Press Release English - Volta

For Immediate Release
May 31st, 2011
Special projects at VOLTA7
As every year, at VOLTA7 there will be more than commercial galleries on show.
Independent artists, local Basel residents, artist projects and collectives are also
asked to share the important Basel platform.
Kaikai Kiki and VOLTA7 are proud to announce a special exhibition spread over two locations at the
fair, with the booths offering guests a wide-ranging mix of art, live entertainment, and charity efforts. After
the earthquake in Japan and the cancellation of Takashi Murakami’s GESAI art fair, VOLTA7 is pleased to
host them in Basel.
The exhibition marks the European debut of a new generation of young Japanese artists, many of whom
have received personal mentoring from Murakami himself. As a function of this training, the artists were
provided space at Kaikai Kiki's Miyoshi Studio, where they engaged in an intensive period of production
and conscious self-exploration, aimed ultimately at helping each of them discover their own personal
voice. Live painting and other on-site entertainment from the artists themselves, providing a level of
spectacle that will animate the event, will bolster the artwork on show. The booth will play host to the
latest iteration of Kaikai Kiki's New Day Charity Project. New Day is an initiative begun by Murakami
that encourages artists to contribute works in response to the massive earthquake. A special installation
will be on display, featuring the various artworks that have been received from around the world.
From Berlin/New York the The HomeBase Project also finds temporary sanctuary at VOLTA7. The
HomeBase Project is an International site-specific urban art project that explores the notion of home as a
window into questions of identity, and as the foundation of humanity. By pursuing a nomadic model
annually in neighborhoods undergoing change and inviting a diverse group of international artists /
collaborators, HomeBase seeks to challenge the role of art as a tool for cross-cultural dialogue, social
integration, and community cultivation, thus fostering interconnectedness in society through the arts.
Currently establishing a new headquarters and residency program, The HomeBaseLAB in the old
Engelhardt Brewery in the former East Berlin, founder/artist/curator Anat Litwin will present their
homebrew artisan craft pilsner, Ignatz Bier, at VOLTA7. The beer is named after Mr. Ignatz Nacher, the
legendary German-Jewish merchant and director of the Engelhardt brewery, who transformed it into one
of the most successful breweries in Germany before it was taken over in the 1930s by the Third Reich, in
what became one of the biggest cases of Nazi expropriation. Exactly 104 years after Ignatz Nacher
launched the first ‘Engelhardt Pilsner’ on site, The HomeBase Project conducted an artistic resurrection of
the brewery as both a tribute to their legendary landlord, and as a way to celebrate a new life for the
building.
Other collateral projects include the presentation of work by German artist Marc Fromm by the art
foundation of Saxony-Anhalt, as well as an ongoing site-specific event by local Basel artists’ group
Stellwerk, who will present their Stellwerk/SHOWROOMBASEL, presenting and distributing products,
furniture and media by local micro-labels and young designers. StellwerkSHOWROOMBASEL's dedication
is to promote and encourage innovative design in Basel and worldwide.
- More

Finally, VOLTA7 is proud to announce this year’s VOLTA7 edition artist, Carlos Aires. Aires undertakes
iconographic research on images of explicit sexual attitudes, world disasters, pop characters, art historical
masterpieces and war-related shots taken from the internet, newspapers and archives; then he uses a
digital process to capture the silhouettes drawn from the images and employs laser-cutting equipment to
prepare the pieces of a previously sketched installation. The artist chooses the appropriate vinyl record
that matches the silhouettes, making an association between the title of the album and the shape. The
VOLTA7 edition takes key motifs from Aires’ genre, mixing art historical references – Degas’ Small Dancer
and Robert Indiana’s LOVE — with popular culture images, fusing sex, death and music in a wonderful
potpourri of high and low. The images can be read in a number of ways, just as the skull itself can refer
not only to Heavy Metal but also to the memento mori of classical painting.
The edition exists in two motifs and can be purchased separately or as a pair—a King and Queen of
Decadence or Innocence, as the case may be. Each motif is an edition of 10 + 2 APs; price 1,100 euros
for a single; 10% discount for the pair at 2,000 euros.
VOLTA7 at Dreispitzhalle is only 7 minutes from the central train station SBB by public transport or 5
minutes by car; 9 minutes with Tram 10 or 11 from Bankverein (Kunsthalle/ Kunstmuseum). VOLTA7
shuttles buses will be running daily from Monday to Saturday from 10 am - 6 pm, leaving from the back
side of Hall 2 at Art Basel and from LISTE. With a 450-place car park one block away, the venue also
offers easier parking than previous locations. All travel information can be found by visiting our website.
VOLTA was founded in Basel in 2005 by dealers Kavi Gupta (Chicago), Ulrich Voges (Frankfurt) and
Friedrich Loock (Berlin).
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A full list of exhibitors and artists can be reviewed below or on our website at www.voltashow.com.
Please note 3 new galleries in the VOLTA7 line-up
For further Information please contact:
Albertine Kopp / Sara Forsythe
press@voltashow.com