Although my days in Basel have mostly been filled with sights of architecture, I did manage to see some impressive art there. Francis Alÿs' Fabiola at Schaulager's offsite location Haus zum Kirschgarten, Henrik Olesen's solo at Museum für Gegenwartskunst and R.H. Quaytman's Spine, Chapter 20 at Kunsthalle Basel were all very powerful shows. I like Quaytman's show the most.
Quaytman's exhibition is a reinterpreted retrospective of her paintings since 2001. With her paintings hung in long lines, viewers read the coherently displayed paintings like words on a page of a book. I love the way she manipulated and reinvented images in an abstract way. The modified architectural space intensified the effect of the visual display. It's a pity that I did not have enough time to meditate on the depth of her thoughts.
Quaytman at Kunsthalle Basel, 2011:
