Bâlelatina Branches Out

BASEL—Today was the second official day of Bâlelatina, but by most accounts business had just begun. According to the dealers ARTINFO spoke with, Monday’s evening preview drew an unremarkable smattering of visitors and Tuesday’s full-day session, which coincided with the opening of Art Basel, next to no one. It was a situation that elicited a range of responses, from evident frustration (“It’s impossible. Nobody is selling. The collectors have to come.”) to cautious optimism (“Yesterday was calm. Today is better.”). Some dealers said that they had not come to sell as much as to be part of the Basel scene, while a few Bâlelatina veterans pointed out most of the fair’s business is traditionally done over the weekend.

Bâlelatina was founded as a showcase for Latin art, but for this third edition the fair has broadened its reach to include galleries from any country where Latin-derived languages are spoken (and added the unfortunate tag line "hot art fair"). Thus, the 30-odd exhibitors include galleries from France, Canada, the United States, and, in a move that might confound linguists, the Czech Republic.

Whether it belongs or not, Prague’s Vernon Projekt has one of the fair’s most exciting booths, featuring several hip video pieces by Czech artists, as well as a piece or two by Argentine artist Daniel Gonzalez that might have served as an entry ticket to the fair. As of early afternoon on Wednesday, the gallery had no sales to report, but video pieces by homegrown artists Jakub Nepras and Lukás Machalicky, priced at €16,500 and €9,500 (the latter for a set of two pieces), were on reserve.

Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain of Montreal filled its booth with a solo show of work by Taipei-born, Toronto-based artist Ed Pien, who makes paper cutouts meant to be hung several inches from the wall so that they cast shadows. The gallery reported selling three of these pieces for between €7,500 and €11,000 apiece, as well as five drawings by the artist for €1,200.

Marseilles’s Dukan & Hourdequin gallery had red dots beside a painting by Emmanuel Barcilon, priced at €12,000 (three more were reportedly on reserve), and three ink drawings by Nicholas di Genova, at €1,600 apiece.

A booth shared by New York galleries Freight + Volume and Virgil de Voldère reported numerous sales. Freight sold Michael Scoggins’s I Heart Chewy (2007), a drawing of the Star Wars character on what looks like loose-leaf paper, for €5,800. And Virgil sold a David Palmer painting for $10,000 and two Nina Bovasso works on paper for $3,000 each.

La Casona of Havana had a reserve on José Angel Toirac’s “Serie El Cuerpo,” a series of seven paintings detailing significant moments in the history of Che Guevara's body, from his birth through his funeral procession. But director Alejandro Machado explained that he hoped to place the series, priced at €80,000, with a museum in the next few months.  

The fair’s clear standout booth belonged to Pan American Art Projects of Dallas and Miami. Each year Bâlelatina likes to feature one established Latin artist, and this year Pan American was chosen to present a solo show of work by Argentine artist León Ferrari, winner of the Golden Lion at last year's Venice Biennale. Several figural blob sculptures in polyurethane and mixed-media canvases, many with healthy six-figure prices, were on hand.

“How good is it to be the most expensive house on the least expensive block?” mused Janda Wetherington, director of the Miami branch, about Pan American’s underdog status in Basel.

Although none of the Ferraris had sold as of this writing, a reserve of $200,000 (the original price was $240,000) had been placed on an untitled mixed-media piece from 1990. The potential buyer was reportedly examining Brazilian import taxes before confirming the purchase.

Editor's note: This article originally misstated the price for José Angel Toirac's "Serie El Cuerpo" as €18,000. The correct price is €80,000.