Arty farty

Helas! So much has happened in the past two weeks and will only just be mentioning some of them now.

Where to begin?

I tripped up to Basel to see Art Basel and then FOCUS09.
Both art exhibitions were obviously very different from each other for several reasons.

Art Basel is a huge art machine that spat out work from thousands of artists presented by galleries from around the world. There were works of old masters, sculptures forming new chef d'oeuvres and paintings, installations and sculptures by artists you have never heard of...yet.

There was even an African traditional sculpture on display behind tightly secured glass container and a security guy with a roving eye who patrolled the tiny square metres of exhibition space of the Gianada Gallery, like a tiger prowling a cage.

Art Basel was the place to go if you want to see Degas, Botero, Picabia, Warhol, Basquiat and the ever present Picasso. They are all for sale too, at mouth-dropping prices that you only attain upon request. Also present were mythic galeries like White Cube, Gascogian etc. It is through them that the legend of artists such as Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Lucian Freud live on.

FOCUS09 was more experimental. This was a pilot exhibition which was intended to display works exclusively by or on Africa. It was a big space but the exhibitors struggled to fill it with comprehensive art. They however did try to make it a truly culutural exhibition by organising musical and dance performances, as well as cultural debates. I have been assured that next year, the event will be even bigger and better.

Above are some of the pictures from the event.
The "Who am I?" is by Samba Fall at the FOCUS09 event. The other three pictures are from Art Basel, predominately from the Art Unlimited section.
I liked the mixed media painting of the black woman by an African American artist (don't have her name right here) because she used rhinestones to create the picture. It's pretty amazing up close.