A Brief History Of: ART BASEL

Art Basel has been around since the 1970’s, however in the last couple of years it has grown exponentially. It has now established itself as one of the biggest art fairs in the world, as well as the art event of the winter season [in the USA].

Renowned artists exhibit their pieces right next to those of emerging young artists'—creating a sort of interactive cultural playground in Miami Beach the first week of December. Basel offers some of the most ambitious and innovative installations that are to be experienced in the art world today [See: “14 Rooms” 2014], and the curators possess a great eye for huge budding talents, from Jackson Pollock in 1974, to Pipilotti Rist in 1995. Founded by three Swiss artists in their hometown of Basel, the fair was well received from its inaugural show in 1970. As the show flourished, it came to Miami in 2002, and eventually with the rise of the Asian market, Art Basel Hong Kong made its debut in 2013 – with most of the galleries originating from the Asia-Pacific region. In 2015, seventy-seven thousand people attended Art Basel Miami, and we can only expect that number to grow in the coming years. We can't wait to see what’s in store for the pioneering art fair. Below is a brief timeline of the huge success that is Art Basel.

1970→ Ernst Beyeler, Trudi Bruckner and Balz Hilt of Basel, Switzerland, create an international art fair that is a success from the start. Its first year, it saw more than 16,000 visitors and featured 90 galleries and 30 publishers from 10 different countries.

1974→ Neue Tendenzen ('New Trends’) is a new sector that aims at promoting and providing a space for emerging artists.

1995→ The Art Video Forum platform debuts. Pipilotti Rist and Enrique Fontanilles are the first recipients of the video art prize.

1999→ The Film sector – devoted to films by and about artists – debuts.

2000→ The classic exhibition booth is replaced by “The Unlimited platform”, an open-plan environment that changes the game for the fair— allowing for ambitious & large scale contemporary media art installations and performance arts.

2002→ Basel comes to Miami Beach, where the fair takes place by the beach, where artists set up in temporarily converted shipping containers.

2013→ Basel launches its inaugural show in Hong Kong.

“Half of the participating galleries come from Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, confirming Art Basel's desire to build a cultural bridge between the long-established Western art world and the vibrant new scenes of the entire region.”

2014→ Art Basel partners with Kickstarter to create a crowdfunding initiative aimed at funding non-profit visual art organizations worldwide!

2015→ Miami beach sees 77,000 show up to Basel, a huge success.

Marina Fini's "Goddessphere" COMING TO ART BASEL 2016

Upcoming Dates

Art Basel [Miami] December 1-4, 2016

Art Basel [Hong Kong] March 23-25, 2017

Art Basel [Basel] June 15-17, 2017

Creative Directors

Basel- Marc Spiegler [Global Director of the fair since 2012]

Miami- Noah Horowitz

Hong Kong- Adeline Ooi

Photo Sources:

http://www.scmp.com/

http://culturacolectiva.com/

http://www.wmagazine.com/

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/

https://www.artbasel.com/

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