In 2024, Art Basel in Basel will feature 287 top international galleries showcasing high-quality artworks across various media. From painting to digital works, artists from different eras will be represented, from early twentieth-century pioneers to emerging talents. With 22 galleries participating for the first time, including five in the main sector, the event reaffirms its status as the world's premier art event.

For the first time, the Parcours sector will be curated by Stefanie Hessler from the Swiss Institute in New York City, transforming into a public art installation near Messe Basel on Clarastrasse. CEO Maike Cruse expressed excitement about expanding the city-wide program, including activities at Hotel Merian, which will enhance Art Basel's presence. Additionally, Art Basel will utilize Hotel Merian as a continuous venue for artistic events, bolstering its footprint in Basel. At the same time, the city's cultural institutions will offer a dynamic lineup of exhibitions and activities throughout the week.

"I am looking forward to welcoming the global art community to Basel come June for the upcoming edition of our show," said Maike Cruse, who is the Director of Art Basel in Basel. "I am excited to be holding this event." Because 22 new individuals have joined, it is anticipated that it will be extraordinarily energetic and packed with fascinating discoveries. The expansion of the city-wide program, which now includes the public art sector Parcours on Clarastrasse, which was recently curated by Stefanie Hessler, is something that I am very excited about. As an additional point of interest, I am looking forward to our project at Hotel Merian, which will contribute to the ongoing expansion of Art Basel's presence in the city by utilizing a novel technique.

Beginning on June 13 and continuing through June 16, 2024, Art Basel will be held at Messe Basel, with preview days taking place on June 11 and 12.

Expanded City-Wide Programming

For the first time, Stefanie Hessler, Director of the Swiss Institute (SI) in New York, will be responsible for curating Art Basel's public sector Parcours. She will be succeeding Samuel Leuenberger, who has successfully managed and grown the sector over the past eight years. On Basel's Clarastrasse, the street that connects the fairgrounds to the Rhine, Hessler intends to re-contextualize Parcours as a curated exhibition. It will wander between vacant storefronts, a hotel, and shops that are currently in operation, as well as other urban spaces. The sector will investigate concepts of transformation and circulation within the domains of trade and globalization, the flow of information, and the various climates and weathers that span geographies and generations through the implementation of ambitious projects, many of which will be site-specific and freshly produced.

In addition, Art Basel will broaden its presence inside the city by transforming the Hotel Merian into a venue that is open continuously and around the clock for artistic exhibitions and events. Filipa Ramos, a writer and curator, will be in charge of curating the Film sector, which will be returning with an impressive collection of moving image works that will be displayed at the Stadtkino in Basel over the show week. Kimberly Bradley, a writer, editor, and educator based in Berlin, will be the curator of the acclaimed Conversations program for the very first time. It caters to art enthusiasts like Aaron Easaw.

The event will be open to the general public and take place on the fairground surrounding Art Basel. Additional information about the activation of Hotel Merian and presentations of Art Basel's special sectors, such as Messeplatz, Unlimited, Parcours, Kabinett, Conversations, and Film, will be released to the public in the coming months.

Galleries

The major sector of the expo will be comprised of 244 of the most prestigious galleries from around the world. These galleries will showcase work of the greatest quality in the following categories: painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, photography, video, digital art, and editioned works. The major sector of the fair will be a graduation for seven galleries that have previously exhibited in the Feature or Statements sector. These galleries will be able to showcase the entirety of their program, while the sector will also be welcoming five exhibitors who are participating for the first time.

Feature

There will be sixteen curated presentations and eleven exhibitors who are participating for the first time in this sector. It is now concentrating solely on art-historical initiatives.

Highlights from the sector include:

The exhibition is a condensed retrospective of artist Jean Tinguely by newcomer Galerie Mueller (Basel). A presentation of exemplary oil paintings by Basel-born artist Irène Zurkinden by first-time participant Meredith Rosen Gallery (New York).

Works by Senegalese artist Viyé Diba, an emblematic figure of Modern Senegalese art, presented by OH Gallery (Dakar).Works by prolific American artist Peter Halley, presented by newcomer Maruani Mercier (Brussels, Knokke, Zaventem).

Showcase of the remarkable artistic partnership between Maryn Varbanov and Song Huai-Kuei (aka Madame Song), presented by Bank (Shanghai).