What Are the Highlights of Art Basel Unlimited 2024?

Works by Anna Uddenberg, Faith Ringgold, and Alex Da Corte are among the 70 large-scale installations in the sector this year.

Art Basel returns to the Swiss city from which it takes its name this month. Some 286 galleries are taking part in the event, which runs from 13 to 16 June, with preview days on 11 and 12 June.

In addition to the booths, a presentation of Agnes Denes' celebrated Honouring Wheatfield - A Confrontation (2024) on the Messeplatz, and 20 public works strewn along Clarastrasse, a whopping 70 works will feature in the Unlimited sector, devoted to large-scale installations.

Curated by Giovanni Carmine, director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Unlimited will remain open late on Thursday 17 for Unlimited Night, when visitors can see the works alongside special performances.

These are eight highlights of this year's Unlimited sector.

1. Anna Uddenberg's Premium Economy (2023–2024)

Pictured top, Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg's installation, which is activated by performers, seethes at the exploitation of bodies under capitalism.

Presented by Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler and Meredith Rosen Gallery, it's an unsettling blend of corporate architecture, medical devices, and fetish gear.

2. Faith Ringgold, The Wake and Resurrection of Bicentennial Negro (1976)

Faith Ringgold's first multimedia performance will be reenacted in a presentation by Goodman Gallery in collaboration with ACA Galleries. Ringgold conceived of The Wake and Resurrection of Bicentennial Negro in response to the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

'This was a wake not a celebration,' she said. 'I wanted to create a visual narrative of the dynamics of racism, including the self-imposed oppression of drug addiction.'

3. Christo, Wrapped 1961 Volkswagen Beetle Saloon (1963–2014)

Gagosian will present Christo's Wrapped 1961 Volkswagen Beetle Saloon, a sage-green Beetle covered in a yellow tarpaulin and tied down with rope.

The car anticipated later works wrapping buildings and monuments, culminating in the Arc de Triomphe in 2021.

4. Alex Da Corte's Hell Hole (2022)

Presented by Sadie Coles HQ, Alex Da Corte's Hell Hole is a life-sized wooden cabin with burning neon windows. Inside, an aged and melancholy version of the artist sits for a meal at a table topped with a disco ball and a water bong.

'The work is about food, and the politics of food, and the society and spectacle of consumption,' Da Corte says.

5. Keith Haring, Untitled (FDR NY) #5-22 (1984)

A section of American graffiti artist Keith Haring's 46-metre-long mural Untitled (FDR NY) #5-22 will be presented by Gladstone Gallery and Martos Gallery.

The spray-painted panels, which once ran along the New York City highway, are worn by the weather and partly graffitied over.

6. Lu Yang, DOKU The Flow (2024)

Chinese artist Lu Yang's latest video installation will be presented by Société.

The artist's digital avatar, DOKU, takes its name from the Japanese phrase 'Dokusho Dokushi', meaning 'we are born alone, and we die alone'.

7. Robert Frank, 'The Americans' (1954–57)

From 1954 to 1957, Swiss photographer Robert Frank shot over 28,000 photographs, 83 of which he selected for his series 'The Americans'. The complete set of photographs will be presented by Pace Gallery and Galerie Thomas Zander in anticipation of a major retrospective at MoMA in September.

Frank is one of four artists Pace Gallery is presenting in Unlimited, along with Nathalie Du Pasquier, Torkwase Dyson, and Alicja Kwade.

8. Kader Attia, Intifada: The Endless Rhizomes of Revolution (2016)

Kader Attia's installation uses stones, metal rebar and rubber tubing to create leafless trees armed with slingshots.

Presented by Galerie Nagel Draxler, the work aims to express how deeply rooted conflicts—exemplified by the Israel-Palestine conflict—can become self-perpetuating. —[O]