ART BASEL VIRTUAL
Our Favorite Works For Less Than $50,000
Like most large-scale, in-person events this year, organizers canceled Art Basel‘s flagship Swiss edition. It hosted virtually instead—where people could purchase featured work from participating galleries via the fair’s Online Viewing Room from June 17th to the 26th. This event was Art Basel’s second 2020 venture with a digital art fair model. The Hong Kong edition, worked out much of the online-only kinks back in March. Despite the platform being an underwhelming venue for the leading fair’s 50th-anniversary, sales were strong, with pieces like Mark Bradford’s The Press of Democracy (2020) and Keith Haring’s 1982 untitled day-glo painting each selling for more than $4 million.
When discussing the fair’s success, Elena Soboleva—David Zwirner’s director of online sales—told ArtNews, “It’s thrilling to see so much industry adoption that has happened within one year, both by necessity and design. Online viewing rooms are a new norm, and even when physical fairs resume, online presentations will surely be a critical part of the experience.” When browsing the Online Viewing Room, there was certainly no shortage of stunning work. And because we don’t all have millions of dollars to spend on art, here are some compelling pieces we had our eye on that ended up selling for $50,000 or less:
$30,000: Didier William, Kisa nap fe ansamn (2020) at James Fuentes Gallery
Originally hailing from Port-au-prince, Haiti, Didier William’s large-scale, mixed-medium paintings— titled in Haitian Creole—depict colorful and kinetic silhouette figures. By incorporating colors that suggest the fabrics of West Africa, machete-like objects, shovels and more, William’s characters appear to stage rebellions by referencing the Haitian Revolution and a larger narrative of Black, indigenous people of the African diaspora fighting for freedom against the European colonizer.
$50,000: Julie Curtiss, Selfies 2 (2020) at White Cube
Vietnamese-French artist Julie Curtiss’s paintings are figurative and surreal, with a graphic edge influenced by her interest in Manga and experience working as an assistant for pop and street artist KAWS. In all of Curtiss’ work, the female figure is turned away from the viewer, giving the subject a faceless identity and positioning the observer as a covert onlooker with a voyeuristic gaze. Incredibly, prices for Curtiss’ paintings have increased roughly 10,000 percent in just two years.
$20,000: Cassi Namoda, Bar Mundo at 12am (2020) at Goodman Gallery
Working between Los Angeles and New York, visual and performance artist Cassi Namoda’s projects explore the social complexities of mixed cultural and racial identities. Through vivid figurative portraits of everyday life in post-colonial Mozambique, Namoda reveals the dualities among sacrifice, pain and happiness, which she views as essential to her community’s way of life.
$45,000: Jules de Balincourt, Park People Versus Forest People (2020) at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
Known for his abstract, atmospheric paintings that distort reality, French-American artist Jules de Balincourt’s work transports viewers to highly saturated, ambiguous worlds. Speaking about his practice, Balincourt’s said, “Everything inspires my work: lived experiences, cultural and social phenomena. But it is more and more about that internal gaze, a mix of these utopian and dystopian ideals.”
$50,000: Deborah Roberts, What else can I do (2020) at Stephen Friedman Gallery
American artist Deborah Roberts’ work uses detailed mixed-media collages to explore Black subjecthood’s complex nature as it relates to race, notions of beauty and gender politics. Through intricately depicting distinct facial features, skin tones, hairstyles and clothes, Roberts explains that “with collage, I can create a more expansive and inclusive view of the black cultural experience.” Her work in Art Basel’s Online Viewing Room specifically explored the vulnerability of a young African-American girl.
$20,000: Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Grandpères (2020) at Goodman Gallery
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum’s work explores themes of trans-national identities, human connections and cross-border rituals. Often superimposing her images with overlapping gestures, her pieces—like Grandpères—also conjure up 18th-century notions of the sublime through timeless landscapes that illustrate the smallness of individuals within the expansive universe.
$45,000: Zarina, Untitled (2014) at Luhring Augustine
American-Indian artist Zarina Hashmi prefers to be called by just her first name. Her work employs abstract and geometric forms to elicit a spiritual reaction from the viewer. With a degree in mathematics, Hashmi utilizes printmaking methods throughout her practice—like intaglio, woodblock, lithography and silkscreen—often to create a series that explores the multiplicity of a concept. Recurring themes in her work include diaspora, nostalgia, memory, borders and home.
