Hauser & Wirth returns to Art Basel with an outstanding presentation of historic and contemporary works, celebrating the breadth of the gallery’s diverse programme and beyond.
This year, the gallery’s booth sees a focus on works by Louise Bourgeois—featuring a rare wooden Personage sculpture, a spider wall sculpture and an early painting—together with modern masterworks by artists including Ed Clark, Jack Whitten, Frank Bowling, Philip Guston, Maria Lassnig, Bruce Nauman and Robert Ryman.
Also featured are exceptional contemporary works by Mark Bradford, George Condo, Avery Singer, Rashid Johnson, Nicolas Party, Cindy Sherman and Pat Steir.
At Art Basel Unlimited, the gallery will present Jason Rhoades’ ‘Topa’ (2005), a mesmerizing installation that consists of forty brightly coloured and densely clustered neon signs, derived from Jason Rhoades’ greater artwork ‘My Madinah. In pursuit of my ermitage…’ (2004).
Roni Horn’s installation ‘Doubt by Water’ (2003/2008) will also be on view alongside Günther Förg’s painting ‘Untitled’ (2005), a monumental example of his celebrated ‘Gitterbilder’ (Grid Paintings) and one of the largest paintings Förg ever made.
Engaging with Basel’s historical centre, Martin Creed’s ‘Work No. 3733, AIR flag’ (2022) will be on view in the city’s Marktplatz as part of Parcours.
The booth’s standout group of works by Louise Bourgeois is headlined by the wooden sculpture ‘Untitled’ (1953), a rare example from her series of Personages. Further important works include ‘Spider IV’ (1996), spotlighting one of her most distinguished motifs, and ‘One Way Traffic’ (1946), exemplifying the first decade of her practice when she was primarily a painter.
The gallery also brings a monumental painting by Philip Guston to Basel, ‘Four Heads’ (1975), made in the last decade of his life, alongside Maria Lassnig’s ‘Uförmige Figuration (U-shaped Figuration)’ (1961), a rare and early work capturing the physical sense of the body. Frank Bowling’s historic work ‘Bartica’ (1968 – 1969), a poignant example of his renowned Map Paintings, is complemented by ‘Julia’ (1975), one of his striking Poured Paintings. Other notable highlights include Ed Clark’s ‘Grey Wave’ (2008), a poetic treatise on color and the materiality of paint, and Jack Whitten’s ‘Golden Spaces’ (1971).
Beyond the gallery’s roster, the fair selection showcases Bruce Nauman’s hyperreal hanging sculpture of ten bronze hands, ‘UNTITLED (HAND CIRCLE)’ (1996), an exemplar of Robert Ryman’s iconic white-on-white paintings, ‘Marquis’ (1977), as well as works by Alberto Giacometti and Ad Reinhardt.
The booth also unveils outstanding new works by contemporary artists, including Rita Ackermann, Charles Gaines, Harmony Korine, Glenn Ligon, Angel Otero, Lorna Simpson and Zhang Enli. Highlights straight from the artists’ studios include a mixed media work by Mark Bradford, a painting by Allison Katz and a large scale pastel piece by Nicolas Party. A photographic work by Cindy Sherman, executed using digital manipulation to collage her own face, comes from a new series on view at Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Limmatstrasse.
Other recent masterpieces include Pat Steir’s ‘9 x 7, B’ (2022) and Rashid Johnson’s ‘Seascape “True Colors”’ (2022), as well as George Condo’s ‘Snoopy’ (2022) and ‘Figures in a Garden’ (2009), archetypes of his well-established ‘Artificial Realism.’ Additionally, sculptures by Camille Henrot and Thomas J Price are displayed in tandem with their respective presentations at Lokremise in St. Gallen and ‘Art in the Park’ in Zurich.
Art Basel Basel, 12th – 18th 2023, Messe Basel, Messeplatz 10, 4058 Basel. MORE: artbasel.com/basel
