Bianca Censori Makes Art Basel Debut in Vanessa Beecroft's Risqué Retelling of Greek Myth

Art Basel in Basel 2026 18–21 June 2026

At a semi-abandoned hotel outside Tokyo, a series of body-con-clad women descends into the underworld. This is Untitled (Izanami) (2025), Italian performance artist Vanessa Beecroft’s reimagining of the Ancient Greek myth of Persephone’s abduction by Hades, starring Bianca Censori and currently on view at Art Basel as part of Galleria Lia Rumma’s presentation at Unlimited.

Censori, the Australian artist and architect who married rapper Ye—or Kanye—West in 2022, appears in various states of undress: crawling through hotel corridors, unwinding bandages from her face, staring into the camera with tears pouring down her mascara-strewn face.

The work appears to meditate on the commodification of the female body under conditions of intensifying media scrutiny, a theme exacerbated by Censori’s own position as its lead actress. Even her presence at Art Basel earlier this week—accompanied by her husband, whose recent antisemitic and racist comments have been widely condemned—made headlines.

At the fair, the film is presented within a dressed set: a hospital bed, chair and surgical lamp, alongside five plaster sculptures of disembodied female torsos and leg fragments, create a surgical atmosphere. A live performer who strongly resembles Censori, dressed in a white hospital gown, occupies the installation for the duration of its 25-minute runtime. 

Beecroft has collaborated with West across multiple creative projects since the mid-2010s, including the 2016 Yeezy Season 3 launch at Madison Square Garden and two opera performances, Nebuchadnezzar and Mary (both 2019). However, the rapper and Censori’s trip to view Untitled (Izanami) this week marked a conspicuous Art Basel debut for the trio.