May 28, 2008

Basel Art Fairs

In 1970, the first Art Basel presaged the tide of international art fairs that would sweep across the art world in subsequent decades. Today, Art Basel is the largest contemporary art fair of its kind. In this issue of Artkrush, we explore Art Basel 39's high points, including Matthew Marks Gallery's display celebrating revered artist Ellsworth Kelly's 85th birthday, and the premiere of Lawrence Weiner's new art-porn film. Artkrush editor Paul Laster interviews Amanda Coulson about the evolution of the VOLTA fair, and we spotlight the exquisitely painted assemblages of Pierpaolo Campanini at LISTE. Our media pick is a long-overdue study of industrial designer Poul Kjærholm, whose furniture is featured at Design Miami/Basel. Leaving the bustling fairs behind, we look to Madrid for an exhibition of Robert Longo's new charcoal drawings and to Paris for a survey show of Alec Soth's stirring portraits of people and places.