At Art Basel, the booths that caught our attention all took an experimental approach with their works, curating group exhibitions that hung as coherent and stylised shows in their own right. Esther Schipper, Maureen Paley, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise and Kaufmann Repetto were all fun, distinctive and imaginatively selected.
Berlin gallery Esther Schipper showed a rich array of colours and had an enjoyable interactive element. Daniel Steegmann Mangrané’s golden, light-bathed installation invited visitors to squeeze a glass of orange juice, while neighbouring The Parreno installation of gold balloons mirrored the orange hue. Matti Braun’s vibrant, dye coated aluminium works accentuated this kaleidoscopic show, that felt adventurous and crisp.
Milan’s Kaufmann Repetto took a clean, monochrome approach with their booth, with thick black lines, white-toned neons and raw materials playing with the structure and industrial style of the wider building. Artist names were written in pencil on the wall and there was a youthful playfulness to the overall collection of work. Judith Hopf’s Untitled mixed media snakes were an Elephant favourite, their cartoonish fangs and paired-back forms fitting perfectly with the feel of the booth.
Gavin Brown’s Enterprise – located on New York’s Greenwich Street – packed their booth to the rafters with canvases, carpets, monochrome drawings and installations that fought for space on the floors and walls. This overload of art was so extreme that it worked incredibly well, again feeling young and very original. Martin Creed’s Art Rugs were spread about the floor for visitors to stomp our feet all over and Joe Bradley’s wall of drawings were especially arresting amongst the surrounding work.
Finally, London gallery Maureen Paley displayed an exciting selection of works from their roster of artists in an orderly, spacious manner. General Idea’s neon, sprawling canvas Mondo Cane 2 (9 Figures) – produced in 1984, but looking completely up-to-date – contrasted wonderfully with Gillian Wearing’s Rock n’ Roll 70 and two slick Wolfgang Tillman’s shots of fetishised, gleaming car bonnets.
