KAMIAR’S MONTHLY REPORT

Starting at the Rheinsprung, I visited GAGOSIAN’s first show of the Swiss artist Louise Bonnet, installed at the gallery’s now permanent new Basel location. I’ve been following Louise’s work for a while now, I love her grotesque bodies and absurdist comedy which she uses to depict women in the currently installed show Sphinxes. Interestingly, the artist’s chosen medium for almost all these works are colored pencils, which makes the dangerous figures feel almost like they escaped a child’s nightmare.

When visiting GAGOSIAN, don’t miss to join the queue vis-a-vis for one of Basel’s newest darlings in town: Mystifry Donuts. On Sundays the line often goes back to the Naturhistorisches Museum, which is a result of a witty Social Media presence and the friendliest owners who will take the time to chat with you while packing your orders in little boxes. All creations are vegan and the flavors change once a month – make sure to check their Instagram stories beforehand though, as they are often sold out even before the official closing time.

With a creamy donut in hand I strolled the Rheinsprung up towards Münsterplatz to see one of my personal highlights of the year: Klaus Littmanns’ Arena for a tree, presented by Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger (KHB.G). The public installation was accompanied by an extensive exhibition in the foundation, addressing the way in which artists from the 19th century to the present day have addressed the subject of nature, using a myriad of approaches and stylistic means.

No gallery weekend without stopping by at VON BARTHA who are currently presenting a retrospective of work by Welsh artist Barry Flanagan, showcasing a variety of Flanagan’s practices from different periods of his career. Alongside the artist’s iconic hare sculptures, the exhibition shows early sculptures and his radical experimentation with materials such as cloth, stone, sand or clay. 

After crossing the river via the Kilngentalfähre, my first stop in the so called Kleinbasel district is the recently reopened Ausstellungsraum Klingental which, since its founding in 1974, has been overseen by a constantly renewed team of dedicated artists and guest curators. For the recent show X Æ-gen-c A-21 New Mutations within Techno-psychotic Densities the Basel artists Aebersold x Handberg and Till Langschied researched unknown forms of life in our technologized reality. In doing so, they designed hypotheses of mutations that could arise in the ultimate condensed technological reality of the early 21st century in newly developed installations.

As the sun slowly started to go down, I decided to take the tram to leave town and to go to Riehen to see the installation that has been on everybody’s mind since its opening: Olafur Eliasson’s LIFE at Fondation Beyeler. While the installation is impressive during the day, it is after sunset, when it really becomes mind-blowing. 

Although it did not come as a surprise, I noticed that almost throughout the whole program the topics presented by most artists came with an urgency. A changed perspective, pressing questions such as what is the new normal going to look like and how do we cope with the changes which were brought by the pandemic onto our ecosystem.

Shows like LIFE or the group show at the Ausstellungsraum Klingental confront visitors with a fresh way of looking at borders – may it be physical or from the imagination.

Text and images: Inna Schill (Neutral)