Messe Basel
16-19 June 2022
Despite a stalled global economic recovery in the wake of the epidemic, turmoil in financial markets, severe setbacks in crypto markets and staggering inflation in many developed countries, the art market performed surprisingly well in the midst of the economic downturn. The three major auction houses posted a year-on-year increase of more than 28% in the first and second quarters, while Art Basel, the annual art event that is a crucial indicator, exceeded expectations in terms of sales.
For the first time since the epidemic, Art Basel in Switzerland returned to business as usual at the Messe Basel. The week-long fair, which welcomed over 70,000 visitors and brought together 289 top international galleries from 40 countries and regions, reported strong sales at all levels of the market, with many galleries selling most of their work within the first few hours on preview days and several achieving their best results.
Art Basel has always been the art fair that galleries have sought to enter and is considered the epitome of a conservative art market, made up of Western galleries dominated by Europe and the United States. This year, however, Art Basel was re-invigorated after a whirlwind transformation with much new blood. Not only did the 19 first-time galleries bring a new dimension to the fair, but more young artists were allowed to showcase their work. At the same time, due to the epidemic, those who had been overlooked were given more space and attention. More women artists and artists of colour were seen in both the gallery and curatorial sections, making it easy to see a clear power shift.
Dialogue is a fundamental driver for acquisition and exchange. Gallery owners, collectors, museums and artists who had not met in person for a long time were finally given the opportunity to meet face-to-face in-depth after years of the epidemic. The long-suppressed demand and excellent work sold well at all market levels, demonstrating the importance physical offline events bring to the exchange of art and culture.
The top five highest priced works sold were as follows:
In addition to showcasing exceptional art within its Galleries, Feature, Statements, and Edition sectors, the fair presented 70 large-scale artworks in Unlimited; 21 site-specific projects in Parcours; a large-scale floor installation on the Messeplatz titled ‘Out of Sight’ by Lawrence Weiner, the American conceptual artist, who died last year; a dynamic Film program; as well as Conversations, the fair’s renowned talks series.
巴塞爾展覽中心
2022年6月16日-6月19日
儘管疫情後的全球經濟復甦停滯不前，金融市場動盪不安，加密市場亦嚴重受挫，許多發達國家都面臨着驚人的通脹，然而，經濟低迷情況下的藝術市場表現卻出乎意料地好。三大拍賣行第一第二季度的拍賣數據同比增長超過28%，而作爲重要風向標的年度藝術盛會Art Basel瑞士巴塞爾藝術展的銷售佳績更是超出預期。
疫情後的瑞士巴塞爾藝術展首次回歸正常，轟轟烈烈地在巴塞爾展覽中心（Messe Basel）舉行，於6月19日圓滿閉幕。爲期一週的展會總共迎來超過7萬名觀衆，匯聚了來自40個國家和地區的289家國際頂級畫廊，據報道，展會期間各級市場收獲全面銷售佳績，許多畫廊在預展最初幾個小時內就已經把大部分作品售出，而多家畫廊更是斬獲了歷史最好成績。
巴塞爾藝博會一直是讓畫廊擠破頭想要進入的藝術博覽會，也被認爲是保守藝術市場的縮影，由歐洲和美國爲主導的西方畫廊而組成。然而今年的巴塞爾藝術展注入了許多新鮮血液，在經歷旋風般的轉變後重新煥發活力。不僅19家首度參展的畫廊帶來新的氣象，而更多年輕藝術家也得到了展示的機會，與此同時，因爲疫情，那些曾被忽視的群體更是獲得了更多關懷與重視，畫廊展區及策展區都看到了更多女性藝術家及有色族裔的藝術家，由此不難看出明顯的權力轉移。
對話是進行購藏和交流的真正推動力。久未見面的畫廊主、藏家、博物館和藝術家終於在多年疫情後重新獲得了面對面深度交流的機會，久被壓抑的需求和出色的作品讓各級市場銷售旺盛，展示出線下實體活動爲藝術文化交流所帶來的重要性。
除了於“藝廊薈萃”(Galleries）、“策展專題〞(Feature）、“藝創宣言”(Statements）及“限量編製〞（Edition）展區展示的傑出藝術創作，今年展會也於“意象無限”(Unlimited）展區呈獻了 70 件大型作品，並在“城藝之旅” (Parcours）展區帶來 21 件場域特定藝術作品，以及Messeplatz 呈獻了去年逝世的美國概念藝術家 Lawrence Weiner 的大型地面裝置作品 《Out of Sight》，同時包括精彩的“光映現場”(Film）項目以及享負盛名的座談會系列“與巴塞爾藝術展對話” (Conversations）。
