74 exhibitors stage contemporary projects of compelling distinction, representing Europe and the Americas, plus the Middle East, South Africa and East Asia, with 58 galleries returning from previous Volta incarnations. Solo presentations frame Volta9's focused format, with a third of exhibiting galleries spotlighting a single artist from their rosters.
BASEL, SWITZERLAND (APRIL 23, 2013). VOLTA, Basel's platform for cutting-edge art
and emerging international talent, lights up the industrial Dreispitz Areal in its ninth
edition this June. 74 exhibitors stage contemporary projects of compelling distinction,
representing Europe and the Americas, plus the Middle East, South Africa, and East Asia,
with 58 galleries returning from previous VOLTA incarnations.
Solo presentations frame VOLTA9's focused format, with a third of exhibiting galleries
spotlighting a single artist from their rosters. Selections include: Sami Al Turki (Athr
Gallery, Jeddah), whose evocative photography was featured at Edge of Arabia (London)
and Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris); Holton Rower (The Hole, New York), who activated his
psychedelic pour paintings in a mesmeric performance in Fresh Basel, curated by the gallery
at Villa Vecchia during Basel Week Miami 2012; Manor Grunewald (Galerie Fortlaan 17,
Ghent), an upcoming artist-in-residence at Frans Masereel Centrum (Kasterlee) and
participant in Young Flemish Masters at Hermitage Amsterdam; Debra Hampton (Gallery
Poulsen, Copenhagen), whose mythical collaged drawings are included in the Museum of
Modern
Art,
New
York's permanent collection;
light
alchemist Leo
Villareal (CONNERSMITH., Washington DC), whose grandest-scale-to-date project The Bay
Lights dazzled the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge's 75th anniversary this March as the
world's largest LED light sculpture; Satoru Tamura (TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY, Osaka),
whose machine assemblages engaged visitors to Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts
(Utsunomiya) and Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Warsaw); and Uzbekistani installation and
performance artist Said Atabekov (Laura Bulian Gallery, Milan), featured in the 2011
Venice Biennale (Central Asian Pavilion), Ostalgia at the New Museum (New York)
and Migrasophia, the debut curatorial exhibition and public program at the Maraya Art Centre
(Sharjah).
16 new members to the VOLTA family provide salient discourses at the boutique fair,
including: Léna & Roselli Gallery (Budapest), who include painted and torqued stainless
steel by sculptor Attila Mata (featured in Without Borders: Contemporary Croatian Sculpture
+ Hungarian Reflections at the Hungarian National Gallery) among their Eastern European
roster; Purdy Hicks Gallery (London), presenting the petite portraiture of Munich-born,
London-based Bettina von Zwehl, 2011 photography artist-in-residence at the Victoria &
Albert Museum; Anna Nova Art Gallery (Saint Petersburg) will stage a mind-altering
installation by young Russian talent and Milk and Vodka art collective founder Stas Bags;
and Eduardo Secci Contemporary (Florence) features Roberto Pietrosanti, whose
monumental sculpture graced the 2006 Mostra di Architettura di Venezia (Venice), and is
included in an upcoming collective exhibition at the Vigna Barberini on the Palatine Hill in
Rome.
Two first-time exhibitors from Seoul epitomize South Korea's red-hot contemporary scene
through dual-artist dialogues: Gallery Skape balances Myeongbeom Kim's surreal
sculptures with a sublime photographic installation by Yujung Chang (Youngeun Museum of
Contemporary Art, Gwangju, hosted her solo museum debut Overlapping Paths in 2011),
while Gallery H.A.N. contrasts Myungil Lee's earthy mixed-media compositions
with Jeongyun Choi's porcelain sculpture.
Continental Europe features particularly strong showings from Spain, with six galleries
covering four cities: ADN Galería (Barcelona) includes Carlos Aires (coming off last year's
catalogued solo exhibition at the CAC Contemporary Art Museum, Málaga) and Adrian
Melis (his solo exhibition The Value of Absence at Kunsthalle Basel continues through May);
Seville's ALARCÓN
CRIADO immerses
in
imagery
between
Warsaw-
based Nicolas Grospierre (winner of the Golden Lion at the 11th Venice Biennale of
Architecture), Alejandra Laviada (exploring urban archeologies in her native Mexico City),
and José Guerrero's localized photographic documentation; while espaivisor - Galería
Visor (Valencia) mounts a compelling four-way conversation between "walking artist"
Hamish Fulton (currently contributing to A Trip from Here to There at the Museum of
Modern Art, New York), French feminist pioneer Nil Yalter (who enjoyed a career survey at
Galerist
Tepebasi,
Istanbul,
in
2011),
plus
career
conceptualists Braco
Dimitrijević (featured in multiple Venice Biennales and documenta editions) and
Catalan Joan Fontcuberta (winner of the 2013 Hasselblad Prize in Photography, ahead of
an autumn solo exhibition at the Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden, and a new
monograph).
Three Madrid galleries complete the array: ARANAPOVEDA Gallery contrast Cologne-
based Susanne Themlitz (winner of the 2012 Brocense Art Award for Drawing) with
Chilean Ignacio Bahna (has a planned solo exhibition at Galería Artespacio, Santiago, this
December) and stop-motion and graphite works by young Spaniard Rosana Antolí (currently
featured in From Madonna to Madonna at Domus Artium (DA2), Salamanca, curated by
Paco Barragán); Espacio Mínimo highlights sculptor Juan Luis Moraza (awarded the
Audemars Piguet Prize at 2013 ARCOmadrid) in their ensemble booth; and PRO
GALLERY pairs Luis Úrculo's architectural interventions with Almudena Lobera's spatially
distorting, hybrid media installation.
The Schaulager, Münchenstein/Basel's open-warehouse contemporary exhibition hall
designed by renowned Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, reopened in March with
British video artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen's expansive mid-career survey. A 10-
minute walk from Dreispitzhalle on Ruchfeldstrasse, the Schaulager signals another must-
see destination for VOLTA9 visitors this June.
VOLTA9 at Dreispitzhalle is connected by direct, complimentary shuttles running to and
from Art Basel and LISTE, for effortless transit between fairs. Plus, VOLTA9 is only 7
minutes from the central train station SBB by public transport, 9 minutes via the Tram 10 or
11 from Bankverein (Kunsthalle/Kunstmuseum), or 5 minutes by car. With a 450-place car
park one block away, parking is trouble-free. All travel information can be found on our
website.
VOLTA was founded in Basel in 2005 by dealers Kavi Gupta (Chicago), Ulrich Voges
(Frankfurt), and Friedrich Loock (Berlin).
A full list of exhibitors can be reviewed below or on our website www.voltashow.com
Image: Said Atabekov, Korpeshe Flags #11, 2011, C-print, 67 x 100 cm, Courtesy Laura Bulian Gallery, Milan
MEDIA CONTACT
Brian Fee
press@voltashow.com
PREVIEW: Monday, June 10 (by invitation only) 10 am - 2 pm
Guest of Honor: 10 am - 2 pm
VIP/Press: noon - 2 pm
Dreispitzhalle
Helsinkistrasse 5, Gate 13 - 4142 Basel/Münchenstein - Switzerland
Monday 2 pm - 7 pm
Tuesday – Saturday 10 am - 7 pm
Closed on Sunday
ADMISSION:
General Admission 17CHF / 14EUR
Students 12CHF / 10EUR
Groups (10+) 12CHF / 10EUR
GETTING THERE:
SHUTTLES
Complimentary shuttle buses will run to and from Art Basel and LISTE from Monday through
Saturday from 10 am - 7.30 pm daily.
Additionally, the-solo-project at St. Jakobshalle provides free shuttles between the
namesake art fair, Art Basel, the Schaulager, Museum Tinguely, and VOLTA9.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
From SBB (Main station): Tram 10 or 11 to Dreispitz (Direction Dornach or Aesch)
From Badischer Bahnhof (German Train station): Bus 36 to Dreispitz (Direction Schifflände)