VOLTA12, JUNE 13 – 18 AN OPENING FOR THE AGES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACT BRIAN FEE [email protected]BASEL: TUESDAY, JUNE 14: How to succeed a breakthrough year, building upon an edition that — to paraphrase lauded rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap — "went to eleven", while still retaining VOLTA's unique identity as a hotbed of contemporary artistic prowess? By dialing up the curated booths and emphasizing the visual power and elegance of solo- and two-artist projects, which proliferated among the 68 exhibitors of VOLTA12. The dealers this year were particularly ambitious in their projects, championing historic relevance and recent commissions in a global array that had the early morning crowd abuzz. Guido Maus (left, owner of beta pictoris gallery, Birmingham AL) presents works from Barbara and Michael Leisgen's Mimesis series from the 1970s to a collector "It’s been very satisfying this year to see how the fair has really consolidated in its mission, with the emphasis on discovery but not necessarily on youth," said VOLTA Artistic Director Amanda Coulson. "The maturity of presentations and positions, both new and historic, created a beautiful range: from an undiscovered 84-year-old Slovenian painter with works from the '70s (Mileena Usenik, showing with P74 Gallery, Ljubljana), or a late Japanese painter who spent his breakthrough, process-based years Subscribe Share Past Issues Translate
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VOLTA12, JUNE 13 – 18AN OPENING FOR THE AGESFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BASEL: TUESDAY, JUNE 14: How to succeed a breakthrough year, building upon an edition that — toparaphrase lauded rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap — "went to eleven", while still retaining VOLTA'sunique identity as a hotbed of contemporary artistic prowess? By dialing up the curated booths andemphasizing the visual power and elegance of solo- and two-artist projects, which proliferated among the68 exhibitors of VOLTA12. The dealers this year were particularly ambitious in their projects, championinghistoric relevance and recent commissions in a global array that had the early morning crowd abuzz.
Guido Maus (left, owner of beta pictoris gallery, Birmingham AL) presents works from Barbara and MichaelLeisgen's Mimesis series from the 1970s to a collector
"It’s been very satisfying this year to see how the fair has really consolidated in its mission, with theemphasis on discovery but not necessarily on youth," said VOLTA Artistic Director AmandaCoulson. "The maturity of presentations and positions, both new and historic, created a beautiful range:from an undiscovered 84-year-old Slovenian painter with works from the '70s (Mileena Usenik, showingwith P74 Gallery, Ljubljana), or a late Japanese painter who spent his breakthrough, process-based years
in New York in the mid-'70s (Yoshishige Furukawa, presented by beta pictoris gallery, Birmingham AL),or a groundbreaking conceptualist from Slovakia (Stano Filko, presented by SODA gallery, Bratislava),to extremely fresh positions from Danish newcomer Asger Dybvad Larsen (LARMgalleri, Copenhagen)or 23-year-old Assunta Abdel Azim Mohamed (HilgerBROTKunsthalle, Vienna), pursuing her studiesat University of Applied Arts, Vienna. This chorus of generations and artistic voices encapsulates theVOLTA brand, and the consistency of quality across the board unites the positions here into oneharmonious whole."
"The response to my booth on opening day has been phenomenal," recounted veteran VOLTA galleristZavier Ellis of CHARLIE SMITH LONDON (London). "Within two hours we sold from six of our nine artists— some multiple times — to world-class collectors," including Florian Heinke to Susan and MichaelHort (New York), Eric Manigaud to the SØR Rusche Collection (Berlin), plus John Stark, ClairePartington (who is in a concurrent exhibition at Weserburg, Museum of Modern Art, Bremen), and twonew and disarming (and necessarily much-Instagrammed) figurative baby sculptures by Wendy Mayer."I'd say that's a pretty superb start!" AKINCI (Amsterdam) recorded immediate sales of Broerson &Lukacs' cut-lambda print The Cave, Albrecht Schnider's Untitled (Portrait), and Stephan Balkenhol'sbrand-new rough-hewn figurative wood sculpture Mann mit blauem Kopf (created, according to directorLeyla Akinci, in inspiration to the booth's "man vs. nature" theme) within the first half hour of the Guest ofHonor Preview, to new clients from Switzerland, Romania, and Germany. Diagonally across the centralaisle, Hilger BROTKunsthalle (Vienna) recorded two sales of Ángel Marcos' Cuba-set photography,plus institutional interest in the mid-career Spanish artist's floor installation, as well as two sales ofemerging Austrian artist Assunta Abdel Azim Mohamed's large-scale, poetic figurative ink drawings onpaper. Dealer Michael Kaufmann was enthusiastic: "People are really amazed about Assunta and herwork. She's so young, just 23" and recent recipient of an Erasmus Scholarship at Accademia di Belle Artidi Venezia, "and she's doing brilliant things." Returning exhibitor YOD Gallery (Osaka) sold a brand-newwork Gold Hito, comprised of keychains from tourist attractions in Kyoto and Nara, by MasashiHattori and several hand-embroidered circuit board compositions by Stitch Dog to new clients, whiledealer Ryotaro Ishigami noted considerable interest in the booth's balance of assemblage and handmadeworks that both focus on human connections.
Collectors gather around Stephan Balkenhol's sculpture Mann mit blauen Kopf at AKINCI (Amsterdam)
A number of exhibitors were new to Basel, either first-time VOLTA exhibitors or galleries who hadparticipated in prior New York editions. Richard Heller Gallery (Los Angeles) assembled an Americanmixed-media powerhouse trio — Dustin Yellin, Sasha Pierce, and Devin Troy Strother — and fieldedconsiderable interest from an international clientele. The gallery noted sales from both a new iteration ofYellin's eye-catching Psychogeographies layered glass and acrylic figurative "painting-sculptures" as wellas several of Strother's art history-skewering works to clients from New York, Denmark, and Austria, andHeller himself was enthused by the consistent crowds. "The attendance is really amazing," agreedSalome Vakhania of Project ArtBeat (Tbilisi) on their first VOLTA outing, noting focused attention fromcollectors and critics alike to booth artists Gio Sumbadze (who installed his Kamikaze Loggia at GeorgianPavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale), Nino Chubinishvili, and Lado Pochkhua, featured in the latest
iteration of GalleryLOG's artist-interview video series. "Really great people are coming around, and I amvery proud of the response." Likewise, Galerie l'inlassable (Paris) were thrilled by attention to and salestoward their solo project Bending Space by young astrophysics-forward French artist CarolineCorbasson. "We are really delighted to be at VOLTA and presenting this new body of work by Caroline,"said co-director John Ferrère. "And we are happy to see collectors and friends coming out from Paris tosupport us," agreed co-director Ulysse Geissler. As well, building upon their successful VOLTA debuts inthis past VOLTA NY, two London dealers — Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery and Ed Cross Fine Art — eachfound success in their first Basel day. Hjellegjerde recorded sales of young London-based Norwegianartist Martine Poppe's ethereal landscape paintings (plus holds on several new, abstract compositions) aswell as interest from new clients to Richard Stone's shapely bronze sculptures. Cross was likewisecheered by the public's reaction to his solo project of Senegalese artist Eric Pina's large-scale mixed-media compositions of figures wandering in expansive landscapes. "Though Eric comes from West Africa,it's not immediately apparent that he's an African artist," said Cross, "Which pleases me, as this way I canshow the breadth and diversity of artistic positions from the continent on this international stage."
The artist Dustin Yellin (showing with Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles) poses near his new Psychogeographies glass andacrylic collage painting-sculptures
Fueling their renowned sociopolitical array from their usual position front and left, ADNGalería (Barcelona) was pleased at the opening, moving South African iconoclast Kendall Geers'modified found sculpture Mutus Liber (Fetish) 68 and Eugenio Merino's sculpture Victory or Death to aninternational clientele, while fielding further interest from significant new collectors. "We have had so muchgood feedback this time," noted owner Miguel Ángel Sánchez. "It's a promising start. And I am confidentwe will have another good VOLTA edition — again!" Gerhard Hofland (Amsterdam/Leipzig) returned tohis sunlit corridor corner space, selling a brand-new large-scale figurative scupture by Dutchceramicist Johan Tahon as well as a new Koen Delaere abstract painting to an American he'd met atVOLTA last year who, as Hofland recounted, "was too late on the Koen then but first in line today."Longtime VOLTA exhibitor Patrick Heide Contemporary Art (London) counted good interest in his four-artist presentation, particularly in gallery staple Thomas Müller (selling the artist's monumental work onpaper as well as a grid of eight smaller works) plus new Cluj recruit Dan Maciuca to a new client, with afurther Maciuca on reserve. Gallery Kogure (Tokyo) received constant attention for their Amassment-themed two-artist booth, selling three Euro Cup football-sized newsprint sculptures by Asuka Sakuma aswell as large pointillist portrait Hérisson by Futaro Mitsuki, all to new clients. CONRADS (Düsseldorf)sold from Sven Drühl and the venerable herman de vries, who represented The Netherlands at lastyear's Venice Biennale, and dealer Helga Weckop-Conrads noted considered interest in their coherent,landscape-conscious two-artist dialogue. Remarking on opening day attendance, she said "This is mythought: people used to go to Art Basel first and then VOLTA later in the week. Now they are coming herefirst. That's a good move." Continuing the two-artist angle but from an historic perspective (specifically theearly to mid 1970s), beta pictoris gallery (Birmingham, AL) was enlivened by public reaction to lateJapanese process-abstraction vanguard Yoshishige Furukawa and German photographycouple Barbara and Michael Leisgen. "We started early and strong, with a consistent flow ofinternational collectors," remarked owner Guido Maus, who placed work by both artists to European and
American collectors and by 2 p.m. had sold a majority of works on view. He emphasized: "This profoundeffort for promoting solo/dual artist projects and historical positions is important — people have a differentperception of what VOLTA can be."
V1 Gallery (Copenhagen) dealers Jesper Elg and Josephine Fity entertain collectors within their salon-style drawing show TheParlor
Among other thematic booths, veteran VOLTAnians V1 Gallery (Copenhagen) deserved marks forambition: eschewing their usual stark and smart hangings for an ensemble cast of 28 artists working onpaper, in the hands of other galleries the end result may have been a bit of disarray. But in V1's capablehands, The Parlor drawing salon was an elegant and visually pleasing affair, with over 34 works sold byday's end. Remarked dealer Josephine Fity: "The first day was brilliant for us — we very busy in themorning, then quieter in the afternoon...but the entire time from start to close we've had lots of greatconversations and interest in The Parlor." She noted the top three sellers from the multigenerationalshowing were from the emerging generation: particularly Emma Kohlmann (whose loose figurativewatercolors embody a solo exhibition at the gallery now), plus Danny Fox, and Monica KimGarza. Jonathan Ferrara Gallery (New Orleans) received a positive reaction for their trio of womenabstract painters, grounded by veteran Margaret Evangeline and younger artists MarnaShopoff and Bonnie Maygarden. The gallery sold from the latter two and owner Ferrara noted thewellspring of interest in Maygarden stemming from her site-specific and trompe-l'oeil installationat Aesop's Spalenberg boutique in Basel. Finally, the joint art-lounge projectby LARMgalleri (Copenhagen) and Pablo's Birthday (New York), featuring a multigenerational castincluding German minimalist pioneer Frank Gerritz and young Danish process-artist Asger DybvadLarsen (as well as Larsen bartending), was abuzz with convivial vibes. Over whisky neat and Aperolspritzes, dealers Lars Rahbek and Arne Zimmermann sold eight works from booth artists before day'send, with more to come. Noting the salon-style installation of over a dozen artists (including EckartHahn and Thorsten Brinkmann) around the bar, Zimmermann remarked: "if a visitor can name everyartist on this wall without training beforehand, they can take one piece home." Gesturing with his glass,"You can write that!"
Gallery Kogure (Tokyo/New York), featuring newsprint sculptures by Asuka Sakuma and pointillist portraits by Futaro Mitsuki
A distinguished retinue of discerning guests filled Markthalle on opening day,including: Susan and Michael Hort (New York, who returned after their usual at-doors preview for asecond viewing); Carole Server and Oliver Frankel (New York); Alain Servais (Brussels); ChristinaLeber (principal, DZ Bank Collection, Frankfurt am Main); Ole Faarup (Copenhagen); AmirShariat (London); Rodica Seward (Paris); Sasa Hanten (Cologne); BibiWerner (Copenhagen); Christian Just Linde (Copenhagen); Lea Weingarten (Houston, principalWeingarten Group); Jean and Tony Harrison (London); Thomas Obricht (Essen); SylviaArnhold (Zürich); Thomas Rusche (SØR Rusche Sammlung, Berlin); Beth DeWoody (NewYork); Wolfgang Schoppmann (Obrist Collection); Reydan Weiss (Bremen); Karen Boyer (principal,Elements in Play, New York); representatives from Mallorca Museum of Contemporary Art; AxelVervoordt (architect, Belgium); Knight Landesman (Artforum); plus many other lovers of the arts.
