Kunsthalle Basel
Like every year, the wonderful Elena Filipovic welcomed our International Board members at the Kunsthalle Basel for two special visits before we were joined by some of our French patrons for luncheon. We were honored to have among us Jean-Paul Agon, the president of the Friends of the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, with whom we hope to develop a closer collaboration in support of our two institutions.
“THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE”
This exhibited by Tiona Nekkia McClodden explores the theme of breath and its significance in our lives. The artist's initial fascination with choke valves, devices that regulate air flow, led to a deeper exploration of the breath as a fundamental act that is often taken for granted. McClodden transforms detachable portions of industrial cattle head gates, which restrain livestock, into artworks that evoke a sense of violence and mercy. These modified readymades, stripped of their industrial surfaces and painted in an absorbing matte black, transcend mere paintings and become objects of contemplation.
The exhibition also features leather straps embossed with poignant lines of text, which have been worn by the artist and a performer to convey the escalating obstruction to breathing and vulnerability. Leather paintings, treated with dyes and polished to a lustrous finish, display intricate bondage patterns, while videos showcase the artist's struggles with sleep apnea, emphasizing the fragility of life and the interplay between breath, violence, and survival. McClodden's exhibition serves as a quiet unraveling of the oppressive aspects of our contemporary world.
Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel
“In Ekstase”
This exhibition by the Birtish artist P. Staff, evokes a sense of danger and rapture while challenging societal norms. The first room features an electrified network of cords hanging just above reach, symbolizing boundaries and the threat of punishment. The exhibition continues with a self-portrait wallpaper depicting a bedridden figure, followed by an installation titled "Afferent Nerves," representing the reimagining of electricity as a nervous system. The use of harsh yellow lighting and unsettling colors throughout the exhibition creates a sense of affliction and discomfort. Animal blood sculptures, mimicking everyday objects, merge the corporeal with institutional fixtures.
The exhibition also includes steel intaglio etchings reflecting on forced sterilization and the control of bodily autonomy. A holographic image-poem levitates in the fourth room, engaging viewers in a contemplation of life, suffering, and ecstasy. The exhibition culminates with the film "La Nuit Américaine," which explores the disorienting blurring of day and night. P. Staff's exhibition provokes contemplation of power dynamics, gender, violence, and the human body's agency within institutional frameworks.
P. Staff, In Ekstase, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel