Editions has invited various artists to create 10 book volumes called “Double Editions”. Each volume is the outcome of two selected books collaged into a new edition. The project is a collaboration of Kambiz Shafei with Delphine Chapuis Schmitz, Martina Kausch, Ariane Koch & Sarina Scheidegger, Nicolas Raufaste and Anahita Razmi. HeK (House of Electronic Arts Basel) is dedicated to digital culture and the new art forms of the information age. As a special guest of the LISTE Art Fair, HeK presents a selection of artists who utilise 3D modelling and 3D printing to explore the convoluted dialogue between the real and the virtual world, while also critiquing the exploitation of technology in current neo-capitalism.
Info: Artistic Director: Peter Bläuer, LISTE Art Fair 2017, Burgweg 15, Basel, Days & Hours: Mon 12/6/17, 12:00-17:00 (Preview by invitation only or with press accreditation), Mon 12/6/17 17:00-21:00 (Opening Reception with free admission), Tue-Sat (13-18/617) 13:00-21:00, Sun 12/6/17 13:00-18:00, Admission: Single entry CHF 20, Reduced entry CHF 10 (Students / seniors / AHV), Free admission for kids up to 16 years, After 20:00: Single entry CHF 6, Students / AHV free admission, www.liste.ch
