Come for the Art, Stay for the Sales

BASEL—On the day that several of the Basel satellite fairs debuted for invited guests, Art Basel prefaced its own opening — tomorrow’s vernissage — with a series of VIP events. For many visitors, today’s preview of the Art Statements and Art Unlimited sections ranks as one of the week’s highlights, with the emphasis a little more on art and a little less on sales than in the main section of the fair. Still, even here the market is the name of the game, and there was plenty of buying and selling to report.

Shortly after the 1 p.m opening, ARTINFO spotted several big names in the crowd, including collectors Marty Margulies, Tim Nye, Laura Skoler, and Mera and Donald Rubell. Artists Dan Graham, whose see-through installation stands outside the Unlimited entrance, and Lawrence Weiner, whose porno film Water in Milk Exists screens at the Kunsthalle tomorrow evening, were also seen wandering the halls.

In Art Statements, every booth is a solo show. The artists are typically emerging and the prices, therefore, more reasonable. Sales, not surprisingly, can be brisk.  

“I sold it within fifteen minutes of opening,” said Berlin-based gallerist Jan Wentrup of the only work in his booth, an installation by Gregor Hildebrandt consisting of three framed paintings and a floor of laminated audiocassettes, priced at €85,000 ($132,000). The work went to a European private collector, but it will likely be loaned to a museum beforehand, said Wentrup.

Though few matched Wentrup’s immediate success, most everyone ARTINFO spoke to seemed pleased with their first-day receipts. Emma Robertson of The Approach (London) reported selling two kinetic light works by Germaine Kruip, each from an edition of 5, for £16,000 ($31,475) and £6,000.

By 3 p.m., Riis of Oslo had sold one sculpture by New York–based Norwegian artist Havard Homstvedt, while another three had been placed on reserve. The sculptures range in price from €16,000 to €22,000.

Milan’s Zero gallery reported a reserve on a unique Pietro Roccosalva installation, priced at €38,000.

The Store (London) was showing Margaret Salmon’s three-channel film Untitled (Guns Trilogy) (2008), which tells the stories of a hunter, a soldier, and a policeman. Midway through the afternoon, two of the edition of 5, were on reserve, one to a private collector, the other to an institution, according to the gallery’s co-directors Niru Ratnam and Louise Hayward.   

Early sellers also include the two Baloise Prize winners: Tris Vonna Michell, represented by T293 of Naples, and Duncan Campbell, from Hotel (London). The winners each receive CHF 25,000 ($24,100), and their works are donated to two European museums. Michell’s work will go to the Hamburger Kunsthalle, and Campbell’s to the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna.

If Art Statements is the section of the fair where new collectors can most easily make their mark, Art Unlimited is its polar opposite. The section features giant installations that only a museum or a collector with a home as big as a museum could consider acquiring.  

Sales in Art Unlimited tend to happen later in the fair, and none of the several galleries ARTINFO queried reported sales today. However, Galerie Elisabeth Kaufmann of Zurich reported that Shahryar Nashat’s film Plaque (Sub) had been placed on reserve, and Konrad Fischer of Dusseldorf said that Hanne Darboven’s installation-cum-musical composition 24 Gesange, opus 14, 15 a, b (1984) had also been placed on hold. In both cases, the dibs were called prior to the fair. Meanwhile, New York’s Jack Shainman reported two holds on an exquisite new wall piece by El Anatsui, priced at $500,000, which turned out to be one of the section’s most popular works.

Shainman’s stand was in good company; little early selling did not translate into little enthusiasm. Art Unlimited saw healthy crowds throughout the day (sometimes too healthy), and plenty of works drew long lines and noticeably made an impression on viewers. A clear favorite was Tony Oursler’s new series. Turning his attention from paint blobs to U.S. currency, the artist has made a lip-smacking Benjamin Franklin $100 bill, a penny that spins on its head ad infinitum, and a giant, tightly rolled single poised over a massive snowy heap of Columbia’s finest.