Art Basel post #2 - The Maze

Another Basel post is overdue! Overall, I thought the actual Art Basel at the Convention Center was more serious, but not necessarily better than the show at Scope/Art Miami in the Design District. The Convention Center was this sprawling art-city filled with names I've only read about or experienced maybe once at the MoMA. The vibe was more conservative and even though there was work by artists ranging from Picasso to Vanessa Beecroft, I felt the quality of the work was more B grade, like their really great stuff was hiding on a wall somewhere in NYC. Not to bash it! It was really good, just not as evocative as I found the work in the Design District to be.

Getting lost in the maze of galleries was essential. I thought I'd throw up some names I managed to jot down from the overwhelming total.

I saw one giant C-print by Ryan McGinley that just floored me! I really love his work. He likes to photograph his skinny hipster friends in a playful and ethereal way. Luckily, the exact piece was the first one that popped up for me on his homepage. Check out his site here.

Olivia (Sparks), 2010

A series of paintings that comes to mind is by Juan Genoves. He paints aerial views of people in crowds resulting in cool, undulating masses. The paint is like 1/4 inch thick on the figures and makes actual texture on canvas.

Gotta love Rauschenberg! I saw at least 5-6 of these.

...and Frank Stella with his Black Series.

...and the ever creepy Mark Ryden

These next artists I picked up from the Art Miami tents at Wynwood. The work there seemed more current and experimental than the official Basel.

Jessica Backhaus

Erwin Wurm

Fat House

Fat Car

Lee Bontecou

Emi Avora

Eric Zener

I wish I had at least 2 weeks to spend inside those galleries. There was so much more! Unfortunately, Basel only spanned a weekend. Thank god, my amiga, Fiorela, snuck her camera in took a ton of photos to help aid in recalling SO MUCH ART. Check out her photography blog Ya Me Pueden Ver.

I was awed, disgusted, curious, apathetic, impressed, bored, confused, stunned. All of the above at some point. I'm looking forward to Basel 2011!