In 1970, Art Basel took place for the first time. Fifty years later, the show has become one of the artworld’s essential events, attracting gallerists, artists, curators, journalists, and art lovers from all over the globe edition after edition. Such a symbolic birthday calls for a big celebration: In 2020, Art Basel will stage an ambitious contemporary art project across its three show locations, with artworks commissioned especially for the occasion.
This Cerberus of sorts - three heads, but one common body - will be curated by a multi-national and -generational team, led by Kasper König, former director of the Museum Ludwig and founder of Skulpturprojekte Münster, Christina Li, who will be curating this year’s Hong Kong Pavilion at the Venice Biennale; and Hamza Walker, the director of Los Angeles’ LAXART exhibition space. Each one will lead the effort on the continent they hail from: König in Basel, Li in Hong Kong, and Walker in Miami Beach.
As the trio puts it, the project will focus on ‘the marketplace as a historical site of exchange, trade and competition, and as an intersection of different actors and forces.’ The works on view will also address the issues that inevitably arise in the lives of those who love and live art: value, infrastructure, success, failure, and authorship, among others. König, Li, and Walker hope to showcase ‘a plurality of voices revolving around significant phenomena within the present neoliberal economy’.
With this exciting project lying ahead, stay tuned for more information on included artists and venues!
