The fair’s latest showing for fresh art is propelled by socially engaged work, from Lonnie Holley’s retelling of civil rights history to Lin May Saeed’s vision of animal liberation.
There aren’t many gaps left to fill in the voracious art market but Art Basel’s latest section for art made in the past five years, called “Premiere”, seems to have hit a sweet spot. “Curated sections of fairs tend to focus on new work by emerging artists or the rediscovery of historical positions. This new section provides an opportunity to present a mid-career or established artist with institutional momentum to the global market,” says Jeremy Epstein, co-founder of London’s Edel Assanti, one of the 10 selected Premiere galleries.
It is the gallery’s first showing at Art Basel, to which it brings a solo booth of work by the multidisciplinary American artist Lonnie Holley. Epstein describes Holley as “the archetypical artist for this section, a generational linchpin”. Holley, who was born in 1950, worked alongside the likes of the groundbreaking assemblage artist Thornton Dial and has since proved an inspiration to today’s practitioners.
Edel Assanti’s booth will be anchored by Holley’s “Without Skin” (2024), an installation of thick fire hoses coiled around a pile of wooden chairs. The work references the water from hosepipes used to disrupt non-violent civil rights protesters in the US. “The spray was so strong it literally stripped the skin off people’s backs,” Epstein says.
It is in keeping with what Maike Cruse, director of Art Basel, describes as a loose but recurring theme to the Premiere section of “socially relevant topics, such as resistance, ecology, justice”. These seem likely to appeal to the shifting mindset of collectors in an increasingly politically charged environment. The latest Art Basel & UBS Art Market report finds that younger collectors, expected to inherit considerable wealth over the next 20 years, are “increasingly driven by personal values and a desire to make meaningful impact” with trends such as social justice and the environment in mind. ‘
For one gallery, the Premiere opportunity is bittersweet — Frankfurt’s Galerie Jacky Strenz brings work by Lin May Saeed, who died of brain cancer aged only 50 in 2023. “She was an artist’s artist in the beginning, and pretty much unknown even in Germany [where she was from], but just two weeks after she died her first solo show there opened at the Georg-Kolbe-Museum in Berlin,” Strenz says.
The artist, whose practice centred on seeing animals as equal to humans, is increasingly relevant in tumultuous times, Strenz says. “Ultimately she wanted to promote a peaceful coexistence between all species, including human to human, so now is a pertinent time.” She finds that younger curators in particular are “drawn to the theme”. The gallery brings some of Saeed’s brightly coloured, styrofoam reliefs — including one of a group of animals and humans celebrating their liberation under a rainbow — as well as a large bronze of a pangolin, smaller animal sculptures and some works on paper. Strenz describes the Art Basel showing as “a good opportunity for the estate”.
While Edel Assanti and Jacky Strenz are opting to bring just one artist, Premiere is unusual on the art fair circuit, including at Art Basel, as a dedicated section that permits up to three artists, provided their work was made in the past five years. “Sections that highlight emerging galleries and artists are typically restricted to solo presentations in small booths, which can be a risky proposition,” says Lucas Casso, founder of Berlin’s Sweetwater gallery. Premiere, he says, “is an opportunity for emerging galleries to showcase their overall programme.”
He is taking full advantage and is bringing three artists — Alexandre Khondji, Kayode Ojo and Megan Plunkett — all of whom “are concerned with the nature of common objects, how they are perceived, how they are constructed and what happens when they’re brought into a fine art context”. Ojo’s sculpture features two transparent chairs adorned with white clothing from Zara, a high street chain turned high art; Khondji provides an industrially produced flood barrier, part of his Dams series, which will cordon off a corner of the booth (as it did at Maureen Paley’s Studio M space in London last year); Plunkett’s photographs turn items such as rubbish bags and drinks cans into cinematic, significant objects.
The Tunis and London gallerist Selma Feriani also brings three artists — Nadia Ayari, M’barek Bouhchichi and Sara Ouhaddou — who all have studios in north Africa and all, she says, “use, preserve and then transform ancestral techniques by working with artisans”. A highlight are the woven works that Bouhchichi has made in collaboration with communities of women in Mali and his home country of Morocco. Ouhaddou’s panels made of clay were inspired by Moroccan architecture while Ayari’s thickly applied paintings are inspired by the flora of Tunis. “Art Basel is a big fair and there will be so many galleries [a total of 289 this year] but a north African contemporary art presentation doesn’t happen that often so we should stand out,” Feriani says.
While the contemporary art bubble has burst for some of the more market-friendly artists — sales for those born after 1945 have fallen 60 per cent since their 2021 peak, according to the Art Basel & UBS report — the more thoughtful buying trends could play to the strengths of the Premiere sector. Cruse describes the artists on show here as “not necessarily overlooked but important to be contextualised with more of a focus”. She explains: “We are in a diversifying market with newer and younger audiences, who benefit from curated sections to give a better overview of what is important in the art world at the moment.”
Epstein, whose Holley works for the fair peak at $85,000, says that while his gallery has “plenty of active collectors, with budget”, the difference now is that the offering “needs to be incredibly specialised by making irrefutable arguments that demonstrate a lasting cultural impact”. Having a longer history of museum shows goes some way towards that, he says. Conversely, “new artists at the beginning of their career, that’s very difficult”.
“Things are a bit slower than they used to be, especially if you want institutional buyers,” Strenz says, though adds that her work for Saeed’s estate “is keeping me busy”. Feriani finds that “private collectors and institutions are all going through difficult times economically worldwide and it impacts our world, because people don’t necessarily need to buy art.” Her artists, she says, “are gaining attention, because there is more interest in what is happening in Africa, and also, price-wise, they are still affordable” — the works in her booth top out at €40,000.
Art Basel’s management recognises that the Premiere galleries are selling works at a lower price level than some of their peers and, Cruse says, offers booths that are “a bit cheaper” than those of the same size in the main fair (SFr22,000 versus SFr25,000 for between 30 and 32 sq m). The exhibiting galleries are keeping their expectations in check. “It’s a commitment, with a big shipment, big crates, but it is already so important for us to be in Art Basel, with its curators, museum people and collectors, and to have the opportunity of a small, amazing presentation,” Krenz says.
Going into the fair, Cruse says “the market remains resilient, though it has been slower than we knew it these past two years. There is a slight insecurity around [the US] tariffs, but the mood now is generally optimistic.” Casso agrees. “It is clear that an uncertain outlook for the global economy has created instability in the art market, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t business to be done, especially at a fair like Art Basel.” June 19-22, artbasel.com
