Hauser & Wirth returns to Art Basel’s IRL fair this year with an array of outstanding historic and contemporary works by leading artists from the gallery’s programme. In addition to the booth and Art Basel’s digital iteration of the fair, the gallery will transport global digital audiences through an immersive vlog series, ‘Art Basel Diaries’ featuring cultural commentator, writer and Vogue columnist Raven Smith. A new and enriched Art Basel presentation integrates interactive 3D designs of artworks which allow users to zoom or rotate works to fully explore their dimensionality and texture. This evolution is a first for Hauser & Wirth’s digital presence and reflects the gallery’s commitment to delivering exceptional digital experiences as it does in person in its spaces. Audio commentaries give deep dives into the works and a new live chat function enables people to connect with our team on the ground at Basel in real time.
Hauser & Wirth’s artists at Booth D9 and Unlimited
Hauser & Wirth’s display for Art Basel includes 20th-century masters Arshile Gorky, Philip Guston, Eva Hesse, Eduardo Chillida, Maria Lassnig, François Morellet, and Dieter Roth, alongside contemporary voices such as Jack Whitten, Ed Clark, David Hammons, Rashid Johnson, Pipilotti Rist, Rita Ackermann, Christina Quarles, Nicolas Party, Nicole Eisenman, and Zeng Fanzhi.
The Unlimited section of the fair features a painting by Frank Bowling titled ‘Samson’s Circle with Lila’s dress made in Africa of imported Chinese fabric: and the rest’ (2019), measuring 1.9 x 7.8 m, and Roni Horn’s 40-part work ‘Mother, Wonder’ (2010-12/2019). John Chamberlain’s large-scale sculpture ‘NAUGHTYNIGHTCAP’ from 2008 will also be installed as part of the presentation.
Highlights of the booth include a version of the first Louise Bourgeois works acquired by MoMA, Sleeping Figure II (1950) and Arshile Gorky’s Composition No.3 (1929–1930), a painting that was exhibited in the 1935 seminal show Abstract Painting in America at the Whitney Museum of American Art. This year there will be a major focus on Philip Guston with two key works The Day (1965) and The Poet (1975), and a rarely seen Maria Lassnig painting Schweinderln (Piggies) (2007).
A contemporary masterpiece by David Hammons titled Cobra (1989), a rubber sculpture made from a found object, is part of the fair selection, alongside Jack Whitten’s Shark Bait (2016), a sculpture created during the later years of the artist’s life. The booth will also unveil exceptional new works by contemporary artists from the gallery’s roster, including Rita Ackermann, Rashid Johnson, Zeng Fanzhi, Nicolas Party, Christina Quarles, and George Condo. Works by artists recently represented by the gallery include Gary Simmons, Cindy Sherman, and Thomas J Price.
Iwan Wirth, President and Co-Founder of Hauser & Wirth, says: ‘We’re thrilled Art Basel is back. This year international collectors can tap into the energy on the ground as never before through our next generation phygital fair experience and short film series, ‘Art Basel Diaries’. Our technology is invisible, human, and intuitive to shine the spotlight on works by our artists as we will be doing at the fair.'
Hauser & Wirth at Zurich Art Weekend
The fair in Basel coincides with three important presentations in Zurich opening on the 17 September: Glenn Ligon and Simone Leigh at Hauser & Wirth Zürich, and an exhibition of work by Hans Arp titled Arp: Art is a Fruit, which inaugurates the new gallery space, Hauser & Wirth Bahnhofstrasse 1.