VOLTA BASEL PRESS RELEASE

15 ELECTRIFYING YEARS

BASEL, MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2019: Fifteen years is a landmark occasion for a contemporary art fairin this day and age. The art market and yearly calendar is mutable, with a sometimes turbulent ebb andflow of activity, resulting in the moving of dates, locations, and even occurrences. Thus, VOLTA’s 15thanniversary and its second edition back at Elsässerstrasse 215, within the neighborhood of its inauguraledition from 2005, is an accomplishment. Further still, its assembly of 78 galleries, and the steadyattention and sales they received throughout the week, is further proof of VOLTA’s presence as a keyplatform for new international positions, from all ages and points of view, within Art Basel Week.

“When we started in 2005, with 23 galleries at the Voltahalle, we never dreamed our little project wouldlast this long. Every year since then, at each edition, we have had both the naysayers and the ‘yay’-sayersand we have heard the full spectrum of comments—from it being the worst fair ever to the best fair ever—but at the end of the day what counts is: Did quality visitors come? Did good sales get made? andevery single year, even with changes in venue, we have been able to answer in the affirmative,” statesArtistic Director and co-founder, Amanda Coulson. “With this history and the fair’s longevity, with thecontinued proof of concept by a full house of enthusiastic dealers, serious collectors and the constantprogression of artists that started at VOLTA eventually being highlighted at main fairs globally, we can beproud of 'the little art fair that could’.”

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Anouk Le Bourdiec (left, owner, Galerie ALB, Paris) engages with a collector as gallery associate Rosalie Pernot looks on.Works on view include Mon Colonel & Spit, Jérome Romain, and Andoni Maillard

Exhibitors new to VOLTA achieved a solid foothold during the fair week, with diverse offerings ofemergent and established artists delivering bold sales. “VOLTA has a U.S. presence and I know U.S.collectors like my artists,” remarked Anouk Le Bourdiec (owner of Galerie ALB, Paris). “I have metEnglish and European collectors as well this week, and I am really happy to have placed works with topcollectors from everywhere, locally, abroad, and with Americans as well.” She tallied sales of THEKID and Nicolas Pegon to the United States, and Julia Faber to the United Kingdom and Switzerland,with 10 works placed through Thursday. Commenting on the hyperreal and sociopolitical context of herselected works, across various mediums, Le Bouriec added, “I chose my artists so that their technique isclear.” Artual Gallery (Beirut) placed new work by Rob Tucker, the young New Zealander from thegallery’s international roster, to a German couple, new clients for the gallery. “They sat down in front ofit,” recounted dealer Sarya Martin, gesturing to the custom lounge furniture by Kyburz Made that facedthe painting, “for about an hour – as if they were at home with it, and then they bought it.” She sold anew painting by Brazilian-American talent Jonni Cheatwood to an American client and secured NewYork-based Korean rising star Stickymonger with a key contact from home. From their group project ofVenezuelan artists working at home and in diaspora, Cerquone Projects (Caracas) – placed FaustoAmundarain’s mixed media grid Anonimato (cubes) with a new client from Germany, plus a paintingby Enay Ferrer to another new contact. Galeria Contrast’s (Barcelona) two-artist presentation of RafelBestard and Íñigo Navarro, both young masters of New Spanish Figurative Movement, received seriousattention all week, with the gallery placing several of Bestard’s paintings to a new international clienteleand moving Navarro’s large scale composition Byzantium’s defence to a collecting friend of a collectorcontact. “We’ve had a very happy experience,” remarked dealer Victor Casteñeda. “The VOLTA team hasbeen super professional and organized.” The Chemistry Gallery (Prague) placed two large-scale acid-toned paintings by Lubomir Typlt with a new client from New York. Meanwhile, GalleriKANT (Copenhagen) rehung their booth, a statement solo project by Fabian Treiber, comprised of soft-shaped still-lifes and scenes rendered expertly in acrylic and aerosol, four times over the course of thefair. “It was a wise choice to come with a solo show,” commented gallerist Kerry Harm Nielsen. “This

really helped us to present and talk about Fabian’s practice.” Nielsen sold over 15 paintings of variousdimensions and works on paper to an international clientele, including repeat clients and new contacts.“There is a clear organization to this fair,” he added, “and I’ve done a lot of art fairs. VOLTA is effective,friendly, and I feel you take care of us.”

Sarya Martin (right, director, Artual Gallery, Beirut) and a guest in front of paintings by Rob Tucker / Arne Zimmermann (Owner,Pablo’s Birthday, New York) in conversation with a VOLTA VIP, surrounded by works by Peter Mohall, Alice Quaresma, andThorsten Brinkmann

“I’ve had a busy week and have been selling everyday,” said Arne Zimmermann, owner of Pablo’sBirthday (New York) and a longtime VOLTA exhibitor. In addition to sales of most everyone from hisstable of mid-career artists, including Henrik Eiben, Frank Gerritz, and Thorsten Brinkmann,Zimmermann curated a focus of several young and new positions, placing multiple works of AliceQuaresma to familiar and new clients. “People love her: they interact with her work, they get the SouthAmerican fragility to it before they even know she’s Brazilian. She pushes the boundary of photography,and yet there’s something art historic about it, including its roots in geometric abstraction from Brazil inthe 1960’s.” Following sales of Ruri Matsumoto early on, Livingstone Gallery (The Hague/Berlin) placeda statement horizontal charcoal pastel by Raquel Maulwurf to a Belgian collector who will transport it totheir home in Spain. “We ended on a high note!” proclaimed Jeroen Dijkstra, owner of the gallery. “It’sbeen a good week – I’ll leave here with money in my pocket,” remarked Justin Ten Haaf (owner, Ten HaafProjects, Amsterdam), standing within Peer Vink’s immersive booth installation of paintings and woodand ceramic sculptures, some of which are motorized. “The sales are great but it’s also about supportingand showing my artists. I met an Italian couple the other day and sold to them, and I wouldn’t have metthem in Amsterdam. Maybe last year, some people couldn’t find the new location, but I feel they’ve beenin good attendance this week.”

Jeroen Dijkstra (center, director of Livingstone Gallery, The Hague/Berlin) presents works from the gallery’s curated project,The Collective Memory Archive, to guests. Artists on view include Aaron van Arp, Ruri Matsumoto, Raquel Maulwurf, andManfred Schneider / Christine Pfister (owner of Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia) and a guest around recent works by TedLarsen

A variety of clientele gravitated to three-dimensional offerings at the fair, from the intimate and complexto the ambitious and space-defining. Pentimenti Gallery (Philadelphia) placed multiple works of Ted

Larsen, including the largest wall-mounted sculpture on view, Tense Calm, with a new local client.Commented dealer Christine Pfister, “These acquisitions go to very good collections, focusedcollections. This is really exciting for Ted and for me.” Zahorian & Van Espen (Bratislava/Prague)placed Jaroslav Kysa’s mixed media and automated Bust with a key new client from Lichtenstein, inaddition to sales of Viktorie Langer’s new paintings. KYAS Art Salon (Amsterdam) placed Kouji Ohno’slifesize two-figure sculptural installation Storage Element, painstaking carved from Japanese camphorwood, in a major Russian institution. In their second year showing, Mironova Gallery (Kiev)placed Nazar Bilyk’s spherical bronze sculpture Cut with a new German contact. Galerie La ForestDivonne (Paris/Brussels) placed several David Décamp sculptures, including Leaded yet stillenlightened with Singapore and Short sighted with Germany, both new clients. for the gallery. “These arenot easy pieces but the serious collectors understand and appreciate this,” noted Jean de Malherbe,director. His colleague Victorie Sidhoum likewise recorded interest in Décamp’s other works on view,ranging from sculpture to lightbox compositions. Léna & Roselli Gallery (Budapest) sold IvanLardschneider’s bronze sculpture My Angel, the artist’s most ambitious on view, on Tuesday morning,and gallery director Judit Jerk tracked interest in the artist’s linden wood floor sculpture, Aquaplay, aswell as sales for artists Naoki Fuku and Mózes Incze. Set Espai d’Art (Valencia) placed CristinaAlmodóvar’s large-scale composition Large Foliar Lichen, composed of recycled and painted plastic andreflective color blooming across a wood base, to a new Swiss client as well as a smaller work onoffer. Up front, Galerie Mark Hachem (Paris/Beirut) sold Philippe Hiquily’s iconic steel floorsculpture L’Epicurienne to a Swiss couple living in California on Tuesday for over 70,000 EUR, plus thefirst editions of Michelangelo Bastiani’s video project and installation Giulia – les Damoiselles de Capri.Hachem noted two acquisitions of Isabell Beyel and Patrick Rubinstein, the Nouveau Pop anchors ofthe gallery’s prominent outside walls, on Saturday.

Victor Lope Arte Contemporaneo (Barcelona), with sculpture by Mario Dilitz

For galleries who showed last year, at VOLTA’s debut at Elsässerstrasse, their return to the hall proved assuccessful, or more so, than 2018. Christian Marx Galerie (Düsseldorf) placed two commandingportraits, Tim Okamura’s mixed-media painting Current Event (24,000 EUR) and Maxim Wakultschik’slacquer on wood toothpicks composition Frida (Green Blouse) (16,000 EUR) to a new client fromGermany. Marx also sold Wakultschik to Ukraine and another to Basel, for all six of his exhibited workssold. “That’s what VOLTA is: collectors from Basel, collectors from all around the world.” Island

Japan (Tokyo) had practically sold out by week's end, with only one of Tohru Matsushita’s mixed mediacollaged canvases remaining. Gallerist Haruka Ito noted she received both local clients she met last yearas well as new collectors from Basel and Zürich, placing eight works with them. “For ‘Tohry’,” she noted,using the artist’s nickname, “his process is like editing a film, making, taking, and adding to each one.This technique and his finished works leaves an impression on visitors, I think.” Lee & Bae (Busan)moved two of Jin-Wook Yeom’s large-format, blossoming colorfield paintings from the artist’s Memoryof Mountain series to Moscow and several of Sang-Sun Bae’s dramatic gesso on velvet compositions toSwitzerland, all to new contacts for the gallery. Gibbons & Nicholas (Dublin) sold four works by SiobhanMcDonald, including her video installation Study for a volcano, depicting the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, to aEuropean collector of new media art. Victor Lope Arte Contemporanea (Barcelona) rehung their boothmidweek after a bevvy of interest. Gallerist Marta Camprubí tallied four hand-carved figurative sculpturesby Mario Dilitz (in a range of woods or bronze) and three graphite compositions by Kepa Garraza soldto mostly new clients from Switzerland and Mallorca. Le Salon Vert (Carouge) placed 12 of SusannaBauer’s delicate sculptures, composed of dried leaves, thread, and wood, to a widely internationalaudience, including her captivating Cube Tree No.7 sculpture to a local collector. Vin Gallery (Ho ChiMinh City) placed seven of Richard Streitmatter-Tran’s new Profilia series, mixed media portraitspainted directly onto the inside of metal woks and plates, into the collection of the 21c Museum(Louisville, USA). Dealer Shyevin S’ng remarked, “I have met quality and interesting people who areengaged with my artists. The VOLTA team is amazing as well, I feel well taken care of and I like that.”

Shyevin S’ng (right, owner of Vin Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City) introduces Dario Maglionico and Richard Streitmatter-Tran’s worksto guests

Galleria Doris Ghetta (Oritsei) received great new contacts and sold multiple sculptures from a suite ofnew works by Aron Demetz, figures cast in bronze, charred wood, and plaster, to an international base.“He’s a very strong artist and yet very sensitive and kind in person,” noted Ghetta, “and this body of workis a concentration of some 10 years of his research and practice. At this point, I believe he’s found astrong place within the art world canon.” Galerie Roger Katwijk (Amsterdam) had sold out of Belgianartist Stefan Peters’ new gestural brushwork paintings, mainly to new clients local and from Hong Kong,and placed Pieter Obels’ Corten steel sculpture to a collector who purchased it as a gift for theirdaughter. Rutger Brandt Gallery (Amsterdam) placed a substantial photoreal painting from Yigal Ozeri’srecent series A New York Story to a new client as well as over 10 of Johan De Wit’s monochrome reliefs

to an international retinue. Martin Asbæk Gallery (Copenhagen) likewise sold steadily all week long,following up the sale of Kristian Dahlgaard’s largest bronze floor sculpture on view with multiple mixed-media works by Jacob Stangerup and one of two new Kasper Eistrup paintings on offer. “Maybe half ofthe visitors to my booth recognize Mio’s work from her Aesop installation, and the other half are excitedto go to the shop in Basel and see it for themselves,” noted Fumiyuki Shimokado, director of CohjuContemporary Art (Kyoto), commenting on exhibiting artist Mio Yamato’s site-specific installation atAesop’s Spalenberg Basel boutique and her live-painting action at the fair that she conducted throughoutthe week.”It’s been a great reaction so far.” Shimokado tallied sales of two of Yamato’s works, withinterest from both American and European clients to her large-scale statement work, Repetition Black(line) 7, plus a strong placement of Hidekazu Tanaka’s painting with a new collector. “Traffic picked upas the week progressed,” noted Patrick Heide, owner of his namesake London gallery and a VOLTAveteran, “and we’ve sold 18 works, mostly to new collectors,” including multiple works of IsabelAlbrecht and Sophie Bouvier Ausländer, plus Caroline Kryzecki. Confirming it with his colleague, AmyHilton, Heide added, “plus we sold to a young London couple we didn’t know from before, so that was acool thing.” Charlie Smith London (London) placed three cabinet cards by Tom Butler and a ceramicdiorama by Tessa Farmer with the 21c Museum, and gallerist Zavier Ellis tallied sales from six of theeight artists exhibited in his curated project, Thresholds, including Dominic Shepherd to a prominentZürich collection and Geraldine Swayne to Basel. Across the aisle, Galerie Heike Strelow (Frankfurt amMain) had move well over a dozen of Starsky Brines’ paintings and works on paper in the week, plus thegallery recorded sales of Jonny Green and Irene Grau. “I’m really happy,” commented Strelow, “and I’mgoing hope satisfied as ever.” Active from the beginning, Galerie Thomas Fuchs (Stuttgart) sold from allfour their artists — Jochen Hein, Ruprecht von Kaufmann, Rudy Cremonini, and Rainer Fetting — fora total of 26 works placed before the week’s conclusion, and the gallery received museum and curatorialinterest as well. “We’ve heard from collectors and curators alike, that they love this space,” noted Fuchs.“The light, the atmosphere, the flow: it is a space where you can concentrate on the artwork.”

Patrick Heide Contemporary Art (London), featuring works on view by Sophie Bouvier Ausländer, Thomas Müller, ReinoudOudshoon, and Caroline Kryzecki

VOLTA welcomed a diverse coterie of international art lovers to its 15th Basel edition, including: OleFaarup (Copenhagen, in his repeat visit for the week); Carl Christian and JannaAegidius (Copenhagen); Marco Stücklin (Basel); Hugo Brown (Glasgow/Amsterdam); MaxineFrankel (Detroit); Frances P. Ruane (Dublin); Ines Sabine Hüvel (Zürich); GeraldPiltzer (Zürich); Kamiar Maleki (Istanbul); Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson (Founders, 21cMuseum, Louisville USA); Dr. Ulf Küstor (Curator, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel); EricShiner (Artistic Director, White Cube, New York and London); Don Bacigalupi (Special Advisor to theFounders and former Founding President, The Lucas Music of Narrative Art, Los Angeles); Dr. MarkusStegmann (Director, Museum Langmatt, Baden); Dr. Claudia Petersen (Vice-Director, PrivateMarkets, Zürcher Kantonalbank); associates of Frederick Weismann Art Foundation (Los Angeles);leadership of AMC – Academisch Medisch Centrum (Amsterdam); representatives from FabergéMuseum (Saint Petersburg); members of In Artibus Foundation (Moscow); members of BISSportsclub (Basel); representatives of Fieldstead and Company (Irving, USA); plus many art fairleadership colleagues and other distinguished guests.

In closing, Coulson remarked, “In a difficult contemporary landscape where the consistent comment isthat mid-range fairs are in danger, where the small ‘mom-and-pop’ galleries are being eaten up, VOLTAremains steadfast and true to its mission: a place for discovery, a place for ‘mother galleries,’ and thiscontinues to attract the appropriate engaged and curious collector. This was reflected in the visitors andsales and bodes well for the future.”

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